The Philippines

The Land

Lying like a sprawling triangle on the Pacific, the Philippines is an archipelago of 7,000 islands. To its north lies Taiwan, to the south Borneo, to the north and west, the China Sea. The land totals 116,220 square miles with an irregular coastline of 10,850 miles, twice as long as that of the United States. Washington State has only 60% of the land area of the Philippines.

There is no winter, spring, and autumn in the Philippines. Being located within the tropic zone, the country has only two pronounced seasons – the wet and the dry. The wet season starts in June and ends in November. During these months, torrential rains fall on mountains and plains often causing destructive floods. From December to March, the climate becomes ideal --- cool nights and breezy pleasant days. April and May are the hottest months while August and September are the most humid.

The People

There are 82 million Filipinos today. The Christian Filipinos constitute 93% of the population. The rest are Muslims and non-Christian ethnic tribes. Basically, the Filipinos are Malays, their history reaching as far back as 2,000 B.C.. Once part of the Madjapahit empires, the Philippines was explored for the Western World by Ferdinand Magellan of Spain in 1521. Consequently thereafter the Philippines became a colony of Spain until 1898 when the country declared its independence from Spain on June 12, 1898.

As an offshoot of the Spanish-American war, and twist of fate, the Philippines became a colony of the United States starting in 1898 until 1946. Since then, the Philippines has become a sovereign nation, a republic. The United States and the Philippines maintain close diplomatic and cooperative relationship.

Strategically located at the crossroads of today’s intercontinental travel lines and services, the Philippines plays a vital role in the socio-economic and cultural life of Asia and the Pacific.