COUNTRY PROFILE OF THE REPUBLIC OF THE
PHILIPPINES
INTRODUCTION
The visitor to Metro Manila commonly sees the
Philippines as the most westernized of Asian
countries and in many ways it is. But there is also
a rich underlay of Malay culture beneath the patina
of Spanish and American heritage. National cultural
life is a happy marriage of many influences, as the
indigenous Malay culture is assimilated and adapted
to different strains in a practice typical of Malay
temperament. An upsurge of Philippine nationalism
stimulated a desire to preserve the ancient heritage
without restricting its openness to foreign artistic
influence.
The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107
islands. It stretches from the south of China to the
northern tip of Borneo. The country has over a
hundred ethnic groups and a mixture of foreign
influences which have molded a unique Filipino
culture.
Before the Spanish explorers came, Indo-Malays
and Chinese merchants had settled here. In 1521 the
Spaniards, led by Ferdinand Magellan, discovered the
islands. The Spanish conquistadores established a
colonial government in Cebu in 1565. They
transferred the seat of government to Manila in 1571
and proceeded to colonize the country. The Filipinos
resisted and waged Asia's first nationalist
revolution in 1896. On June 12, 1898, Emilio
Aguinaldo declared the Philippines independent from
Spain and proclaimed himself president. After ruling
for 333 years, the Spaniards finally left in 1898
and were replaced by the Americans who stayed for 48
years. On July 4, 1946, the Americans recognized
Philippine independence.
The Philippines is the third largest
English-speaking country in the world. The country
is divided into three geographical areas: Luzon,
Visayas, and Mindanao. It has
17 regions, 79 provinces, 117 cities, 1,501
municipalities , and 41,982 barangays. (Barangay
- The smallest political unit into which cities and
municipalities in the Philippines are divided. It is
the basic unit of the Philippine political system.
It consists of less than 1,000 inhabitants residing
within the territorial limit of a city or
municipality and administered by a set of elective
officials, headed by a barangay chairman or
punong barangay).
