Philippines

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General Description
The Republic of the Philippines is the only predominantly Christian nation in Asia and has a unique heritage of Malay, Spanish, and American cultures. Ruled by Spain for nearly 330 years until 1898,
its cultural characteristics are today in some ways more like those of the nations of Latin America than those of Southeast Asia, the ten-nation geographic region to which it belongs. The Spanish language, however, is spoken by less than 1 percent of the population, in spite of Spain's long colonial rule. On the other hand, the Spanish heritage is visible in other features of national life. For example, about 85 percent of the population is Roman Catholic; there is a predominance of Spanish place-names and family names, and the patterns of land tenancy and ownership can be traced to the Spanish period. American colonial influence prevailed from about 1901 until the late 1940s. Major legacies of that period are an American-style educational system and, with it, the teaching of English, which today is spoken as a second language by about two fifths of the population. Along with Pilipino, a language derived from Tagalog, English is one of the two official languages.

The Philippines achieved full political independence in 1946, following four years of occupation
by Japanese armed forces during World War II. The period since independence has been marked by repeated crises--political upheavals, including peasant insurrections, student demonstrations, Communist insurgencies, and Muslim rebellions; and natural disasters, including typhoons, floods, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. High birthrates, combined with high population densities in some areas, are evidence that overpopulation is a significant problem in the country. This is a common feature in many less developed countries.

Although there has been some economic improvement since World War II, the Philippines has
not made as much progress as other Asian nations--notably Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. The persistence of political, environmental, and population problems make it difficult to raise the general level of prosperity. Another long-term problem has been the nation's overdependence on income from exporting such primary commodities as sugar, timber, copper, gold, and coconuts. Nations that supply such raw materials are often at the mercy of world market prices, over which they have no control. The Philippines' overdependence on raw material exports has diminished somewhat during recent years, but some of the newer economic activities, such as garment manufacturing, create only low-skill and low-wage jobs that have not greatly raised the standard of living for a majority of the people.
The Philippines is one of the five founding members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), an economic common market that was formed on Aug. 8, 1967. The other founding
members were Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. These are all generally free-market
economies that are closely tied to the United States, Japan, and the nations of Western Europe by political alliances and trade and aid relations. The Islamic sultanate of Brunei joined ASEAN in1984.

Land
The Philippines is an archipelago, or chain of islands. It consists of more than 7,000 islands and
islets. The 11 largest islands account for more than 90 percent of the total national land area.
The two largest islands, Luzon and Mindanao, comprise more than 70 percent of the land area and contain more than 70 percent of the population. Luzon is the largest island in the northern part of the archipelago, while Mindanao is the major island of the southern part. Between them are most of the other islands. The westernmost islands are set apart, across the Sulu Sea.

The total area of the Philippines is 115,800 square miles (299,900 square kilometers). The distance from northern Luzon to southern Mindanao is about 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers); the east-west width extends as much as 300 miles (480 kilometers). The islands are located on the western margin of the Pacific "Ring of Fire" and are undergoing mountain building through volcanic activity.
The islands therefore have some very rugged terrain, and there is a very limited amount of land suitable for agriculture. The region is also noted for its great amount of earthquake activity.
The archipelago includes a number of large predominantly mountainous islands as well as many tiny coral atolls. The nation has an extensive coastline with good harbors--it has the longest discontinuous
coastline of any nation in the world at 21,500 miles (34,600 kilometers). There are more than 60 natural harbors, and half of them are developed and extensively used. Manila Bay has an area of more than 750 square miles (1,940 square kilometers) and is among the finest harbors in the Far East.

The big islands began to form 50 million years ago as a result of two large, undersea tectonic plates named the Philippine and Eurasian plates. Many of the tiny islets, by contrast, are atolls built by
coral formation. Because the Philippine islands lie near the juncture of these two plates, they are still
experiencing earthquakes and volcanic activity. On average, there is noticeable earthquake activity
somewhere in the Philippines approximately every two days. Many other land tremors are too weak to be felt but are sufficiently strong to be picked up by a seismograph. A particularly strong earthquake shook the Philippines on July 16, 1990, causing about 1,600 deaths in the resort city of Baguio.

The larger islands have high mountains. The highest peak is Mindanao's Mount Apo, at 9,688
feet (2,953 meters), but the Cordillera Central on northern Luzon is the largest and most rugged mountain system. There are about 50 volcanoes in the Philippines, 14 of which are still active. Well known for its nearly perfect symmetry is Mount Mayon (8,075 feet; 2,461 meters), located on southern Luzon's Bicol Peninsula.
Mount Pinatubo, a 5,842-foot (1,781-meter) peak in central Luzon, erupted explosively in 1991
after lying dormant for more than 600 years. Along with associated earthquakes, heavy accumulations of ash, and heavy rains, this volcanic eruption took 330 lives and destroyed much property. It was the chief reason for the closing of the United States Clark Air Base in the nearby city of Angeles. So much ash and debris were thrown upward into the Earth's atmosphere that weather patterns around the globe were affected during 1992.

 The large island Luzon, the largest island, has an area of 40,420 square miles (104,690 square kilometers). In addition to having the nation's highest mountain range, the Cordillera Central, Luzon also has several of its longest rivers. Among them are the Cagayan, the Agno, and the Pampanga. The best known of Luzon's rivers, however, is the Pasig, one of the island's shortest rivers, which originates in the nation's largest lake, Laguna de Bay, and passes through Manila before emptying into Manila Bay.
The Cordillera Central lies in northwestern Luzon. The highest of its peaks and second highest in
the islands is Mount Pulog, at 9,612 feet (2930 meters). A shortage of flat, arable land has made it
necessary to use some mountainsides and hills for agriculture. The world-renowned rice terraces in the area around Banaue in the North Luzon Highlands are a distinctive agricultural phenomena. These terraces cut deep steps into the slope of the Cordillera Central. This "eighth wonder of the world," as the terraces have been called, have vertical steps that often exceed 20 feet (6 meters) in height.
Another mountain system, the Sierra Madre, rises in northeastern Luzon. Some of its peaks attain
elevations of nearly 5,000 feet (1,525 meters). Along the west-central coast of the island lie the Zambales Mountains, which extend from the Lingayen Gulf in the north to the Bataan Peninsula in the south. Luzon includes two of the country's four major lowland areas: the Central Plain and the Cagayan Valley. (The other two are on Mindanao.) These lowlands are a rich agricultural region. Alluvial soils derived partly form rich volcanic ash have left generally excellent soils in lowland Luzon. Upland areas, however, have much poorer soils that have become weathered from hard crystalline rocks or have eroded rapidly because of deforestation.

The Central Plain is the largest lowland in the Philippines. It extends about 150 miles (240
kilometers) from north to south and has an average width of 40 miles (64 kilometers). Manila is on the southern edge of the plain, which is drained by the Agno and Pampanga rivers. The size of the plain has made it the nation's largest rice producing region.
The Cagayan Valley, sandwiched between the Cordillera Central and the Sierra Madre, is drained
by the Cagayan River. A valley of some 4,000 square miles (10,360 square kilometers), it is nearly 40 miles (64 kilometers) wide. More sparsely populated than the Central Plain, the Cagayan Valley became a destination for agricultural settlers mainly in the 20th century, especially from the nearby Ilocos coastal region--a more densely populated area. Thus the Cagayan Valley has also become a significant producer of rice.

Luzon's largest city is Manila, the national capital. Quezon City, the second largest urban area, is
just northeast of Manila and is part of the same metropolitan area. It served as the capital from 1948 to 1976, and many government buildings are still there. Other sizable population centers are Pasay,
Cabanatuan, Legaspi, Baguio, Batangas, and Laoag.

Mindanao, the second largest island, has an area of 36,537 square miles (94,630 square kilometers). The Pacific Cordillera runs along the island's east coast, leaving almost no coastal plain. To the west, in the Cordillera Central, are the two inactive volcanic peaks of Mount Apo, the country's highest, and Mount Matutum, at 7,529 feet (2,295 meters). Two major lowland plains, the Agusan Valley and the Cotabato Valley, are drained by rivers of the same name. The diverse topographical features include the large Bukidnon and Lanao plateaus, which occupy much of the north-central part of the island. The largest body of inland water on Mindanao is Lake Sultan-Alonto, more commonly known as Lake Lanao--which lies in the western part of the island. With an area of 137 square miles (355 square kilometers), it is the second largest lake in the Philippines.

Several rivers have cut deep gorges into the surface of the plateaus. One river, the short, 22-mile
(35-kilometer) Agus River, falls from an elevation of 2,300 feet (700 meters) at Lake Sultan-Alonto down to the sea--creating in its path a series of rapids and falls, including Maria Cristina Falls. Almost half the nation's hydroelectric potential is located in the falls. There are several populous cities on Mindanao.

Zamboanga City is in western Mindanao, near the tip of the peninsula of the same name. Located on
Basilan Strait, it is a busy port city. Cotabato is a city in southern Mindanao, near the Moro Gulf and in the heart of an agricultural region.
Davao City, in the southeast, is near the head of Davao Gulf. It is a port city with facilities for deepwater vessels as well as for local shipping. Cagayan de Oro, in the north, is near the head of Macajalar Bay. It serves as the commercial and transportation center for the north part of the
island. Butuan, also in the north, is on Butuan Bay and is a busy port serving the nearby lumber industry.

On the western part of Mindanao the long, semicircular Zamboanga Peninsula, which stretches for
150 miles (240 kilometers) into the Sulu Sea. The rugged Zamboanga Cordillera forms the backbone of the peninsula. Basilan Island and the Sulu Archipelago form a bridge between the peninsula and the part of northeastern Borneo called Sabah--a section of Malaysia.

There are eight other big islands, although none is nearly as large as either Luzon or Mindanao.
Seven of these islands belong to the group called the Visayan Islands, which lie in the central and eastern Philippines, between the two largest islands. The other major islands are Mindoro, just to the south of Luzon, and Palawan, the most detached of the big islands southwest of Luzon, between the Sulu and Luzon seas.
The Visayan Islands are Samar, Negros, Panay, Leyte, Cebu, Bohol, Masbate, and the Romblon
group. Of these, Samar and Negros are the largest. The Visayans make up more than one fifth of the total Philippine land area with a total of 23,582 square miles (61,077 square kilometers). Interspersed among the seven islands are hundreds of smaller islands.
Samar consists largely of low, rolling hills, whereas Negros has a high volcanic mountain system.
The Tablas Plateau occupies southwestern Negros, and there are extensive lowlands along the island's north and west coasts. Much of the nation's sugarcane is grown near these coasts.

Rough topography is found along the west coast of Panay, but there are lowlands along the north
coast and in the sizable Iloilo Basin. Mountains dominate the western portion of Leyte, although a major lowland--the Leyte Valley--occupies the northwest corner of the island. Cebu, one of the nation's most densely populated islands, has a deeply dissected hilly interior and no significant lowlands. Bohol consists mainly of plateaus and low hills, including the island's most noted feature, the Chocolate Hills. Named for their appearance in summer when the grass is dry and brown, the Chocolate Hills rise about 100 feet (30 meters) above an otherwise flat terrain.

Palawan and Mindoro are the nation's fifth and seventh largest islands. In contrast to the other islands in the Philippines, these two rest upon the same geologic rock platform, the Sunda Shelf, as does the island of Borneo. It is probably owing to their geologic history that the soils of both islands are rather poor. During the Pleistocene Epoch, from 2 million to 10,000 years ago, Palawan was connected to Borneo by a land bridge. Life forms, both plant and animal, were able to migrate from Borneo northeast into Palawan.
Today Palawan has the appearance of the remains of such a land bridge. It is long and narrow,
lying between the Sulu Sea to the east and the South China Sea to the northwest. Palawan is only 24 miles (39 kilometers) wide, but its length is 270 miles (435 kilometers). It has a mountainous spine running its entire length. Total land area is 4,550 square miles (11,785 square kilometers). At 6,840 feet (2,085 meters), Mount Mantalingajan is its highest peak.
Mindoro, to the northeast of Palawan, lies across the Verde Island Passage just south of Luzon. Its
land area is 3,759 square miles (9,736 square kilometers). Running from north to south is a mountain chain surrounded on both sides by a coastal plain. The highest peak is Mount Halcon, 8,487 feet (2,587 meters). There are two small cities, Calapan and Mamburao.

Climate
The Philippines lies between about 5° and 20° N. latitude, entirely within the humid tropics.
Monsoon climates (large wind systems that reverse directions seasonally) predominate, so most of the islands experience distinctive wet and dry seasons. Because the islands are so near the equator, warm temperatures prevail throughout the year. Rarely are monthly averages at sea level less than 75° F (24° C).
Day-to-night variations are generally greater than monthly variations. Higher altitudes offer much cooler temperatures, decreasing about 3°F (1.7° C) for every 1,000-foot (300-meter) increase in elevation. The climate accounts in great part for the soil conditions, vegetation, and animal life found in the islands.
Annual temperature ranges between the coolest and warmest months are less than 10° F (5.6° C).
In the extreme south the variation is less than 2° F (1.1° C). During the day, temperatures normally climb into the high 80s and low 90s F (low 30s C). At night they fall into the low 70s F (low 20s C), or, occasionally, into the 60sF (high teens C). The lowest temperature recorded in Manila was 59° F (15° C).
Temperatures are usually highest during the dry season, from March through June, when the sun is almost directly overhead in cloudless skies. Warm, moist southwestern winds--the summer monsoon--prevail from June through October During the winter monsoon, from November to March, drier northeastern winds predominate. As a result, the western portion of the Philippines receives most of its rainfall when the monsoon comes from the southwest; and the eastern side of the archipelago gets most of its rainfall when the northeastern winds are blowing.
The most southerly islands, including Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago, receive precipitation
during the entire year, since they are less affected by monsoon patterns. In addition, a zone of converging air called the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), affects the southern Philippines all year. But the ITCZ affects the northern islands only during the summer. There are, therefore, great variations in the total amounts and seasonal distributions of rainfall. Land elevation also has an effect on rainfall amounts.
Rain shadow areas--regions of reduced rainfall sheltered by mountains--such as portions of Cebu Island average 40 to 60 inches (100 to 150 centimeters) of rain yearly. Exposed coastal and mountain stations may have much greater annual amounts, reaching 200 inches (500 centimeters) or more. Most rain arrives in short, heavy showers, often causing severe flooding. The northern and
eastern sections of the Philippines are exposed to violent tropical storms called baguios, or typhoons.
These cyclonic storms originate in the western Pacific Ocean, normally during the summer and early fall months. There are, on average, six typhoons each year. Similar to Atlantic hurricanes, the typhoons are characterized by extremely powerful winds, typically in excess of 100 miles (160 kilometers) per hour, and very heavy rains. One such typhoon in 1911 deposited 46 inches (117 centimeters) of rain on the upland resort city of Baguio, on Luzon, within a 24-hour period--a world record. The winds, heavy rains, and their associated high seas and flooding can be very destructive.
The southern part of the Philippines, the area south of 8° N. latitude, is nearly free of typhoons.

Manila is a typical example of sea-level climate in the Philippines--hot and humid most of the
year. Average monthly temperatures range between a low of 76° F (24° C) in December and January to a high of about 82° F (28° C) in April and May.
Relief from the heat occurs at night, when temperatures drop about 15° F (8.4° C) from their daytime highs. The rainiest period in Manila is from June through September. During those months about 60 inches (150 centimeters) of rain, or nearly 75 percent of the annual total of 81 inches (206 centimeters), falls. Because Manila lies on the western side of Luzon, it experiences the effects of the Southwest, or summer, monsoon.
Relief from the heat can be obtained by traveling to the highlands, the best known of which is the
upland city of Baguio, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) from Manila at an elevation of 5,000 feet (1,524 meters). Baguio is called the City of Pines because of the pine trees associated with its cooler climate. Temperatures there average 15°F (8.4° C) lower than at sea level, but the resort city does feel the effects of the summer monsoon. Of its average annual rainfall of 164 inches (417centimeters), about 75 percent falls in the four-month period from June through September.

Soils
Areas such as the Philippines that are warm and moist year-round typically have relatively infertile soils that have undergone a process known as laterization. Such soils have been leached of their
nutrients because of bacteria and because the persistent rainfall dissolves the basic elements in the soil as it seeps down through the upper layers. Some insoluble minerals, such as iron, are left behind, often giving the soil a distinctive red or reddish brown color. What remains, in the end, are laterites--decayed mineral rocks. Such soils provide little potential for growing crops.
There are, nevertheless, some tropical forest species that have adapted their root systems to the
shallow soil, where they are nurtured by rapidly decaying plant matter and microorganisms. Once this natural vegetative cover is burned off or cut down because of commercial exploitation, expansion of population settlement, shifting cultivation, or natural causes, then the soil erodes even further. It is leached of its nutrients much more rapidly than under natural conditions, since it is now exposed to direct sunlight and heavy rains.
There are two very significant exceptions to the generally poor soil quality: volcanic and alluvial
deposits. Soils derived from recent volcanic ash, when composed of basic rather than acidic materials, can be extremely fertile. Among the better known areas for such soils is the Bicol Peninsula of southern Luzon.
Alluvial, or water-deposited, soils are found in the floodplains and deltas of the nation's river systems. The sediments carried by the rivers constantly renew the fertility of such areas, often allowing for dense agricultural settlements.
Alluvium occupies about 15 percent of the nation's land surface. Luzon's Central Plain is a good
example of extensive alluvial deposits. Such soils are also found in the rice terraces of the North Luzon Highlands. Water control on these terraces helps sustain soil quality. Water is normally introduced at the top of the terraces, and the downslope flow is carefully monitored. As the water flows it naturally carries sediments with it.

Plant and Animal Life
The Philippines were almost completely forested prior to human settlement. Today less than half
the total land area has stands of trees. The plant life that remains is highly diversified and typical of tropical humid forests.

Monsoon forests include many species of trees and other plant life. Among tree species, some 50
varieties of dipterocarps predominate and account for perhaps 70 percent of the commercial timber. This family of trees consists of species that are usually quite tall. They have evergreen leaves and contain aromatic resins. These tropical hardwoods usually occur in relatively dense stands. Among the more commercially useful are the Philippine mahoganies (or lauan).

In addition to trees, Philippine forests contain thousands of species of flowering plants and ferns and some 800 species of orchids. Most of the extensive forested areas that still exist are located on Mindanao, Palawan, and Mindoro.

Large areas of grasslands, or cogonales, have appeared as a result of repeated man-made burn-offs.
These grasslands are characterized by tall grasses, often 3 to 6 feet (1 to 2 meters) high, with coarse and sharp blades. They have no commercial value. Mangrove and nipa (creeping palm) swamps are found occasionally in the coastal lowlands.

Countless species of small mammals, birds, and reptiles live in the forests. Unfortunately, some
species have become extinct because of the destruction of forests to provide space either for agriculture or for urban use. Among the animals that still exist are monkeys, rats, sambars (a type of deer), civet cats, bats, poisonous Philippine cobras, and a rare species of wild buffalo called the tamarau. This animal, found only on Mindoro Island, numbers only in the hundreds. Wild pigs that roam the forests are descendants of formerly domesticated pigs. Animals thought to be extinct include the crocodiles and the monkey-eating eagle. The tropical forests provide ideal haunts for insects, which are abundant.

Minerals
While the Philippines has abundant deposits of a few mineral and energy resources, it cannot be
called rich in such resources because it lacks many of those considered essential to a modern urban and industrial society. It must import about 90 percent of the fuel it consumes. By the early 1990s this accounted for nearly 15 percent of its imports.
Unlike nearby Indonesia and Malaysia, extensive exploration for offshore oil and natural gas has
not yet revealed sufficient quantities to justify commercial exploitation. It was hoped that large quantities of oil would be found in the area of the Sunda Shelf surrounding Palawan Island, but this has not yet proved to be the case , however some gas fields were lately discovered.
Similarly, the small amount of coal that is mined is not enough to have a significant impact on the nation's energy or manufacturing needs. The coal that exists is generally of low quality.

The Philippines does have significant amounts of hydroelectric potential. The most notable
development has been built at the Maria Cristina Falls near Iligan on northern Mindanao. There is also hydroelectric power on Luzon. Geothermal generating plants have been built on Luzon and on Leyte. The Philippines is the world's second largest producer of geothermal power, after the United States, but this source still supplies a small share of the nation's total energy needs.

A variety of metal ores is abundant on the islands. The most valuable are gold, copper, nickel, and
chromite, which together make up nearly all of the total mineral exports. These minerals are, of course, subject to fluctuations in world market prices, so their value to the Philippines is not consistent. In 1980, for example, these metals made up approximately one fifth of total exports, whereas in 1983 the minerals comprised less than one tenth of total exports. A sharp drop in commodity prices worldwide had occurred in the meantime.
The Philippines is the largest copper producer in Southeast Asia and is among the top ten
producers in the world. Most of the copper is mined in the North Luzon Highlands and on Cebu Island, the site of Asia's largest single copper mine. Two fifths of the nation's total production comes from this central Visayan Island.
Gold and silver are abundant in northern Luzon, northern Mindanao, and on several of the Visayan Islands. Benguet Province on Luzon is the top producer. The Philippines is also among the world's leading exporters of chromite. Large deposits of the mineral are found in Zambales Province on
Luzon. Small amounts of zinc, manganese, iron ore, and cobalt are produced when world prices justify it. Undeveloped deposits of iron and nickel are located in Surigao, northeastern Mindanao.

People
According to the 1990 census the population of the Philippines was 62,354,000, a 28 percent
increase over 1980. It is the 14th most populous nation in the world and the third most populous in
Southeast Asia after Indonesia and Vietnam. As in nearly all less-developed countries, the majority of the people live in rural areas--more than 60 percent in the case of the Philippines. They work in agriculture helping to produce rice, corn (maize), sugarcane, and coconut--the country's leading crops.

More than two fifths of the population lives in cities. The majority of city dwellers, about 12 percent of the total population, reside in the Manila metropolitan area, the nation's capital and largest urban center. This huge metropolitan agglomeration of more than 8 million people is Southeast Asia's
second largest--after Jakarta, Indonesia--and ranks 23rd among the world's metropolitan areas. The United Nations estimates that Manila will be the world's 20th largest city by the year 2000, with a population in excess of 11 million.
Nearly the entire Philippine population consists of Malay peoples of the Mongoloid race. Collectively called Filipinos, the population is subdivided into a number of ethnolinguistic groups that
come within the overall classification of the Austronesian, or Malayo-Polynesian, family of languages.
The groups are divided more on the basis of language than any clear-cut ethnicity.
The largest of these ethnolinguistic groups are the Tagalog, Ilocano, Bicol, Pampangan, and
Pangasinan of Luzon; and the Cebuano, Waray-Waray (or Samar-Leyte), and Hiligaynon (or Ilongo) of the Visayan Islands. With about 30 percent of the population, the Tagalog--the native people of the Manila region--and the Cebuano, with about one fourth of the population, are the largest single groups.
There are still a few short-statured, dark-skinned non-Malay peoples known as Negritos who live
in the upland areas of Luzon, Mindanao, Panay, and a few other islands. In 1971 the existence of the
Tasaday, a previously unknown Negrito tribe of about 25 persons on Mindanao, was reported. The appeared to be living in caves, much as Stone Age people did. In 1986 questions about their authenticity were raised by some anthropologists, who today believe that this discovery was a hoax.
Pilipino, the national language of the Philippines, is based on the Tagalog language.
English, which has been taught in the islands since the American conquest early in the century, is the most common second language; and it and Pilipino are the two official languages of the country. Both languages are taught in the schools, although English has remained the primary medium of instruction.

Population Distribution and Change
The Philippine population is very unevenly distributed, with major concentrations on the Central
Plain and the Ilocos coast of Luzon, and on the Visayan islands of Cebu, Negros, Panay, and Bohol. Since the 1930s there has been considerable out-migration to the less densely settled rural areas, especially on Mindanao and in the Cagayan Valley of northern Luzon. This population redistribution has resulted in a more even spread of people throughout the nation, with about half now residing on Luzon, one fourth on the Visayan Islands, and one fourth on Mindanao.

During the past several decades the population has been increasing at an annual rate of between
2.5 and 3 percent--among the highest growth rates in the world. This is the result of a high crude birth rate (CBR), which has ranged from about 30 to 45 per thousand since the 1950s, and a low crude death rate (CDR). The CDR has declined from about 15 per thousand in the 1950s to 7 per 1,000 in the early 1990s.
Therefore, even though fertility rates have declined, so, too, have mortality rates, which means that the overall growth rates remain at a high level. The current annual growth rate, implies that the population will double in about 28 years. Even if the rate of growth drops to 2 percent--an unlikely possibility--in 35 years the population of the Philippines will double from the current 62 million.

Urban and Rural Areas
Although the Philippines is still a predominantly rural nation, more than two fifths of the people reside in urban areas. This is a higher proportion than in any other Southeast Asian nation except the
microstates of Singapore and Brunei. Manila is by far the largest metropolitan area. Its population in 1993 was over 8 million, accounting for 12 percent of the national total.
The second largest city is Cebu City, located on Cebu in the Visayan Islands. Yet it is only one tenth the size of Manila. (Quezon City, which is much larger than Cebu City, is considered part of the Manila metropolitan area.)
Other cities of note are Davao City, Cagayan de Oro, and Zamboanga City on Mindanao; Bacolod and Iloilo in the Visayans; and Angeles City, Olongapo, and Baguio on Luzon.

Manila is the nation's chief port for international trade, as well as its leading industrial, financial,
cultural, political, and educational center. The city is also the chief destination for tourists visiting the
islandsapproximately 800,000 arrive annually. Numerous points of interest in the city, combined with
well-known Filipino hospitality, attract visitors from all over the world.
Many of Manila's tourist sites are found in the old downtown area and along Roxas Boulevard,
which parallels Manila Bay. The newer part of the capital is in the rapidly expanding peripheral areas, or suburbs. For example, Makati is the modern center for finance and business. Wealthy Filipinos, international businessmen, and government officials reside there. Quezon City, which served as the national capital for a few years, is the site of the new government buildings, medical centers, and the University of the Philippines. Other population centers that are really sections of the Manila metropolitan area include Caloocan, Pasay, and Pasig. Interspersed throughout the suburbs and in the older parts of the city are the poor, who live in the slum and squatter neighborhoods typical of less-developed countries.

Since World War II the major type of internal migration has been the movement of the rural poor to urban areas looking for work. Manila, the largest city, has also proved the chief magnet for these
people. As a result of this heavy in-migration, Manila and a number of smaller cities have grown much more rapidly than the national average of population increase. There has also been a sizable out-migration from the islands. In the 1980s, for instance, Filipinos became the largest among the Asian groups among immigrants to the United States.

In spite of city growth, the Philippines is still mainly an agricultural society. Most of the people live in rural areas, especially in villages called barangays, formerly called barrios (neighborhoods). Dispersed farmsteads are common in the more sparsely populated frontier areas. A number of barangays make up a municipality. The commercial and administrative center of a municipality is called the población. Poblaciones are often large enough to be classified as urban.
The basic administrative division of the nation is the province, which is comprised of municipalities. The province is comparable to an American or Australian state. Today there are 74 provinces. These are further organized into the National Capital Region (the Manila metropolitan area)
and 12 administrative districts: Ilocos; Cagayan Valley; Central Luzon; Southern Tagalog; Bicol; Western, Central, and Eastern Visayas; and Western, Northern, Southern, and Central Mindanao.

Culture
The Philippines is one of the most Westernized Asian nations. As noted above, its dominant religion is Roman Catholicism (although many Muslims live in the southern islands). This is a remnant of
Spanish colonialism. The preponderance of English speakers is a result of more than four decades of
control by the United States. Westernization has taken hold most strongly in the cities, while in the
countryside more traditional ways of life still predominate. This contrast has been a factor in the growing conflict between the rural and urban populations, and fuel for Communist and Muslim insurgencies.
In addition, the society as a whole is characterized by sharp distinctions between rich and poor, majorities and minorities, privileged and underprivileged. The existence and perpetration of these divisions is part of the Spanish Catholic heritage; similar social divisions have held back economic development in Latin America.

Family and Society
The basic social unit in the Philippines has traditionally been the family, often the extended family that includes grandparents and other relatives. Strong kinship ties also extend to other relatives and even to nonrelatives, such as godparents and godchildren. (In the cities, however, the traditional family
ties are being weakened.) In traditional homes, men are heads of households and are responsible for the financial welfare of the family. Women, however, are not restricted to child-rearing; they often work outside the home. Filipino women work in a variety of city jobs and own or run businesses. Many women have entered the professions of medicine, law, and teaching. The high status of women in the Philippines is indicated by the fact that the head of state for much of the 1980s was Corazon Aquino.

Filipino children learn at an early age to depend on their families for their basic needs. They learn
that they must, in turn, fulfill obligations to their families. As children, their responsibilities include respect for elders, the care of younger siblings, the performance of household chores, and behavior that will bring honor to the family.
Children in Roman Catholic families are baptized when they are one or two weeks old. They are
confirmed between the ages of 5 and 8. The baptism and confirmation ceremonies have a social as well as a religious significance. At each ceremony a set of godparents, called compadre and comadre (co-father and co-mother), are regarded as the co-parents of the child. They thus become members of the kinship group.
They have the same obligations to the godchild as to their own children, an obligation that must be
fulfilled if something happens to the child's natural parents. To reciprocate, the child treats the godparents with the same respect owed to the natural parents. The relationship between parents and godparents is called compadrazgo.
Filipinos are generally not considered adults until they marry and begin raising a family. The marriage links two families together, and the birth of children strengthens the tie. Thus, marriage does not
weaken the obligations of the bride and groom to their respective parents, as it generally does in Western societies.

Housing conditions vary with the location of a home (rural or urban) and with the socioeconomic
status of the family. A traditional rural dwelling consists of one or two rooms. This small building is usually raised several feet above the ground on wooden pilings to protect the house from flooding and pests and to provide a shelter and storage area for animals, crops, and fam implements. Prize roosters are often sheltered in cages under the house. These birds are used in the weekly cockfights, probably the most popular sport in the islands. These contests are held every Sunday in almost every small town and city.

Palm leaf (from the nipa palm) or grass thatch are the most common roofing materials. Either sawali
(woven bamboo) or rough sawn lumber is used as siding. In coastal communities, where fishing is the
primary occupation, houses on pilings are built directly over water.
Because of the extensive country-to-city migration, combined with natural rates of population increase, a severe housing shortage has existed in the cities for some time. This is especially true in
Manila's metropolitan area. Low-income families in the cities are crowded into slum and squatter
settlements with inadequate water supplies, poor sanitation, and often without electricity. They live in
houses made from purchased or scavenged materials, including tin, galvanized iron sheets, and scrap lumber. Some estimates place the proportion of the population in Manila living in such conditions at from one fourth to one third of the total.

The more prosperous Manila residents, or Manilenos, own houses in the traditional two-storied
Spanish style or in the more modern ranch style. All large cities in the Philippines have luxurious
residential areas. These neighborhoods are physically segregated from the rest of a city by high concrete walls, with broken glass or barbed wire embedded in the top. Guardhouses are manned at the entries to these areas. Forbes Park and Bel Air Village in the Manila suburb of Makati are examples of these neighborhoods.

Food and Clothing
The staple food of the vast majority of Filipinos is rice. This is supplemented with fish and other
seafood, chicken, and pork (or goat, if one is a Muslim). Corn (maize) is the staple for about one fifth of the population, who live in areas not suitable for rice production or cannot afford rice. Root crops, including yams, sweet potatoes, and cassava, provide basic foodstuffs for smaller numbers of low-income families. Diets also include an array of tropical fruits: bananas, plantains, star apples, mangoes, papayas, and the strong-smelling durian. The durian is native to Southeast Asia. It is a tree that provides a coconut-sized hard-shelled fruit with edible pulp inside. Although the pulp has a sweet taste, it has a rather pungent odor.

A typical meal in the Philippines may include boiled rice, bihon (rice noodles), fish, stewed
vegetables, and fruits. Lechon, a whole pig stuffed with rice or banana leaves, is prepared on special
occasions, such as the annual fiesta celebrated in barangays, towns, and cities across the Roman Catholic parts of the Philippines. The pig is roasted on a bamboo spit and served with a sauce made from pig's liver.
Bibingka, made from rice dough, is a popular dessert. Native alcoholic drinks include tuba (fermented coconut juice), basi (fermented sugarcane juice), and lambanog, which is distilled from fermented rice.
Balut, a partially formed duck embryo in an egg that has been boiled for a few moments, is sold by street vendors in the evenings in the Manila area. It is recommended that those who try this delicacy for the first time should eat it in the dark, so they cannot see what they are about to swallow.

A traditional garment for men is the barong tagalog, an embroidered outer shirt. Although it is an
everyday garment, a version of it can be often worn on the most formal occasions. Women wear the
heavily starched, butterfly-sleeved terno on formal occasions. The various Muslim groups in the south and the mountain tribes have their own distinctive garments. The Maranao Muslims of southern Mindanao, for instance, have the colorful malong. It is a large cloth wrapped around the body and is worn by both men and women.

Ethno-linguistic Groups
The Philippines, like the Southeast Asia region generally, is quite diverse in both its ethnic and
linguistic makeup. All of the approximately 90 indigenous languages and dialects belong to the
Austronesian, or Malayo-Polynesian, family of languages. Only eight of these languages have more than 1 million speakers each. The more prominent languages and the percentages of the population speaking them are: Tagalog, in its standardized form known as Pilipino (30 percent); Cebuano (24 percent); Ilocano (10 percent); Hiligaynon, or Ilongo (9 percent); Bicol (6 percent); Waray-Waray, or Samar-Leyte (4 percent); Pampangan (3 percent); and Pangasinan (2 percent). Persons who speak one of these eight languages as a mother tongue make up nearly 90 percent of the population.

This diversity of languages, together with the introduction of an alien schooling system during the
American colonial period, facilitated the adoption of English as the major secondary language. English is the most widely spoken single language and is the medium of instruction in schools throughout the nation. Pilipino and English were designated the two official languages in 1962.

Other minor nonnative languages include Chinese and Spanish. Chinese is spoken by the Chinese
minority that resides mainly in the cities. Visitors to the islands often assume that Spanish is widely spoken because of the long era of colonial rule by Spain. However, Spanish is spoken today by less than 1 percent of the people--mostly members of the old aristocracy in the cities or on the sugar plantations on Negros and Panay islands.

Religion
The Philippines is the only nation in Southeast Asia with a Christian majority population. (Islam
and Buddhism are the dominant religions of the region.) About 83 percent of Filipinos are Roman
Catholic. More than 5 percent belong to Protestant denominations brought to the islands by missionaries during the era of American rule. Two Christian denominations of local origin have also emerged: Iglesia ni Cristo (Tagalog for "Church of Christ") and the Aglipayan or Philippine Independent Church (PIC). The former group accounts for nearly 2.5 percent of the population, and the PIC, about 2.6 percent. The PIC began in 1888 as a protest against domination of the Roman Catholic church by Spanish clergy.
Nevertheless, Aglipayans have remained strongly Roman Catholic in their practices. Iglesia ni Cristo was founded in 1914 and today is a closely knit and very nationalistic sect. Its distinctively large, modern, whitewashed church buildings can be found in the large cities all over the Philippines. By far the largest one is in Quezon City near the University of the Philippines campus. This building also houses the international headquarters of the denomination.

Islam first appeared in the southern Philippines in the 13th or 14th century. The first Muslims to
arrive were probably traders from the Middle East or from neighboring areas of what are today Indonesia and Malaysia. A long history of clashes between the more powerful and numerous Spaniards and the Muslims kept Islam from extending its influence into the central and northern islands. Nevertheless, neither the Spaniards, the Americans, nor the Filipino Christians could dislodge the Muslims from their homelands in Mindanao and the Sulu Archipelago. Muslims now make up about 4 percent of the population.
Buddhists and other religions account for 2 percent of the population.

Literature
Philippine literature dates from the era before the Spanish conquest. The early Tagalog and a few
other groups had a script which they used in writing on strips of bamboo or palm. Most of these early writings were destroyed by the Spanish missionaries. Of what remained, few pieces survive because of the highly perishable materials on which they were written. Native Filipino stories have, however, been passed from one generation to another as oral narratives. Among these stories are "Hudhod" and "Alim," told by the Ifugao people of northern Luzon, and the "Daranaga" of the Maranao Muslims of Mindanao.
The first book produced in Spanish in the Philippines was a religious work, 'Doctrina Cristiana'
(Christian Teaching), which missionaries printed by means of wood blocks in 1593. The first book to be printed from movable type came out a few years later. It is titled 'Pastrimerias' and was written by Francisco de San Jose, a priest. Most of the early printed works had religious themes and were written by Spaniards.
The best known of the early native writers was Francisco Balagtas, who is known as the Prince of
Filipino Poets. His classic political satire, 'Florante and Laura', was written in the mid-19th century.
Following the opening of Spanish schools to Filipinos during the second half of the 19th century,
more publications by native writers began to appear. Poems, essays, and novels flourished in the 1890s during the Filipino movement for independence. Among the major literary figures of the period were Marcelo H. del Pilar, Graciano López Jaena, and--most prominently--José Rizal, an eminent physician and patriot as well as a man of letters. Rizal wrote the novels 'Noli me tangere' (published as 'The Social Cancer', 1886) and 'El filibusterismo' (The Reign of Greed, 1891). His most famous poem, 'Último adiós' (Last Farewell) was written in 1896, shortly before he was executed by the Spanish authorities.

After the islands were liberated from Spain in 1898, writing in Spanish began a general decline. By the 1930s, with the passing of the last Spanish-educated generation, it nearly disappeared--to be replaced by English, Tagalog (Pilipino), and other native tongues.
The early Filipino writers who used Tagalog often evoked nationalistic sentiments through their
poetry and plays. Some of their works were banned as subversive by American administrators. During the period 1910-25, often called the "golden age of Philippine drama," the foremost dramatists who wrote in Tagalog were Severino Reyes and Patricio Mariano. With the introduction of English in the schools, it quickly became the principal language of literature.

The Fine Arts
Native and foreign influences have combined to create a blend of many cultural overlays in the fine arts of the Philippines. Only a few fragments of precolonial painting and sculpture have survived
because most of the early artifacts were made of wood and were thus destroyed by the elements over the centuries. After Spaniards arrived in the 16th century, the principal efforts of local artists were devoted to the production of religious art. In the late 18th century, painters turned to executing portraits, which were in demand form the rising middle class. Damian Domingo founded the first art school in the islands in about 1820.

By the late 19th century, Filipino artists were achieving an international reputation. Juan Luna was noted for his historical and allegorical works. Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo painted bold landscapes and seascapes. Fabian de la Rosa was renowned for his genre paintings. In the early 20th century a number of Filipino painters were attracted by the art movement known as impressionism, and one artist, Fernando Amorsolo, became the most prominent Philippine artist of the time. The artists of the mid-20th century have also been highly regarded. The most celebrated of them, Victorio C. Edades, Galo B. Ocampo, and Carlos V. Francisco, were known as the Triumvirate.

Other fine arts, including sculpture, pottery, and weaving had distinguished traditions dating from
the precolonial era. Brightly colored garments decorated with intricate designs, along with artistic shields and weapons, have characterized native Philippine craftsmanship from the earliest times to the present.
Knowledge of pre-Spanish architecture is largely derived from current structures which follow earlier models. Simple rooms built on four rooted tree stumps offered protection from weather, landslides,
animals, and enemies. Spanish rule naturally brought new techniques and styles, including the division of buildings into separate functional areas. The Spaniards also introduced the use of mortar and masonry, decorative grilles for windows, and roof tiles. Roman Catholic missionaries promoted the construction of monumental cathedrals and universities. A good example of the latter is Manila's University of Santo Tomás, founded by Dominicans in 1611, predating Harvard University by a quarter of a century. The Spanish also introduced city planning, which featured large central plazas and buildings arranged according to their use. The layout of small cities and towns all over the Philippines reflects these early colonial plans.

The Performing Arts
The Philippines is notable for its native dances, songs, and instrumental music which are lighthearted and invite participation. The most popular folk dance, the tinikling--also called the bamboo
dance--suggests the quick movements of ricebirds and seems to be a purely native expression.
Today, Philippine music is a blend of native, Malay, Muslim, Spanish, and Western influences.
Many of the best jazz and rock musicians in the entire Southeast Asia region are Filipinos. The Cultural Center of the Philippines in Manila offers symphonies, operas, ballets, plays, and other productions. Most of these works originate in other countries, while Filipino composers, musicians, and playwrights tend to pattern their efforts on contemporary Western models. Attempts to combine Philippine themes with Western techniques have been made by such troupes as the Bayanihan Dance Company, whose repertoire consists of theatrical versions of folk dancing.

Education and Recreation
Elementary schooling in the Philippines is compulsory through the sixth grade in the cities and
through the fourth grade in rural areas. Although about one third of the national budget is designated for education, schooling is not available to many children because the funds appropriated are inadequate. Many primary school pupils, especially in the countryside, drop out of school early. In spite of this, the reported literacy rate of 85 percent for persons over 15 years of age is very high in a region that includes the more prosperous countries of Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore. But literacy in this case is defined only as the "ability of a person to read and write a simple message in any language or dialect."
Male and female literacy rates are nearly equal, offering further support for the high status of women in the Philippines relative to other Asian nations.
The educational system, generally modeled after that of the United States, was reorganized in the
1970s. A policy of bilingualism requires the use of Pilipino and English for instruction in specific subject areas. Arabic is a teaching language in Muslim areas.

There are both public and private secondary schools. Most of the colleges and universities,
however, are privately financed. The University of the Philippines, which has campuses in several parts of the nation, is the largest public university. Among the better-known private institutions are: the University of Santo Tomás, the Ateneo de Manila University, and the University of the East. Most of these schools are in the Manila metropolitan area. Schools in other parts of the Philippines include the University of San Carlos, in Cebu; Silliman University, in Dumaguete; and Xavier University, in Cagayan de Oro.

Filipinos enjoy recreation of all types. Fiestas and dances are common throughout the country.
Cinemas are inexpensive and can be found in all the cities. Films in Tagalog are well received where the language is spoken. Manila has more than 100 movie theaters, and the Philippines is the second largest foreign market for Hollywood films after Japan.
Baseball, soccer, basketball, boxing, and--above all--cockfighting are very popular spectator sports. Every town and city in the islands has one or more cockpits, and every Sunday the raucous noise
from the tupada (cockfight) can be heard. It is a sport for the rich, who import expensive specially bred fighting roosters from the United States. The poor use roosters they have hand-raised in their houses.
Much money changes hands, since gambling is the main reason for cockfighting--not unlike horse racing in other countries.
Other sports, such as the Spanish-derived jai alai, arnis de mano, and sipa are also popular. Arnis
de mano is a type of fencing using sticks. Sipa is similar to tennis or volleyball except that the players
keep the ball going with their knees and feet instead of with their hands or a racket.

Economy
Private enterprise is predominant in the Philippines, as it is in the other countries belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Nevertheless, the government maintains
considerable control over utilization of the nation's natural resources.
The Philippines is still largely agricultural, with nearly two thirds of the labor force living in rural
areas and half of them in farm-related work. Yet it is also true that the number of persons employed in mining, manufacturing, and service-related jobs has increased. The value of exports of agricultural and other primary commodities, while still a very large share of total exports, has declined relative to
manufactured goods. One major reason for this is the increasing efficiency of agriculture around the world, making more nations self-sufficient. Another reason is the use of subsidies by some governments to promote their own farm products and diminish competition from imports.
The Philippine economy was dominated first by Spain, then by the United States, during the long
colonial period. Since Philippine independence, foreign economic control has remained significant. Japan and the United States in particular exercise control in the form of investment and aid, which have been vital to Philippine economic development. The Philippine government is, however, seeking to increase local ownership of business and industry.

Author Credit:
This article was contributed by Richard Ulack, Chairman of the Department of Geography at the
University of Kentucky.

Disclaimer
Some of the information in this article may be outdated due to a considerable progress in Philippines during last five years, however, much of the information is still valid.  Large improvements were achieved in communications and computer  technology. Nevertheless, the above article will give the reader good insight into past era, hence the reader can compare today's improvements against other sources of information.

FURTHER RESOURCES FOR THE PHILIPPINES
Brands, H.W. Bound to Empire: The United States and the Philippines (Oxford Univ. Press,1992).
Eder, James, and Youngblood, Robert, eds. Patterns of Power and Politics in the Philippines (Ariz.
State Univ. Press, 1994).
Harper, Peter, and Fullerton, Laurie. Philippine Handbook (Moon Publications, 1994).
Insight Guides. Philippines, 8th ed. (Houghton, 1994).
Karnow, Stanley. In Our Image: America's Empire in the Philippines (Random, 1989).
Macaranas, Natividad. Growing Up in the Philippines (Carlton, 1995).
Pomeroy, W.J. The Philippines: Colonialism, Collaboration, and Resistance (International
Publishers Co., 1992).
Steinberg, David. The Philippines: A Singular and Plural Place, 3rd ed. (Westview, 1994).
Thompson, W.S. The Philippines in Crisis (St. Martin's, 1992).
Wurfel, David. Democracy in the Philippines? The Precarious Aquino Regime (Westview, 1993).

                  Farm Worker
 
 

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