Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines
THE PHILIPPINES
The
Philippines (
i//;
FI-lə-peenz;
Filipino:
Pilipinas [ˌpɪlɪˈpinɐs]), officially known as the
Republic of the Philippines (
Filipino:
Repúblika ng Pilipinas), is a
sovereign island country in
Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the
Luzon Strait lies
Taiwan. West across the
South China Sea sits
Vietnam. The
Sulu Sea to the southwest lies between the country and the island of
Borneo, and to the south the
Celebes Sea separates it from other islands of
Indonesia. It is bounded on the east by the
Philippine Sea. Its location on the
Pacific Ring of Fire
and its tropical climate make the Philippines prone to earthquakes and
typhoons but have also endowed the country with natural resources and
made it a
megadiverse country. The Philippines is the
73rd largest independent nation,
[12]
covering almost 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 sq mi) and an
archipelago comprising 7,107 islands, and is categorized broadly into
three main geographical divisions:
Luzon,
Visayas, and
Mindanao. Its capital city is
Manila.
With a population of more than 98 million people,
[6] the Philippines is the
seventh most populated Asian country and the
12th most populated country in the world. An additional 12 million
Filipinos live overseas.
[13] Multiple
ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times,
Negritos were some of the archipelago's earliest inhabitants. They were followed by
successive waves of
Austronesian peoples who brought with them influences from
Malay,
Hindu, and
Islamic societies. Thus, establishing various
nations either ruled by
Datus,
Rajahs,
Sultans or
Lakans. Trade and subsequent Chinese settlement also introduced
Chinese cultural elements which remain to this day.
The arrival of
Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 marked the beginning of an era of Spanish interest and eventual colonization. In 1543, Spanish explorer
Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago
Las Islas Filipinas in honor of
Philip II of Spain. The
Spanish Empire began to settle with the arrival of
Miguel López de Legazpi from
New Spain (present day-Mexico) in 1565 who established the first Spanish settlement in the archipelago, which remained a Spanish
colony for more than 300 years. During this time, Manila became the Asian hub of the
Manila–Acapulco galleon fleet.
As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, there followed in quick succession the
Philippine Revolution, which spawned the short-lived
First Philippine Republic; the
Spanish–American War; and the
Philippine–American War. In the aftermath, the United States emerged as the dominant power; aside from the period of
Japanese occupation, the United States retained sovereignty over the islands. After World War II,
[14] the
Treaty of Manila established the Philippine Republic as an independent nation.
[15] Since then, the Philippines has had an often tumultuous experience with
democracy, with popular "
people power" movements overthrowing
a dictatorship in one instance but also underlining the institutional weaknesses of its constitutional republic in
others.
I am not involved in any school activities, but i would like to be in Key Club. But on every Sundays, I volunteer at a nursing home. As for activities, I like to spend time with my family and friends, read, and playing the piano.
In the future, I would really love to go travel around the world. Mostly to countries that aren't as recognized as like Japan and Dubai. My three goals would be to finish school with good enough grades, become a pediatrician, and travel the world. Finishing school is pretty much a must for everyone. I want to become a pediatrician because I knew that I wanted to become a doctor when I was really young, but as I grew up, I knew I'd rather much deal with kids than adults. Lastly, I want to travel the world to learn the different cultures and how different they were to how I was raised.
