"Philippine" redirects here. For the town in the Netherlands, see Philippine, Netherlands. Coordinates:
13°N 122°E
Republic of the Philippines
Republika ng Pilipinas (Filipino)
Flag
Coat of arms
Motto: "Maka-Diyos, Maka-Tao, Makakalikasan at Makabansa"[1] "For God, People, Nature, and Country"
Anthem: Lupang Hinirang Chosen Land
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Great Seal
Dakilang Sagisag ng Pilipinas (Filipino) Great Seal of the Philippines
Capital
Manilaa 14°35′N 120°58′E
Largest city
Quezon City 14°38′N 121°02′E
Official languages
Filipino
English
Recognized
19 languages[show]
regional languages National language
Filipino
Other recognized
Official and nationalsign languageb
languages
Filipino Sign Language Auxiliary languagesc
Ethnic groups (2015)
Demonym(s)
Spanish
32.9% Visayan
Arabic
29.5% Tagalog 10.1% Moro 10% Ilocano 5.8% Bicolano 2.8% Kapampangan 1.6% Igorot 1.5% Pangasinense 1.5% Chinese 3.3% others Filipino (masculine or neutral)
Filipina (feminine)
Pinoy (colloquial masculine or neutral)
Pinay (colloquial feminine)
Philippine Government
Unitary presidentialconstitutionalrepublic
• President
Rodrigo Duterte
• Vice President
Leni Robredo
• Senate President
Vicente Sotto III
• House Speaker
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
• Chief Justice
Lucas Bersamin
Legislature
Congress
• Upper house
Senate
• Lower house
House of Representatives
Formation of the republic f
• Independence from
June 12, 1898
Spain declared • Treaty of Paris
December 10, 1898
(1898) / Spanish cessiond • Malolos Constitution/ First Philippine Republic f
January 21, 1899
• Tydings–McDuffie
March 24, 1934
Act • Commonwealth of
May 14, 1935
the Philippines • Treaty of Manila /
July 4, 1946
Independence from United States e • Current constitution
February 2, 1987
Area • Total
300,000[3][4] km2(120,000 sq mi) (72nd)
• Water (%)
0.61[5] (inland waters)
• Land
300,000
Population • 2015 census
100,981,437[6](13th)
• Density
336/km2(870.2/sq mi) (47th)
GDP (PPP)
2019 estimate
• Total
$1.041 trillion[7](27th)
• Per capita
$9,538[7] (119th)
GDP (nominal)
2019 estimate
• Total
$354 billion[7] (36th)
• Per capita
$3,246[7] (125th)
Gini (2015)
40.1[8] medium · 44th
HDI (2017)
0.699[9] medium · 113th
Currency
Peso (₱) (PHP)
Time zone
UTC+8 (PST)
• Summer (DST) Date format
UTC+8 (not observed)
mm-dd-yyyy dd-mm-yyyy (AD)
Driving side
right[10]
Calling code
+63
ISO 3166 code
PH
Internet TLD
.ph
Website National Government Portal Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines a.
^ While Manila proper is designated as the nation's capital, the whole of National Capital Region (NCR) is designated as seat of government, hence the name of a region. This is because it has many national government institutions aside from Malacanang Palace and some agencies/institutions that are located within the capital city.[11]
b.
^ Article 3 of Republic Act No. 11106 declared Filipino Sign Language as the national sign language of the Philippines, specifying that it shall be recognized, supported and
promoted as the medium of official communication in all transactions involving the deaf, and as the language of instruction of deaf education.[12][13] c.
^ The 1987 Philippine constitution specifies "Spanish and Arabic shall be promoted on a voluntary and optional basis."[14]
d.
^ Filipino revolutionaries declared independence from Spain on June 12, 1898, but Spain ceded the islands to the United States for $20 million in the Treaty of Paris on December 10, 1898 which eventually led to the Philippine–American War.
e.
^ The United States of America recognized the independence of the Philippines on July 4, 1946, through the Treaty of Manila.[15]This date was chosen because it corresponds to the U.S. Independence Day, which was observed in the Philippines as Independence Day until May 12, 1962, when President Diosdado Macapagalissued Presidential Proclamation No. 28, shifting it to June 12, the date of Emilio Aguinaldo's proclamation.[16]
f.
^ In accordance with article 11 of the Revolutionary Government Decree of June 23, 1898, the Malolos Congress selected a commission to draw up a draft constitutionon September 17, 1898. The commission was composed of Hipólito Magsalin, Basilio Teodoro, José Albert, Joaquín González, Gregorio Araneta, Pablo Ocampo, Aguedo Velarde, Higinio Benitez, Tomás del Rosario, José Alejandrino, Alberto Barretto, José Ma. de la Viña, José Luna, Antonio Luna, Mariano Abella, Juan Manday, Felipe Calderón, Arsenio Cruz and Felipe Buencamino.[17] They were all wealthy and well educated.[18]
The Philippines (/ˈfɪləpiːnz/ ( listen) FIL-ə-peenz; Filipino: Pilipinas [ˌpɪlɪˈpinɐs] or Filipinas [ˌfɪlɪˈpinɐs]), officially the Republic of the Philippines (Filipino: Republika ng Pilipinas),[a] is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Situated in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of about 7,641 islands[19] that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both part of Metro Manila.[20] Bounded by the South China Sea on the west, the Philippine Sea on the east and the Celebes Sea on the southwest, the Philippines shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Vietnam to the west, Palau to the east, and Malaysia and Indonesia to the south. The Philippines' location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons, but also endows it with abundant natural resources and some of the world's greatest biodiversity. The Philippines has an area of 300,000 km2 (120,000 sq mi),[3][4] according to the Philippines Statistical Authority and the WorldBank and, as of 2015, had a population of at least 100 million.[6] As of January 2018, it is the eighth-most populated country in Asia and the 12th most populated country in the world. Approximately 10 million additional Filipinos lived overseas,[21] comprising one of the world's largest diasporas. 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.[22] Exchanges with Malay, Indian, Arab and Chinesenations occurred. Then, various competing maritime states were established under the rule of datus, rajahs, sultans and lakans. The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer leading a fleet for the Spanish, in Homonhon, Eastern Samar in 1521 marked the beginning of Hispanic colonization. In 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain. With the arrival of Miguel López de Legazpi from Mexico City, in 1565, the first Hispanic settlement in the archipelago was established.[23] The Philippines became part of the Spanish Empire for more than 300 years. This resulted in Catholicism becoming the dominant religion. During this time, Manila became the western hub of the trans-Pacific trade connecting Asia with Acapulco in the Americas using Manila galleons.[24] As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, the Philippine Revolution quickly followed, which then spawned the shortlived First Philippine Republic, followed by the bloody Philippine–American War.[25] The war, as well as the ensuing cholera epidemic, resulted in the deaths of thousands of combatants as well as tens of thousands of civilians.[26][27][28][29] Aside from the period of Japanese occupation, the United States retained sovereignty over the
islands until after World War II, when the Philippines was recognized as an independent nation. Since then, the unitary sovereign state has often had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a dictatorship by a non-violent revolution.[30] The Philippines is a founding member of the United Nations, World Trade Organization, Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and the East Asia Summit. It also hosts the headquarters of the Asian Development Bank.[31] The Philippines is considered to be an emerging market and a newly industrialized country,[32] which has an economy transitioning from being based on agriculture to one based more on services and manufacturing.[33] Along with East Timor, the Philippines is one of Southeast Asia's predominantly Christian nations.