Philippines

The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. In the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of about 8,600 islands that are broadly categorized under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao. The Philippines is organized as a federation comprising 18 federative units (11 states, 2 autonomous republics, 4 special states, and 1 federal administrative region)

The Philippines' position as an island country on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes the country prone to earthquakes and typhoons. The country has a variety of natural resources and a globally significant level of biodiversity. The Philippines has an area of around 799,333 km2 (308,624 sq mi) with a population of around 113 million people. As of 2020, it is the 8th-most populated country in Asia and the 12th-most populated country in the world.

The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer leading a fleet for the Spanish, 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. In 1565, the first Hispanic settlement in the archipelago was established, and the Philippines became part of the Spanish Empire for more than 300 years. During this time, Catholicism became the dominant religion, and Manila became the western hub of the trans-Pacific trade. In 1896 the Philippine Revolution began, which then became entwined with the 1898 Spanish–American War. Spain ceded the territory to the United States, while Filipino rebels declared the First Philippine Republic. The ensuing Philippine–American War ended with the United States establishing control over the territory, which they maintained until the Japanese invasion of the islands during World War II. Following liberation, the Philippines became an independent country in 1946. Since then, the federal sovereign state has often had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a dictatorship by the People Power Revolution.

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 is a member of the G-15 and G20. The Philippines is classified as an upper-middle income economy by the World Bank and a newly industrialized country. Its economy ranks as the world's eighth-largest by nominal GDP. Its citizens enjoy one of the world's fastest Internet connection speeds. On account of its international recognition and influence, the country is subsequently classified as an emerging power and a potential superpower by several analysts.

Etymology
Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, during his expedition in 1542, named the islands of Leyte and Samar 'Felipinas' after Philip II of Spain, then the Prince of Asturias. Eventually the name 'Las Islas Filipinas' would be used to cover the archipelago's Spanish possessions. Before Spanish rule was established, other names such as 'Islas del Poniente' (Islands of the West) and Magellan's name for the islands, 'San Lázaro', were also used by the Spanish to refer to islands in the region.

Prehistory (pre–900)
There is evidence of early hominins living in what is now the Philippines as early as 709,000 years ago. The oldest modern human remains found on the islands are from the Tabon Caves of Palawan, U/Th-dated to 47,000 ± 11–10,000 years ago. The Tabon Man is presumably a Negrito, who were among the archipelago's earliest inhabitants, descendants of the first human migrations out of Africa via the coastal route along southern Asia to the now sunken landmasses of Sundaland and Sahul.

The first Austronesians reached the Philippines at around 2200 BC, settling the Batanes Islands and northern Luzon. From there, they rapidly spread downwards to the rest of the islands of the Philippines and Southeast Asia. This population assimilated with the exiting Negritos resulting in the modern Filipino ethnic groups which display various ratios of genetic admixture between Austronesian and Negrito groups. Jade artifacts have been found dated to 2000 BC, with the lingling-o jade items crafted in Luzon from raw materials originating Taiwan. By 1000 BC, the inhabitants of the archipelago had developed into four kinds of social groups: hunter-gatherer tribes, warrior societies, highland plutocracies, and port principalities.

Early states (900–1521)
The earliest known surviving written record found in the Philippines is the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. By the 1300s, a number of the large coastal settlements had emerged as trading centers, and became the focal point of societal changes. Some polities developed substantial trade contacts with other polities in China and Southeast Asia. Trade with China is believed to have begun during the Tang dynasty, but grew more extensive during the Song dynasty. By the 2nd millennium CE, some Philippine polities were known to have sent trade delegations which participated in the Tributary system enforced by the Chinese imperial court, trading but without direct political or military control. Indian cultural traits, such as linguistic terms and religious practices, began to spread within the Philippines during the 10th century, likely via the Hindu Majapahit empire. By the 15th century, Islam was established in the Sulu Archipelago and by 1565 had reached Mindanao, the Visayas, and Luzon.

Polities founded in the Philippines from the 10th-16th centuries include Maynila, Tondo, Namayan, Pangasinan, Cebu, Butuan, Maguindanao, Lanao, Sulu, and Ma-i. The early polities of the Philippine archipelago were typically characterized by a three-tier social structure: a nobility class, a class of "freemen", and a class of dependent debtor-bondsmen. Among the members of the nobility class were leaders who held the political office of "Datu," which was responsible for leading autonomous social groups called "barangay" or "dulohan". Whenever these barangays banded together, either to form a larger settlement or a geographically looser alliance group, the more senior or respected among them would be recognized as a "paramount datu", which headed the community state.

Colonial rule (1565–1946)
In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the area, claimed the islands for Spain, and was then killed at the Battle of Mactan. Colonization began when Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi arrived from Mexico in 1565, establishing control of Cebu, Panay, and Luzon. The Spaniards established Manila, at what is now Intramuros, as the capital of the Spanish East Indies in 1571. The Spanish considered their war with the Muslims in Southeast Asia an extension of the Reconquista.

Spanish rule brought what is now the Philippines into a single unified administration. From 1565 to 1821, the Philippines was governed as part of the Mexico-based Viceroyalty of New Spain, and then was administered directly from Madrid following the Mexican War of Independence. Manila galleons were constructed in Bicol and Cavite. Manila became the western hub of the trans-Pacific trade.

Under Spanish rule, Catholic missionaries converted most of the lowland inhabitants to Christianity. They also founded schools, a university, hospitals, and churches. To defend their settlements, the Spaniards constructed and manned a network of military fortresses across the archipelago. The Spanish also decreed the introduction of free public schooling in 1863. Slavery was also abolished. As a result of these policies the Philippine population increased exponentially.

During its rule, Spain quelled various indigenous revolts, as well as defending against external military challenges. The Philippines was expensive during Spanish rule. War against the Dutch from the West, in the 17th century, together with conflict with the Muslims in the South and combating Japanese-Chinese Wokou piracy from the North nearly bankrupted the colonial treasury. There was a high desertion rate among the Latino soldiers sent from Mexico and Peru, and also to Filipino warriors and laborers levied by Spain, this was due to repeated wars, lack of wages, dislocation and near starvation. Immigration blurred the racial caste system Spain maintained in towns and cities. Increasing difficulty in governing the Philippines led to the Royal Fiscal of Manila writing to King Charles III of Spain, advising him to abandon the colony. However, this was successfully opposed by the religious and missionary orders that argued that the Philippines was a launching pad for further religious conversion in the Far East.

The Philippines survived on an annual subsidy provided by the Spanish Crown, usually paid through the provision of 75 tons of silver bullion being sent from the Americas. Financial constraints meant the 200-year-old fortifications in Manila did not see significant change after being first built by the early Spanish colonizers. British forces occupied Manila from 1762 to 1764 during the Seven Years' War, however they were unable to extend their conquest outside of Manila as the Filipinos stayed loyal to the remaining Spanish community outside Manila. Spanish rule was restored through the 1763 Treaty of Paris. The Spanish–Moro conflict lasted for several hundred years. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Spain conquered portions of Mindanao and the Moro Muslims in the Sultanate of Sulu formally recognized Spanish sovereignty.

In the 19th century, Philippine ports opened to world trade and shifts started occurring within Filipino society. Many Spaniards born in the Philippines and those of mixed ancestry were wealthy, and an influx of Hispanic American immigrants opened up government positions traditionally held by Spaniards born in the Iberian Peninsula. However, ideas of rebellion and independence began to spread through the islands. Many Latin-Americans and Criollos staffed the Spanish army in the Philippines. However, the onset of the Latin American wars of independence led to doubts about their loyalty. This was compounded by a Mexican of Filipino descent, Isidoro Montes de Oca, becoming captain-general to the revolutionary leader Vicente Guerrero during the Mexican War of Independence. To prevent the union of both Latinos and Filipinos in rebellion against the empire, the Latino and Criollo officers stationed in the Philippines were soon replaced by Peninsular officers born in Spain. These Peninsular officers were less committed to the people they were assigned to protect and were often predatory, enriching themselves before returning to Spain, putting the interests of the metropolis over the interest of the natives.

Revolutionary sentiments were stoked in 1872 after three activist Catholic priests were accused of sedition and executed. This would inspire a propaganda movement in Spain, organized by Marcelo H. del Pilar, José Rizal, and Mariano Ponce, lobbying for political reforms in the Philippines. Rizal was eventually executed on December 30, 1896, on charges of rebellion. This radicalized many who had previously been loyal to Spain. As attempts at reform met with resistance, Andrés Bonifacio in 1892 established the militant secret society called the Katipunan, who sought independence from Spain through armed revolt.

The Katipunan started the Philippine Revolution in 1896. Katipunan chapters in Cavite Province, primarily the Magdiwang and the Magdalo had an internal dispute that led to the Tejeros Convention and an election in which Bonifacio lost his position and Emilio Aguinaldo was elected as the new leader of the revolution. In 1898, the Spanish–American War began, and this war reached Spanish forces in the Philippines. Aguinaldo declared Philippine independence from Spain in Kawit, Cavite, on June 12, 1898, and the First Philippine Republic was declared in the Barasoain Church in the following year.

The islands were ceded by Spain to the United States alongside Puerto Rico and Guam as a result of the latter's victory in the Spanish–American War. As it became increasingly clear the United States would not recognize the First Philippine Republic, the Philippine–American War broke out. War resulted in the deaths of at least 200,000 and at most, 1 million Filipino civilians, mostly due to famine and disease. After the defeat of the First Philippine Republic, the archipelago was administered under an American Insular Government. The Americans then suppressed other rebellious proto-states: mainly, the waning Sultanate of Sulu, as well as the insurgent Tagalog Republic and the Republic of Zamboanga.

During this era, a renaissance in Philippine culture occurred, including an expansion of Philippine cinema and literature. Daniel Burnham built an architectural plan for Manila which would have transformed it into a modern city. In 1935, the Philippines was granted Commonwealth status with Manuel Quezon as president and Sergio Osmeña as vice president. Quezon designated a national language and introduced women's suffrage and land reform.

Plans for independence over the next decade were interrupted by World War II when the Japanese Empire invaded and the Second Philippine Republic, under Jose P. Laurel, was established as a puppet state.

In a report by Karl L. Rankin, from mid-1942 through mid-1944, the Japanese occupation of the Philippines was opposed by large-scale underground guerrilla activity. The largest naval battle in history, according to gross tonnage sunk, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, occurred when Allied forces began liberating the Philippines from the Japanese Empire. Many atrocities and war crimes were committed during the war, including the Bataan Death March and the Manila massacre. Allied troops defeated the Japanese in 1945. By the end of the war it is estimated that over a million Filipinos had died. On October 11, 1945, the Philippines became one of the founding members of the United Nations.

Postcolonial period (1946–present)
On July 4, 1946, the Philippines was officially recognized by the United States as an independent nation through the Treaty of Manila, during the presidency of Manuel Roxas. Efforts to end the Hukbalahap Rebellion began during Elpidio Quirino's term, however, it was only during Ramon Magsaysay's presidency was the movement decimated. Magsaysay's successor, Carlos P. Garcia, initiated the Filipino First Policy, which was continued by Diosdado Macapagal, with celebration of Independence Day moved from July 4 to June 12, the date of Emilio Aguinaldo's declaration, and pursuit of a claim on the eastern part of North Borneo.

In 1958, The Philippine-Malaysian War happened after tensions over the territorial claim of Sabah. It was expected that Malaysia was getting full control of Sabah but unexpectedly, The Philippines won the war and took full control of the island.

In 1965, Macapagal lost the presidential election to Ferdinand Marcos. Early in his presidency, Marcos initiated numerous infrastructure projects and exceptional economic growth but, it was suffering from rampant corruption. In the end of Marcos' regime, the country shifted to Federalism after the 1987 Constitution was in effect.

On August 21, 1983, Marcos' chief rival, opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr., was assassinated on the tarmac at Manila International Airport. Marcos eventually called snap presidential elections in 1986. Marcos was proclaimed the winner, but the results were widely regarded as fraudulent. The resulting protests led to the People Power Revolution, which forced Marcos and his allies to flee to Hawaii and Aquino's widow, Corazon Aquino, was installed as president.

Ramos' successor, Joseph Estrada was overthrown by the 2001 EDSA Revolution and he was succeeded by his Vice President, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on January 20, 2001. Arroyo's 11-year administration was notable for the economic boom and the end of Philippine corruption.

During Benigno Aquino III's administration, a clash which took place in Mamasapano, Maguindanao killed 44 members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force that put the efforts to pass the Bangsamoro Basic Law into law in an impasse. Davao City Mayor, Rodrigo Duterte won the 2016 presidential election, His administration is considered to be the best since Ferdinand Marcos' administration due to it's economic boom from the Arroyo administration, and low crime rate. In 1999, The Philippines became one of the Asian Tigers due to it's high economic growth.

Battle of Marawi (2017)
According to the Philippine government, the clashes began during an offensive in Marawi to capture Isnilon Hapilon, the leader of the ISIL-affiliated Abu Sayyaf group, after receiving reports that Hapilon was in the city, possibly to meet with militants of the Maute group. A deadly firefight erupted when Hapilon's forces opened fire on the combined Army and police teams and called for reinforcements from the Maute group, an armed group that pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and which is believed to be responsible for the 2016 Davao City bombing, according to military spokesmen.

Maute group militants attacked Camp Ranao and occupied several buildings in the city, including Marawi City Hall, Mindanao State University, a hospital and the city jail. They also occupied the main street and set fire to Saint Mary's Cathedral, Ninoy Aquino School and Dansalan College, run by the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP). The militants also took a priest and several churchgoers hostage.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines stated that some of the terrorists were foreigners who had been in the country for a long time, offering support to the Maute group in Marawi. Their main objective was to raise an ISIL flag at the Lanao del Sur Provincial Capitol and declare a wilayat or provincial ISIL territory in Lanao del Sur.

On October 17, 2017, the day after the deaths of militant leaders Omar Maute and Isnilon Hapilon, President Duterte declared Marawi was "liberated from terrorist influence". Then on October 23, 2017, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana announced that the five-month battle against the terrorists in Marawi had finally ended.

Geography
The Philippines is an archipelago composed of about 8,600 islands with a total land area, including inland bodies of water, of 799,333 km2 (308,624 sq mi). The 36,289 kilometers (22,549 mi) of coastline makes it the country with the fifth longest coastline in the world. The exclusive economic zone of the Philippines covers 2,263,816 km2 (874,064 sq mi). It is located between 116° 40', and 126° 34' E longitude and 4° 40' and 21° 10' N latitude and is bordered by the Philippine Sea to the east, the West Philippine Sea to the west, and the Celebes Sea to the south.

Government and politics
The Philippines has a democratic government in the form of a constitutional republic with a presidential system, It is governed as a federal state. The President functions as both head of state and head of government and is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The president and vice president is elected by popular vote. The president serves a four-year term with the possibility of a second successive term, during which he or she appoints and presides over the cabinet. Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. was elected to a four-year term as president in the 2020 elections. The bicameral National Congress is composed of the Federal Senate, serving as the upper house, with members elected to a six-year term, and the Chamber of Deputies, serving as the lower house, with members elected to a three-year term.

There have been attempts to change the government to a parliamentary government since the Ramos administration. The Philippines is one of the least corrupt countries in the world scoring 76 in the Corruption Perceptions Index.

Foreign relations
As a founding and active member of the United Nations, the country has been elected to the Security Council. Carlos P. Romulo was a former President of the United Nations General Assembly. The country is an active participant in peacekeeping missions, particularly in East Timor. The Philippines is a founding and active member of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). It has hosted several summits and is an active contributor to the direction and policies of the bloc. It is also a member of the East Asia Summit (EAS), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), G-15, G20, and the Non-Aligned Movement. The country is also seeking to obtain observer status in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Military
The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) consist of three branches: the Philippine Air Force, the Philippine Army, and the Philippine Navy. The Armed Forces of the Philippines are a volunteer force. Civilian security is handled by the Philippine National Police under the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). The Philippines is ranked 8th of 138 out of the countries considered for the annual GFP review. It holds a PwrIndx* rating of 0.1709.

The Philippines possesses nuclear weapons as they are the only Southeast Asian country to possess nuclear weapons. They have a total of a whopping 1,250 nuclear warheads, 500 of which have been deployed.

Administrative divisions
The Philippines is divided into 18 federative units (11 states, 2 autonomous republics, 4 special states and the Federal Administrative Region), 81 provinces, 146 cities, 1,488 municipalities, and 42,036 barangays. States serve primarily to organize the provinces of the country for administrative convenience. Since 1960, The Philippines claimed Sabah, Palau, the Spratly Islands, Micronesia under the name of "Caroline Islands", and the Marie Byrd Land. The Philippines is the eighth country to claim Antarctic land. Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia (Caroline Islands) acts as a independent country and it's considered to be a "Commonwealth".

Political parties
The Philippines has a two-party system with the Philippine Democratic Party (Partido Demokratiko Pilipino) and the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments for political expediency and convenience.

Economy
The Philippine economy has produced an estimated gross domestic product (nominal) of US$1.957 trillion, the largest in Southeast Asia. It is dominated by the petroleum sector, formerly dominated by the agriculture sector. The Philippines has the largest oil reserves in Southeast Asia, second in the world. Major trading partners include the United States, Japan, China, Singapore, South Korea, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, Germany, Taiwan, and Thailand. Its unit of currency is the Philippine peso (₱ or PHP).

A newly industrialized country, the Philippine economy has been the largest in Southeast Asia since the Marcos administration. The unemployment rate as of October 2019, stands at an incredible 0.9%. The Philippines is a member of the G20 major economies since 1999.

Science and technology
The Department of Science and Technology is the governing agency responsible for the development of coordination of science and technology-related projects in the Philippines. Research organizations in the country include the International Rice Research Institute, which focuses on the development of new rice varieties and rice crop management techniques.

The Philippines bought its first satellite in 1996. In 2016, the Philippines first micro-satellite, Diwata-1 was launched aboard the US Cygnus spacecraft. The Philippines has a high concentration of cellular phone users. Text messaging is a popular form of communication and, in 2007, the nation sent an average of one billion SMS messages per day. The country has a high level of mobile financial services utilization. The Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company, commonly known as PLDT, is a formerly nationalized telecommunications provider. It is also the largest company in the country. The National Telecommunications Commission is the agency responsible for the supervision, adjudication and control over all telecommunications services throughout the country. There are approximately 417 AM and 1079 FM radio stations and 438 television and 1,551 cable television stations. On March 29, 1994, the country was connected to the Internet via a 64 kbit/s connection from a router serviced by PLDT to a Sprint router in California. Estimates for Internet penetration in the Philippines vary widely ranging from a low of 2.5 million to a high of 24 million people. Social networking and watching videos are among the most frequent Internet activities. The Philippine population is the world's top internet user.

Tourism
The travel and tourism sector contributed 10.6% of the country's GDP in 2015 and providing 1,226,500 jobs in 2013. 8,260,913 international visitors arrived from January to December 2019, up by 15.24% for the same period in 2018.

Transportation
Transportation in the Philippines is facilitated by road, air, rail and waterways. As of December 2018, there are 210,528 kilometers (130,816 mi) of roads in the Philippines, with only 65,101 kilometers (40,452 mi) of roads paved. The 919-kilometer (571 mi) Strong Republic Nautical Highway (SRNH), an integrated set of highway segments and ferry routes covering 17 cities was established in 2003. The Pan-Philippine Highway connects the islands of Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao, forming the backbone of land-based transportation in the country. Roads are the dominant form of transport, carrying 98% of people and 58% of cargo. A network of expressways extends from the capital to other areas of Luzon. The 8.25-kilometre (5.13 mi) Cebu–Cordova Link Expressway in Cebu will be finished by 2021. Traffic is a significant issue facing the country, especially within Manila and on arterial roads connecting to the capital.

Public transport in the country include buses, jeepneys, UV Express, TNVS, Filcab, taxis, and tricycles. Jeepneys are a popular and iconic public utility vehicle. Jeepneys and other Public Utility Vehicles which are older than 15 years are being phased out gradually in favor of a more efficient and environmentally friendly Euro 4 compliant vehicles.

Water supply and sanitation
In 2015, it was reported by the Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation that 99% of the population had access to improved sanitation. As of 2016, 96% of Filipino households have an improved source of drinking water, and 99% of households had sanitary toilet facilities.

Demographics
The Commission on Population estimated the country's population to be 107,190,081 as of December 31, 2018, based on the latest population census of 2015 conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority. The population increased from 1990 to 2008 by approximately 28 million, a 45% growth in that time frame. The first official census in the Philippines was carried out in 1877 and recorded a population of 5,567,685.

A third of the population resides in Metro Manila and its immediately neighboring regions. The 2.34% average annual population growth rate between 1990 and 2000 decreased to an estimated 1.90% for the 2000–2010 period. Government attempts to reduce population growth have been a contentious issue. The population's median age is 22.7 years with 60.9% aged from 15 to 64 years old. Life expectancy at birth is 69.4 years, 73.1 years for females and 65.9 years for males. Poverty incidence dropped to 21.6% in 2015 from 25.2% in 2012.

Metro Manila is the most populous of the 3 defined metropolitan areas in the Philippines and the 5th most populous in the world. Census data from 2015 showed it had a population of 12,877,253 constituting almost 13% of the national population. Including suburbs in the adjacent provinces (Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal) of Greater Manila, the population is around 23,088,000. Across the country, the Philippines has a total urbanization rate of 51.2 percent. Metro Manila's gross regional product was estimated as of 2009 to be ₱468.4 billion (at constant 1985 prices) and accounts for 33% of the nation's GDP. In 2011 Manila ranked as the 11th wealthiest urban agglomeration in the world and the wealthiest in Southeast Asia.

Ethnic groups
There is substantial ethnic diversity with the Philippines, a product of the seas and mountain ranges dividing the archipelago along with significant foreign influences. According to the 2010 census, 24.4% of Filipinos are Tagalog, 11.4% Visayans/Bisaya (excluding Cebuano, Hiligaynon and Waray), 9.9% Cebuano, 8.8% Ilocano, 8.4% Hiligaynon, 6.8% Bikol, 4% Waray, and 26.2% are "others", which can be broken down further to yield more distinct non-tribal groups like the Moro, the Kapampangan, the Pangasinense, the Ibanag, and the Ivatan. There are also indigenous peoples like the Igorot, the Lumad, the Mangyan, the Bajau, and the tribes of Palawan.

Negritos are considered among the earliest inhabitants of the islands. These minority aboriginal settlers are an Australoid group and are a left-over from the first human migration out of Africa to Australia, and were likely displaced by later waves of migration. At least some Negritos in the Philippines have Denisovan admixture in their genomes. Ethnic Filipinos generally belong to several Southeast Asian ethnic groups classified linguistically as part of the Austronesian or Malayo-Polynesian speaking people. There is some uncertainty over the origin of this Austronesian speaking population, with it being likely that ancestors related to Taiwanese aborigines brought their language and mixed with existing populations in the area. European DNA is present in many Filipinos today. A craniometric study reveals that samples taken from graveyards across the Philippines show a mean ratio of European descent of circa 6%. Under Spanish rule there was also immigration from elsewhere in the empire, especially from Latin America.

Chinese Filipinos are mostly the descendants of immigrants from Fujian in China after 1898, numbering around 2 million, although there are an estimated 20 percent of Filipinos who have partial Chinese ancestry, stemming from precolonial and colonial Chinese migrants. While a distinct minority, Chinese Filipinos are well-integrated into Filipino society. As of 2015, there were 220,000 to 600,000 American citizens living in the country. There are also up to 250,000 Amerasians scattered across the cities of Angeles, Manila, Clark and Olongapo. Other important non-indigenous minorities include Indians and Arabs. There are also Japanese people, which include escaped Christians (Kirishitan) who fled the persecutions of Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu which the Spanish empire in the Philippines had offered asylum from. The descendants of mixed-race couples are known as Tisoy.

Languages
Ethnologue lists 186 individual languages in the Philippines, 182 of which are living languages, while 4 no longer have any known speakers. Most native languages are part of the Philippine branch of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, which is itself a branch of the Austronesian language family. In addition, various Spanish-based creole varieties collectively called Chavacano exist. There are also many Philippine Negrito languages that have unique vocabularies that survived Austronesian acculturation.

Filipino and English are the official languages of the country. Filipino is a standardized version of Tagalog, spoken mainly in Metro Manila. Both Filipino and English are used in government, education, print, broadcast media, and business, with third local languages often being used at the same time. The Philippine constitution provides for the promotion of Spanish and Arabic on a voluntary and optional basis. Spanish, which was widely used as a lingua franca in the late nineteenth century, has since declined greatly in use, although Spanish loanwords are still present today in Philippine languages, while Arabic is mainly taught in Islamic schools in Mindanao.

Nineteen regional languages act as auxiliary official languages used as media of instruction: Aklanon, Bikol, Cebuano, Chavacano, Hiligaynon, Ibanag, Ilocano, Ivatan, Kapampangan, Kinaray-a, Maguindanao, Maranao, Pangasinan, Sambal, Surigaonon, Tagalog, Tausug, Waray, and Yakan. Other indigenous languages such as, Cuyonon, Ifugao, Itbayat, Kalinga, Kamayo, Kankanaey, Masbateño, Romblomanon, Manobo, and several Visayan languages are prevalent in their respective provinces. Article 3 of Republic Act No. 11106 declared the 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.

Religion
The Philippines is a secular state which protects freedom of religion. Christianity is the dominant faith, shared by over 92% of the population. As of 2013, the country had the world's third largest Roman Catholic population, and was the largest Christian nation in Asia. Census data from 2015 found that about 79.53% of the population professed Catholicism. Around 37% of the population regularly attend Mass. 29% of self-identified Catholics consider themselves very religious. An independent Catholic church, the Philippine Independent Church, has around 66,959 adherents. Protestants were 10.8% of the population in 2010. 2.64% of the population are members of Iglesia ni Cristo. The combined following of the Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches comes to 2.42% of the total population.

Islam is the second largest religion. The Muslim population of the Philippines was reported as 6.01% of the total population according to census returns in 2015. Conversely, a 2012 report by the National Commission of Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) stated that about 10,700,000 or 11% of Filipinos are Muslims. The majority of Muslims live in Mindanao and nearby islands. Most practice Sunni Islam under the Shafi'i school.

The percentage of combined positive atheist and agnostic people in the Philippines was measured to be about 3% of the population as of 2008. The 2015 Philippine Census reported the religion of about 0.02% of the population as "none". A 2014 survey by Gallup International Association reported that 21% of its respondents identify as "not a religious person". Around 0.24% of the population practice indigenous Philippine folk religions, whose practices and folk beliefs are often syncretized with Christianity and Islam. Buddhism is practiced by around 0.03% of the population, concentrated among Filipinos of Chinese descent.

Education
The Philippines had a simple literacy rate of 99.8% as of 2015, and a functional literacy rate of 96.3% as of 2013. Education takes up a significant proportion of the national budget. In the 2020 budget, education was allocated PHP17.1 billion from the PHP4.1 trillion budget.

The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) lists 2,180 higher education institutions, among which 607 are public and 1,573 are private. Classes start in July and end in March. The majority of colleges and universities follow a semester calendar from July to November and December to March, while some have adopted an increasingly common semester calendar from August to December and January to April. Primary and secondary schooling is divided between a 4-year elementary period, a 3-year middle period, and a 6-year senior high school period.

People/Trends

 * The Philippine currency is the peso. The Philippines is the only country in Asia who has Peso as their currency.
 * The Philippines' dialing code is +63
 * It is the fifth Asian Tiger and is projected to become the 3rd largest economy by 2050 due to it's high economic growth (set to hit US$10 trillion by 2050)
 * The drinking age in the Philippines is 18
 * The marriage age in the Philippines is 25
 * The average internet speed in the Philippines is 30.46Mbps, As of 2019. The fastest is 79.12Mbps.
 * The Philippines is the most powerful Southeast Asian country and most likely to win any conflict.
 * It is the second least corrupt Asian country after Singapore and the least corrupt presidential republic, scoring 76 in the Corruption Perceptions Index.
 * The Philippines has an External Debt of US$165 million, the lowest in Southeast Asia
 * It is one of the eight countries that allow death penalty, The Philippines has one of the lowest crime rates in the world.

Media
Philippine media mainly uses the Filipino language. The Philippine has 3 major television networks: GMA, ABS-CBN and TV5. Variety shows are a big part of Philippine television. Wil Time Bigtime, Eat Bulaga!, and Magandang Tanghali Bayan are the three most popular variety shows in the Philippines.