The Philippines
The Pearl of the Orient
The Philippines is an archipelago located in Southeast Asia (longitude: 122 00 E and latitude: 13 00 N ). It is surrounded by water comprising 7,107 islands and islets. On the east is the Pacific Ocean, on the west is South China Sea. See Philippine Map. The northernmost group of islands in the Philippines is Batanes which is only 190 kilometers from Taiwan, while the southernmost island of Tawi-Tawi, is a mere 60 kilometers away from Borneo.
Official Name: Republica ng Pilipinas | Republic of the Philippines
Land area: 115,830 square miles or 300,000 square kilometers. The total land area of the Philippines is comparable in size to Italy.
Population: Approximately113.9 million as of May of 2023.
Currency: Peso (PHP)
Official Languages: Tagalog and English
Capital City: Manila (Metro Manila is the National Capital Region or NCR)
FUN FACTS
On the islands of Philippines, there are more than 200 volcanoes, though only a few are active. This is because the country belongs to the Ring of Fire, but this doesn’t mean that earthquakes visit us like the morning sun. It’s still rare as finding a real nice guy.
The people of the Philippines are from different ethnic origins such as Malay, Chinese, Spanish, American, etc.
The Philippines was one of Spain’s colony from 1521 to 1898. Subsequently, it went into the hands of the USA.
It was the first Southeast Asian country to gain independence in 1946, following World War II.
With more than 11 million Filipinos overseas, the Philippines has the largest diaspora networks in the world.
The karaoke was invented in the Philippines and not Japan. Karaoke means “singing without accompaniment” in Japanese was invented by Roberto del Rosario. The invention of “Sing-Along-System” was later called karaoke.
What antibiotic did Filipino doctor Abelardo Aguilar co-discover? Hint: Brand is Ilosone, named after Iloilo. Erythromycin.
Who invented the fluorescent lamp? Thomas Edison discovered the electric light and the fluorescent lighting was thought up by Nikola Tesla. But the fluorescent lamp we use today was invented by Agapito Flores (a Cebu man named Benigno Flores of Bantayan Island, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer), a Filipino scientist.
The Philippines is regarded the “text capital of the world”. About 350 to 400 million text messages are sent daily by 35 million cell phone subscribers in the country, which is more than the total daily text messages sent in the U.S. and Europe together.
Sources: