The Philippines is a group of about 7,000 islands in the Pacific Ocean, off the southeast coast of Asia. The Philippines has been an independant country since 1946, called the Republic of the Philippines. More than 65-70 million people live in the Philippines, most of them on about 400 of the islands.
The important cities are located on Luzon, Quezon City (the capital of the Republic), Manila (the largest city), and Baguio; Cebu on Cebu Island; Bacolod on Negros; Iloilo on Panay; and Zamboanga and Davao on Mindanao. Most of the people of the Philippines, who are called Filipinos, are descended from the Malays, a light-browned-skinned people of Asia and
the Pacific islands. The Philippines was named for King Phillip II of Spain. The country was ruled by Spain from 1521 to 1898, in that time, the Portugese explorer Ferdinand Magellan discovered the Philippines. Also during that time a new type of Filipino arose, the mestizo, who was a mixture of Spanish and Filipino blood. The official national language is
Filipino, a new language based on Tagalog, a Malayan dialect. There are about 87 different dialects spoken.
taken from the "Illustrated World Encyclopedia" Bobley Publishing Corp Woodsbury, New York
