Interesting Facts About Philippines

The Philippines lies in the Pacific ocean and is one of the most populous nations in the world. It is officially known as Republic of the Philippines. Philippines is a large archipelago which comprises more than seven thousand islands. An archipelago is a group of large number of islands.

✤ Taiwan lies north of Philippines; while Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea are to the south. Vietnam is on the west of Philippines and the Philippine Sea is to the east.

✤ It is a popular belief that English language was brought to Philippines by Americans. On the contrary, the English language was introduced to the people of this nation by the British invaders.

✤ The Philippine islands was under Spanish rule from 1521 to the nineteenth century. The British had also invaded Manila in the eighteenth century. Later it was under the American rule in the Second World War. It gained independence after the World War II.

✤ The official languages of this nation are Filipino and English; while other regional languages recognized in this country are Bikol, Ilokano, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Pangasinense,Tagalog and Waray.

✤ The history behind the name 'Philippines' of this country is also very interesting. The nation got its 'Philippines' after King Philip II of Spain.

✤ Philippines boasts of a coastline of 36,289 kilometers. However, it ranks fourth in the world for having the longest coastline.

✤ As Philippines lies in the Pacific Ring of Fire, it is highly prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.

✤ There are about 355 inactive volcanoes on the islands of Philippines. Very few are active now.

✤ Mount Apo, found on the island of Mindanao is the highest point in Philippines. The height of this mountain is 2,954 m.

✤ People native to Philippines are known as Filipino. There is a mixture of ethnicity in Philippines as people belonging to different ethnic groups like Malay, Spanish, American and Chinese are found in this country.

✤ There are specific mountain types, known as Chocolate Hills found in this country. As they are brown in color, they are termed so. However, another interesting fact is that the name of these hills has been inspired by 'Hershey's kisses'.

✤ The capital city of Philippines, Manila, is named after a plant called Maynilad

✤ Another interesting fact is that it the world's third largest speaking country.

✤ According to the customs and traditions in Philippines, it is not considered good manners to open gifts immediately when they are given.

✤ Do you know that Philippines is the only country in the world whose flag is hoisted upside down when the country is at war?

✤ Philippines is known as the 'text capital of the world' because of the large number of texts sent to-and-fro by the people in one day. The number is higher than the number of text messages sent by people of US and UK together.

• Official Name ~ Republic of the Philippines
• Capital city ~ Manila
• Currency ~ Philippine Peso
• Type of Government ~ Unitary presidential constitutional republic
• Head of Government ~ President
• Head of State ~ President
• Population ~ 100 million (2015)
• Total Area ~300,000 square kilometers
• Literacy: 95.6%

These were some of the interesting facts, to be known. You should definitely visit Philippines at least once to see the beautiful beaches, the lush green landscape and of course, the Chocolate Hills! Ciao!