Philippines
Population: 98 million
Government type: Democratic
Main Religions: Catholic, Muslim
Official language: Tagalog/Filipino
The Philippines ruled itself until Spain arrived in the form of Magellan in 1521. America helped get Spain out of the Philippines 1898 and then decided to impose their own rule for the next 48 years. The Philippines became a self ruling country again on the 4th July 1946 and has remained autonomous since.
Through the rule of the Spaniards and Americans the culture of the Philippines has taken on aspects of both countries. Catholicism is everywhere. If you want to have a public transport vehicle then part of the requirements is having religious images and/or effergies of Christ or God or other Saints.
If you want to ride public transport then it is most likely you will take a Jeepney at some time. They are vehicles left over from the occupation by the U.S. and world war II. These vehicles have been converted into a really colourful form of transport. One of the most interesting aspects of Jeepney`s are the driver and his companion trying to find more and more people to take their Jeepney rather than someone else`s Jeepney. I`ve seen people that have had to sit on other peoples knees because of the overzealous way the drivers attract their customers.
The people of the Philippines are some of the nicest people you will find. Mostly laid back people who enjoy having fun. Very often neighbours will congregate at one persons house and the men sit outside sharing a bottle of beer while the women go inside and gossip as all women do throughout the world. Due to the low wealth you will find that the Filipino`s are some of the most imaginative in terms of finding work or making products. Highly skilled in many fields, a lot of the western world goods are manufactured in the Philippines and then stamped as made in China or Japan by the companies in China and Japan. Timex, Lexmark and Victoria`s Secret all have products made in the Philippines.
| Philippines in other languages:- |
| Chinese: | fēi lǜ bīn 菲律宾 |
| French: | f philippines |
| German: | f philippinen |
| Greek: | f Φιλιππίνες |
| Indonesian: | filipina |
| Italian: | f filippine |
| Japanese: | firipin 比律賓, フィリピン |
| Nederlands: | c filippijnen |
| Norwegian: | filippinene |
| Polish: | filipiny |
| Portuguese: | fpl filipinas |
| Spanish: | f filipinas |
| Tagalog: | pilipinas |
| Turkish: | filipinler |