"Philippine" redirects here. For the town in the Netherlands, see Philippine, Netherlands.

Coordinates: 13°N 122°E

Republic of the Philippines

Republika ng Pilipinas (Filipino)

Flag

Coat of arms

Motto:
"Maka-Diyos, Maka-Tao, Makakalikasan at Makabansa"[1]
"For God, People, Nature, and Country"

Anthem: Lupang Hinirang

Chosen Land

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Great Seal

Dakilang Sagisag ng Pilipinas (Filipino)

Great Seal of the Philippines

Capital Manilaa
14°35′N 120°58′E

Largest city Quezon City

14°38′N 121°02′E
 Official languages Filipino
 English
Recognized
19 languages[show]
regional languages

National language Filipino

Other recognized Official and nationalsign languageb

languages Filipino Sign Language
Auxiliary languagesc
 Spanish
 Arabic

Ethnic groups  32.9% Visayan

(2015)  29.5% Tagalog
 10.1% Moro
 10% Ilocano
 5.8% Bicolano
 2.8% Kapampangan
 1.6% Igorot
 1.5% Pangasinense
 1.5% Chinese
 3.3% others

Demonym(s) Filipino
(masculine or neutral)
Filipina
(feminine)
Pinoy
(colloquial masculine or neutral)
Pinay
(colloquial feminine)
Philippine

Government Unitary presidentialconstitutionalrepublic

• President Rodrigo Duterte

• Vice President Leni Robredo
• Senate President Vicente Sotto III
• House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
• Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin

Legislature Congress

• Upper house Senate

• Lower house House of Representatives

Formation of the republic

f

• Independence from June 12, 1898

Spain declared
• Treaty of Paris December 10, 1898
(1898) / Spanish
cessiond
• Malolos January 21, 1899
Constitution/ First
Philippine
Republic f
• Tydings–McDuffie March 24, 1934
Act
• Commonwealth of May 14, 1935
the Philippines
• Treaty of Manila / July 4, 1946
Independence
from United
States e
• Current constitution February 2, 1987

Area
• Total 300,000[3][4] km2(120,000 sq mi) (72nd)
• Water (%) 0.61[5] (inland waters)
• Land 300,000

Population
• 2015 census 100,981,437[6](13th)
• Density 336/km2(870.2/sq mi) (47th)

GDP (PPP) 2019 estimate

• Total $1.041 trillion[7](27th)
• Per capita $9,538[7] (119th)

GDP (nominal) 2019 estimate

• Total $354 billion[7] (36th)
• Per capita $3,246[7] (125th)

Gini (2015) 40.1[8]

medium · 44th

HDI (2017) 0.699[9]

medium · 113th

Currency Peso (₱) (PHP)

Time zone UTC+8 (PST)

• Summer (DST) UTC+8 (not observed)

Date format  mm-dd-yyyy

 dd-mm-yyyy (AD)

Driving side right[10]

Calling code +63

ISO 3166 code PH

Internet TLD .ph

Website
National Government Portal
Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines

a. ^ While Manila proper is designated as the nation's capital,

the whole of National Capital Region (NCR) is designated
as seat of government, hence the name of a region. This is
because it has many national government institutions aside
from Malacanang Palace and some agencies/institutions
that are located within the capital city.[11]

b. ^ Article 3 of Republic Act No. 11106 declared 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.[12][13]

c. ^ The 1987 Philippine constitution specifies "Spanish and

Arabic shall be promoted on a voluntary and optional
basis."[14]

d. ^ Filipino revolutionaries declared independence from Spain

on June 12, 1898, but Spain ceded the islands to the United
States for $20 million in the Treaty of Paris on December
10, 1898 which eventually led to the Philippine–American
War.

e. ^ The United States of America recognized the

independence of the Philippines on July 4, 1946, through
the Treaty of Manila.[15]This date was chosen because it
corresponds to the U.S. Independence Day, which was
observed in the Philippines as Independence Day until May
12, 1962, when President Diosdado Macapagalissued
Presidential Proclamation No. 28, shifting it to June 12, the
date of Emilio Aguinaldo's proclamation.[16]

f. ^ In accordance with article 11 of the Revolutionary

Government Decree of June 23, 1898, the Malolos
Congress selected a commission to draw up a
draft constitutionon September 17, 1898. The commission
was composed of Hipólito Magsalin, Basilio Teodoro, José
Albert, Joaquín González, Gregorio Araneta, Pablo
Ocampo, Aguedo Velarde, Higinio Benitez, Tomás del
Rosario, José Alejandrino, Alberto Barretto, José Ma. de la
Viña, José Luna, Antonio Luna, Mariano Abella, Juan
Manday, Felipe Calderón, Arsenio Cruz and Felipe
Buencamino.[17] They were all wealthy and well educated.[18]

The Philippines (/ˈfɪləpiːnz/ ( listen) FIL-ə-peenz; Filipino: Pilipinas [ˌpɪlɪˈpinɐs] or Filipinas [ˌfɪlɪˈpinɐs]), officially
the Republic of the Philippines (Filipino: Republika ng Pilipinas),[a] is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia.
Situated in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of about 7,641 islands[19] that are categorized broadly under three
main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The capital city of the Philippines
is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both part of Metro Manila.[20] Bounded by the South China
Sea on the west, the Philippine Sea on the east and the Celebes Sea on the southwest, the Philippines shares
maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Vietnam to the west, Palau to the east, and Malaysia and Indonesia to the
south.
The Philippines' location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes the Philippines prone to
earthquakes and typhoons, but also endows it with abundant natural resources and some of the world's greatest
biodiversity. The Philippines has an area of 300,000 km2 (120,000 sq mi),[3][4] according to the Philippines Statistical
Authority and the WorldBank and, as of 2015, had a population of at least 100 million.[6] As of January 2018, it is
the eighth-most populated country in Asia and the 12th most populated country in the world. Approximately 10 million
additional Filipinos lived overseas,[21] comprising one of the world's largest diasporas. Multiple ethnicities and cultures
are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelago's earliest inhabitants.
They were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples.[22] Exchanges
with Malay, Indian, Arab and Chinesenations occurred. Then, various competing maritime states were established
under the rule of datus, rajahs, sultans and lakans.
The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer leading a fleet for the Spanish, in Homonhon, Eastern
Samar in 1521 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. With the arrival of Miguel López de
Legazpi from Mexico City, in 1565, the first Hispanic settlement in the archipelago was established.[23] The
Philippines became part of the Spanish Empire for more than 300 years. This resulted in Catholicism becoming the
dominant religion. During this time, Manila became the western hub of the trans-Pacific trade connecting Asia
with Acapulco in the Americas using Manila galleons.[24]
As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, the Philippine Revolution quickly followed, which then spawned the short-
lived First Philippine Republic, followed by the bloody Philippine–American War.[25] The war, as well as the ensuing
cholera epidemic, resulted in the deaths of thousands of combatants as well as tens of thousands of
civilians.[26][27][28][29] Aside from the period of Japanese occupation, the United States retained sovereignty over the
islands until after World War II, when the Philippines was recognized as an independent nation. Since then,
the unitary sovereign state has often had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of
a dictatorship by a non-violent revolution.[30]
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 also hosts the
headquarters of the Asian Development Bank.[31] The Philippines is considered to be an emerging market and
a newly industrialized country,[32] which has an economy transitioning from being based on agriculture to one based
more on services and manufacturing.[33] Along with East Timor, the Philippines is one of Southeast Asia's
predominantly Christian nations.