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The islands of the Philippines present a combination that is unique in Asia. The people are Malayo-Polynesian; the majority of the population is Roman Catholic; English is the only common language in a country that has 87 native tongues; nearly four centuries of Spanish colonialism have left a flavor of Latin America; and 100 years of US influence (following the Spanish-American War in 1898) mean that the Philippines is also somewhat Americanized. Long ago, and before the Spaniard explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived from across the Pacific on his round the world voyage in 1521, Islam had reached the southern island of Mindanao. It is still the religion of a substantial minority in that part of the country. The Spanish then imposed whatever unity [he archipelago can be said to have (there are 7,107 islands), building haciendas and sugar plantations on its main islands. Administered by the USA from 1898, the Philippines was occupied by the Japanese during the Second World War, was governed by the corrupt and authoritarian Marcos regime from 1965 to 1986, and faced a wide range of insurgencies during the last half of the twentieth century. The first insurgents were communist; more recently they have been members of the Islamic Moro National Liberation Front. There are three main island groupings within the archipelago of the Philippines: the Luzon group, the Visayan group, and the Mindanao and Sulu Islands. Luzon to the north and Mindanao to the south are the two biggest islands and together they constitute two-thirds of the country's total land area. Common to all the main islands is a ruggedly mountainous and volcanic topography with narrow coastal belts, a north-south alignment of upland ridges, and rivers that drain toward the north. Lying to the north of Manila Bay, and stretching to the shores of the Lingayan Gulf, is Luzon's heavily populated central plain. This is an important rice producing area. Beyond hills to the northeast lies the fertile valley of the Cagayan River. Irrigated rice terraces, constructed by the Igorot people, rise tier upon tier up the mountain slopes of northern Luzon. The peninsulas of southeastern Luzon contain a number of volcanoes. The highest peak in the Philippines, Mnt Apo (2,954 m; 9,692 ft), is on Mindanao. Government investment and a range of tax concessions have been used to try to encourage industrial development. Mixing agriculture and light industry, the Philippine economy has been growing at a steady rate in recent years, without approaching the dynamic performance of other countries in the region. While rice is the Philippines' main food crop, maize is the staple on the islands of Cebu, Leyre, and Negros, reflecting the country's old connection with Spanish America. The country is well supplied with mineral resources and nickel, tin, copper, zinc and lead are processed in smelting and refining works. The Philippines is also the world's biggest supplier of refractory chrome, and the second biggest user of geothermal power after the USA. Foreign investment turned sluggish as a consequence of the 1998 regional economic slowdown. Persistent weaknesses in the economy include rudimentary infrastructure, power failures due to inadequate generating capacity, low domestic savings rates, and a foreign debt of US$45 billion.
Fact File
Official NAME Republic of the Philippines FORM OF GOVERNMENT Republic with two legislative Bodies (Senate and House of Representatives)
CAPITAL Manila AREA 300,000 sq km (115,830 sq miles) TIME ZONE GMT + 8 hours POPULATION 79,345,812 PROJECTED POPULATION 2005 89,055,628 POPULATION DENSITY 264.5 per sq km (685 per sq mile) LIFE EXPECTANCY 66.6 INFANT MORTALITY (PER 1,000) 33.9 OFFICIAL LANGUAGES Filipino, English OTHER LANGUAGES About 87 indigenous languages LITERACY RATE 94.4% RELIGIONS Roman Catholic 83%, Protestant 9%, Muslim 5%, Buddhist and other 3% ETHNIC GROUPS Malay 95.5%, Chinese 1.5%, and other 3% CURRENCY Philippine peso ECONOMY Services 48%, agriculture 42%, industry 10% GNP PER CAPITA US$1,050 CLIMATE Tropical, with wet season June to November HIGHEST POINT Mt Apo 2,954 m (9,692 ft)
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