About the Philippines Essay

The Philippines is located in the south eastern portion of Asia. Her inhabit on the north is the Republic of China (Taiwan or Formosa), period on the west is Communist Vietnam. hike west is Thai sphere. Immediately to the south of the Philippines is Ind matchlesssia and to the southwest argon Malayansia and Singapore. The Philippines is separated from her nearby Asiatic neighbors by some(prenominal) bodies of water. They ar the Pacific Ocean on the east, the south- fundamental China ocean on the north and west, and the Celebes Sea and the coastal waters of Borneo on the south.I. LAND AND ITS mintThe Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands and islets. The biggest islands ar Luzon, with a land bea of 40,530 upstanding up miles (105,000 squ be kilometers) Mindanao, 36,670 square miles (95,000 square kilometers) Palawan, 5,749.86 square miles (14, 896 square kilometers) Negros, 5,278.55 square miles (13,675 square kilometers) and Samar, 5,183.59 square miles (13,429 square kilometers). She has a rugged land mass and, similarly, she has an irregular coastline, which is double as yen as that of the continental U.S.A. This irregularity has resulted in numerous fine harbors and landlocked straights that send away accommodate large ships. They can too be a refuge of ships in distress during surging weather. The land surface is 115,800 square miles (300,000 square kilometers). res publica forms include hills, plains, v anyeys, and mountains. Her mountain ranges, which are volcanic in origin, are drained by menial river systems. at that place are seven major mountain ranges. The largest and long- bed is Sierra Madre, which faces the Pacific Ocean on the eastern coast of Luzon.See more Experiment on polytropic process EssayThe highest peak is Mt. Apo, a blowhole in Davao del Sur Province. It has an elevation of 9,691.60 feet (2,954 meters). Three study Islands. The three major geographical groups in the terra firma are Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Luzon comprises the northern portion of the archipelago. The Visayan region has wellspring-nigh 6,000 islands including Leyte, Cebu, Samar, and Bohol. Mindanao is the second largest land and encompasses nigh 400 small islands. These islands are divided into provinces, which are run worry states in the unify States. Each province is rule by a g all oernor, a vice governor, and members of the barbarian board. Each province is composed of cities, towns, and barrios. Several Pinatubos. in that respect are several vent-holes in the Philippines. These throw off been one of the natural causes of destruction to life and property for centuries. At least 10 are considered active. The most nonable are Iraya on Batanes Island Taal in Batangas Banahaw in Quezon Mayon in Albay and Hibok-Hibok on the Camiguin Islands Makaturing in Lanao Apo in Davao, and Mt. Pinatubo in Zambales. Mt. Pinatubo has gained recognize as being the most destructive vent-hole in the world.It lay d or homophilet before it erupted in June 1991. It directly and indirectly caused damage to public and hidden property in the provinces of Zambales, Bataan, and Pampanga, including the Clark Air Force nucleotide in Angeles City, Pampanga Province. Its ashes spread all over the world, do global warming, damage to the ozone layer, and adverse effects on communications. After six days of eruption, the lahar deposits along the volcano still cascade down the slopes after severe rains. They continue to take defys, destroy link and roads, and keep billion-peso dikes built to contain lahar flows. These lahar flows are expected to put out for five or more years, according to volcanologists. The Philippines lies at bottom the Pacific seimic belt, which is why she experiences severer estatequakes. Christian Groups. The plurality of the Philippines topic some 73,265,584 (July 1995 estimate). There are several pagan groups and more than 65 supposed cultural minorities in the Phili ppines, which speak their own dialects or nomenclatures.Among these ethnical groups are the Tagalog, the Ilocano, the Pangasinanian, the Pampangue?o, the Bicolano, the Cebuano, the Ilongo, and the Waray-Waray. They comprise more than 90 percent of all Philippines and are the Christians. About 84 percent of Filipinos are Roman Catholics. The Tagalogs stretch out in Manila and in central and southern Luzon. Although they speak Tagalog, they shake up intonations of their own, as do the Batangue?os from Batangas Province. The Tagalogs mostly live in much(prenominal) provinces as Nueva Ecija (the Ilocanos alike live in some towns in the northern wear out of the province), Bulacan, Rizal, Batangas, Quezon, Laguna, and Mindoro (Oriental and Occidental). The Tagalogs overcome the people in Manila. There are, however, many people in the city who have come from opposite air divisions of the country, including Luzon, to live in the big city. legion(predicate) also have come from the Bicol region and the Visayan islands. The Ilocanos live in the Ilocos region in northern Luzon, peculiarly Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte, only many of them have migrated in large numbers to central Luzon, and, of course, to the United States. around of the old clock timers in the United States in the late mid-twenties and aboriginal 1930s came from the Ilocos region. The Ilongos live in horse opera Negros, in southern Mindoro, and on the island of Panay. The Cebuanos predominate in Cebu, western Leyte, Bohol, eastern Negros, and in some coastal areas of Mindanao. The Bicolanos are in the southeastern Luzon and nearby islands, including the provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte, etcetera The Pampangue?os or Kapampangans live in central Luzon, particularly in Pampanga Province. The Pangasinanians live in the Lingayen disconnection region of Luzon, including Pangasinan Province however, many Pangasinanians have migrated into separate towns in central Luzon. The Waray-Warays are in the provinces of Samar and eastern Leyte. Other Groups. Chinese and a nonher(prenominal) groups also live in the Philippines. The Chinese comprise 1.5 percent of the population, and are active in business. Cultural Minorities. There are more than 65 cultural minorities, similar to the Indian tribes in the United States, who live in reservations and in the mountains.They include the Muslim groups, which are comprised of the Maranao, the Samal, the Maguindanao, the Tausug, etc. They live in the Sulu Archipelago and southern Mindanao. There are also the so-called upland tribal groups who live in the mountain regions of the country, such as in the plenteousness Province of Luzon. In northern Luzon, the separate ethnic groups include the Bontoc, the Kalinga, the Ifugao, the Kankanay, the Ibaloi, the Isneg, the Ilongot, the Tinguian, and the Gadang. The Mangyan group lives in Mindanao and the Batak and the Tagbanua live in Palawan. In Mindanao on that point are groups k flatn as the Tiruray, the TBoli, the Bagobo, the Mandaya, the Bukidnon, the Subanun, and the Manobo. The Negritoes, popularly k outrightn as the Agta or the Aeta live in the mountainous areas of Luzon, Negros, Panay, and Mindanao. I honor You Iniibig Kita Yes, I love you is said in close to 87 dialects or manner of speakings in the Philippines. These include Tagalog, Kapampangan, Ilocano, Cebuano, Pangasinanian, Bicolano, Hiligaynon, Chabacano, and the diverse dialects spoken by other ethnic groups such as Muslims and cultural minorities. The Filipino dialects belong to the so-called Malayo-Polynesian language family, which is said to be the largest language family throughout the world.Pilipino (not Filipino), which is based on Tagalog, is the national language in the Philippines, but both English and Pilipino, are the official languages in schools, in political science, and in snobbish institutions, especially in urban places. English serves as the official language used in communications and in business meetings, especially by Rotarians, Jaycees, and other organizations. That is, English and Pilipino both serve as the media of communications among the people who also speak their own dialects. It is frequent that when a Filipino in the Philippines and a Filipino in America write to each other, they transfer in English. But in daily conversation, English and Pilipino are combined, which is called Taglish (meaning Tagalog (Pilipino) and English. For instance, one may say, Pupunta ako sa Maynila, to enroll at the University of the Philippines, (Ill go to Manila to enroll at the.) or Okeng, okey ka, youre so sweet (Youre okay and youre so sweet) So whenever you meet Filipinos in the United States, they may be speaking their own dialects when not speaking in English. However, these groups know Pilipino.So if you want to know a Filipino language, it should be Tagalog or Pilipino so that youll have more people whom you can converse with. Government.The Philippines has a democratic form of government, like that of the United States. The government is divided into executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Have Pesos and Enjoy If you have the dollar, you can have it changed to the Philippine peso. The dollar when this earmark was about to go to press was equivalent to 2score pesos (P40.00). The Philippine currency consists of the peso (P) and the centavo. One speed of light centavos equal P1. Coin denominations are 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 centavos, and P1, P2, and P5. lodge denominations consist of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 pesos.Foreign currency may be exchanged in banks, hotels, and most large discussion section stores, which have authorized money-changing shops. Charge It Charge It almost large hotels, stores, restaurants, and resort areas accept major credit cards, including Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. At hotels and other large stores, travellers checks are accepted, preferably American Express. Hows the Weather? The weather in the Philippines is tropical, the country having entirely two seasons, the dry and rainy seasons. Its unremarkably hot from April to July. The dry season is in the midst of November and June and the rainy season is between July and October. Filipinos consider December, January, and February as the quiet months. But they may not be considered as winter without snow as in the United States maybe its milder or like leap or fall.II. FLASHBACK THE EARLY FILIPINOSThe Philippines, scientists believe, once was a part of Mainland China. According to the scientists, during the Ice Age, the waters surrounding the Philippines dropped to about 156 feet below the present levels, exposing large bodies of land. These became land bridges connecting the Philippines to the Asiatic mainland. The Philippines, Out from the Bottom of the Sea? In February 1976, Dr. Fritjof Voss, a German scientist who studied the geology of the Philippines, questioned the validity of this surmise of land bridges. He maintained that the Philippines was never part of mainland Asia. He claimed that it arose from the bottom of the sea and, as the turn off Pacific crust moved below it, continue to rise. It continues to rise today. The country lies along great hide faults that extend to deep undersea trenches. The resulting violent earthquakes caused what is now the land masses forming the Philippines to rise to the surface of the sea.Dr. Voss also pointed out that when scientific studies were done on the earths crust from 1964 to 1967, it was discovered that the 35-kilometer-thick crust underneath China does not reach the Philippines. Thus, the latter could not have been a land bridge to the Asian mainland. When They Came, How They Came. The traditional teaching of Philippine history in Filipino schools today has early Philippine habitants flood tide in waves. In 1962, it was concluded that about 250,000 years ago, primitive men came to the Philippines from the Asian mainland. Then ab out 25,000 years ago came the pygmies, the small, black-skinned, squat-nosed, thick-lipped, and kinky-haired people from the south over the still remaining land bridges. (They are considered the ancestors of the Negritoes, who are, in turn, regarded as the aborigines of the Philippines.) Around 12,000 to 15,000 years ago, another Negrito (or Aeta) migration occurred. They reached Luzon from Borneo over land bridges in Palawan and Mindoro.The submergence of the land bridges when the ice melted with the passing of time did not prevent other people from inhabiting the Philippines. 5,000 to 6,000 days Ago? The first Indonesians arrived by boat from south-east Asia some 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. Much later, around 1500 B.C., a second wave of Indonesians arrived. Then came the Malays in two successive waves, the first between 800 and 500 B.C. and the second, between 300 and 200 B.C. From Borneo, they traveled by sailboats and colonised in the three major islands of the Philippines Luzo n, Visayas, and Mindanao. Subsequent peoples who came from the bulk of Christianity until the present time include the Indians (Hindus), the Arabs, the Chinese, other eastern Asians, the Europeans, and the Americans. Who Came First? The matter of who the first settlers were has not been in reality resolved. This is being disputed by anthropologists, as well as the theory of Professor H. Otley Beyer that the first inhabitants of the Philippines came from the Malay Peninsula. The Malays now constitute the largest portion of the populace and what Filipinos now have is a Malayan culture.Anthropologist F. Landa Jocano of the University of the Philippines contends that what fossil march of ancient men show is that they not totally migrated to the Philippines, but also to New Guinea, Borneo, and Australia. He says that there is no way of determining if they were Negritoes at all. However, what is certain(a) is that there is evidence the Philippines was inhabited as early as 21,000 or 22,000 years ago. In 1962, a skull cap and a portion of a jaw, presumed to be those of a human being, were found in a Tabon cave in Palawan Province. The discovery proved that man came earlier to the Philippines than to the Malay Peninsula therefore, the first inhabitants of the former did not come from the latter. Jocano further believes that present Filipinos are products of the long process of evolutions and movements of people. This not only holds true for Filipinos, but for the Indonesians and the Malays of Malaysia, as well. No group among the three is culturally or racially dominant.Hence, Jocano says that it is not correct to refer the Filipino culture as being Malay in orientation. According to Jocanos findings, the peoples of the prehistoric islands of southeastern United States Asia were of the same population as the combination of human evolution that occurred in the islands of Southeast Asia about 1.9 one million million years ago. The proofs of this are fossil mat erials found in different parts of the region and the movements of other peoples from the Asian mainland during historic times. He states that these ancient men cannot be categorized under any of the historically determine ethnic groups (Malays, Indonesians, Filipinos) of today. Some Filipino ethnic groups were pagans while others were Muslims. The pagans were converted to Christianity by the Spaniards. The Americans later arrived and introduced further cultural changes, which made the Filipinos more and more different from the peoples of other Southeast Asian countries.