Saturday 25 June 2011

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 of more than seven thousand islands. An archipelago is a group of large number of islands. Do you know that this country has the richest biodiversity in the whole world? Apart from this, there are many other interesting facts about Philippines mentioned in this article. Let us take a look at them in detail.

Interesting Facts About Philippines For Kids

    * Taiwan lies to the north of Philippines; while Sulu Sea and Celebes Sea lies to the south. The country of Vietnam is on the west of Philippines while the Philippine Sea is to the east.
    * 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.
    * 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.
    * Talking about languages, 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 still ranks fifth in the world for having the longest coastline.
    * Due to the presence of the Pacific Ring of Fire, Philippines is highly prone to earthquakes and typhoons.
    * There were about 200 volcanoes on the islands of Philippines earlier. However, very few are actually 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.

Fun Facts About Philippines

    * 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 as Maynilad.
    * Another interesting facts about Philippines is that it the world's third largest English 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 then the number of text messages sent by people of US and UK together.

Fast Facts About Philippines

    * 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 ~ 85.2 million (2006)
    * Total Area ~300,000 square kilometers
    * Literacy: 96%

These were some of the interesting facts about Philippines, which, I hope, you must have enjoyed reading. You can also go through the link Philippines legends and myths for some more interesting facts. You should definitely visit Philippines at least once to see the beautiful beaches, the lush green landscape and of course, the Chocolate Hills! Ciao!

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