Philippines

The Republic of the Philippines is an island country located in Southeast. The Philippines comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean, sharing maritime borders with Indonesia, Malaysia, Palau, the People's Republic of China, and Vietnam.

The Philippines is the world's 12th most populous country with a population of 90 million people. There are more than 11 million overseas Filipinos worldwide, about 11% of the total population of the Philippines. It is a multi-ethnic country.

Before the arrival of Europeans in 1521, the Philippines was settled by Austronesian (Malayo Polynesian) peoples. The Philippines became a Spanish colony in the 16th century. The Philippines were ceded to the United States in 1898 at the conclusion of the Spanish-American War. A Commonwealth was established in 1935, which allowed self-governance. The United States granted the Philippines independence on July 4, 1946

The Philippines is one of two predominantly Roman Catholic countries in Asia-Pacific, the other being East Timor. Pre-Hispanic indigenous rituals still exist; and there are also followers of Islam. Spanish was an official language of the Philippines until 1987. Since then, the two official languages are Filipino, and English.