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, Japan to the northeast, 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 Chinese nations 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.