Developing Countries Fact File

Philippines
Location: The Philippines is located in Southeast Asia in the Western Pacific Ocean.
The Philippines has a population of around 100 million with
Population: approximately 10 million living abroad which makes it one of the
world’s largest diasporas (scattered population).

Capital City: Manila is the capital city of the Philippines.

Official Language: Religion:

Filipino and English are The Philippines is officially a secular

the official languages of
the Philippines. There is
said to be around 180
other native languages
throughout the islands.
state meaning it supports no religion in
particular however Christianity is the
main faith of the inhabitants, over 90%
of the population identifying as Catholic
or Protestant and roughly 5% identifying
as Muslim.

Flag:
•

The flag of the Philippines consists of 2 horizontal stripes, blue on top, red on bottom. It
has a white equilateral triangle on the left hand side which has a golden yellow sun in
the middle with 8 rays coming out from the sun. At each corner there is a 5 point golden
yellow star.

• The blue of the flag represents peace, truth and justice.

• The red of the flag represents patriotism and valour.

• The white of flag represents liberty, equality and

fraternity.

• The sun on the flag represents freedom, democracy and sovereignty.

• Each ray on the sun stands for a different province within the Philippines.

• The stars on the flag represent the 3 main island groups.

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 Philippines

Facts:

• The Philippines consists of around 7,600 • As it is located on the Pacific Ring of Fire,
islands. It is the 5th largest island country this also means that it has a wide range
in the world and it also has the 5th longest of natural resources and is home to a
coastline in the world. vast amount of biodiversity

• The country is divided into 3 island • The ‘Philippine Trench’ is a submarine

groups: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao.
Roughly half the population
lives in Luzon.
• The Philippines is located on the Pacific
Ring of Fire and close to the equator which
means that it is prone to natural disasters
such as earthquakes and typhoons.
• In 1991, the volcano of Mount Pinatubo
erupted. It was the second largest volcano
eruption of the 20th century.
trench found to the east of the
Philippines. This trench is over 10,500m
deep at its deepest point. This point
is called Galatea Depth and is the 3rd
deepest point in the world.
• The Philippines was part of the Spanish
empire for over 300 years and it is
named after King Phillip II of Spain
during the 1542 expedition of Spanish
explorer Ruy López de Villalobos.

The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is one of the protected areas in the
Philippines and was voted as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature in 2012. It is located in
the western coast of the 5th largest Island of the Philippines, the island of Palawan in the
St Paul Mountain Range. It is also home to the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River which
is an underground river which was found to have a second floor, caves, a cave dome and
waterfalls inside the cave in 2010. Until 2007, it was thought to be the world’s longest
underground river, this was until the underground river in the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico
was found.

• The country is said to have the 2nd largest gold deposits in the world after South Africa. It
is also said to have the largest deposit of copper in the world too.

• The Philippines has the highest quality and hardest marble in the world, which is found
in 7 different colours (brown, rust, grey, white, green, black and orange).This is due to the
volcanic nature of the islands leading to mineral deposits being abundant.

• Due to the extreme weather conditions, the Philippines is one of the top ten countries most
vulnerable to climate change.

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Problems Experienced:
The Philippines experiences problems with
access to sanitation services, high pollution
in water and poor quality of drinking water.
Economy:
The economy in the Philippines relies
heavily on the export and production of
petroleum, pepper, coconut oil and fruits.
Arts and Culture:
Weaving and pottery are popular art forms
amongst the people of the Philippines, as
well as sculpture
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Philippines
Education:
12 years of education is compulsory in
the Philippines.
70% of people who study to become
nurses will go abroad for work making
the Philippines the largest supplier
of nurses.
Sport:
Most sports are very popular, from
mountain biking, to rugby, to American
football, to karate. The Philippines was
the first country from Southeast Asia
to compete and win a medal in the
Olympic Games. It has competed in every
Olympic Games since 1924 and was the
first tropical nation to compete in the
Winter Olympics in 1972 with 2 athletes
competing in alpine skiing.
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