About the Philippines Essay

The Filipinos is located in the s offheastern package of Asia. Her neighbor on the north is the Republic of main kill China (Taiwan or Formosa), while on the atomic subject 74 is Communist Vietnam. Further west is Thailand. Immediately to the south of the Philippines is Indonesia and to the southwest atomic number 18 Malaysia and Singapore. The Philippines is separated from her nearby Asiatic neighbors by several bodies of water. They ar the Pacific Ocean on the east, the southeast China Sea on the north and west, and the Celebes Sea and the coastal amniotic fluid of Borneo on the south.I. LAND AND ITS PEOPLEThe Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands and islets. The biggest islands ar Luzon, with a land welkin of 40,530 public square miles (105,000 square 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 m iles (13,429 square kilometers). She has a rugged land caboodle and, similarly, she has an irregular coastline, which is twice as long as that of the continental U.S.A. This constipation has resulted in numerous fine harbors and landlocked straights that give the gate accommodate freehanded ships. They can also be a refuge of ships in excruciation during stormy weather. The land surface is 115,800 square miles (300,000 square kilometers). Land forms accept hills, plains, valleys, and mountains. Her mountain ranges, which are volcanic in origin, are drained by gnomish river systems. There are seven major mountain ranges. The full-sizest and overnight is Sierra Madre, which faces the Pacific Ocean on the eastern coast of Luzon. imbibe more Experiment on polytropic process EssayThe highest peak is Mt. Apo, a volcano in Davao del Sur Province. It has an elevation of 9,691.60 feet (2,954 meters). Three Major Islands. The common chord major geographical roots in the state are Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Luzon comprises the northern portion of the archipelago. The Visayan region has about 6,000 islands including Leyte, Cebu, Samar, and Bohol. Mindanao is the second tremendousst land and encompasses about 400 small islands. These islands are divided into provinces, which are run like states in the linked States. Each province is ruled by a governor, a offense governor, and members of the provincial board. Each province is composed of cities, towns, and barrios. Several Pinatubos. There are several volcanos in the Philippines. These have been one of the natural causes of destruction to life and property for centuries. At least 10 are considered active. The most cognize 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 nonoriety as being the most deadly volcano in the world.It lay dormant before it erupted in June 1991. It right away and indirectly caused damage to public and private property in the provinces of Zambales, Bataan, and Pampanga, including the Clark bearing Force Base in Angeles City, Pampanga Province. Its ashes spread all over the world, causing global warming, damage to the ozone layer, and adverse effects on communications. After sextet years of eruption, the lahar deposits along the volcano still cascade down the slopes afterwards heavy rains. They continue to take travels, destroy link up and roads, and defy billion-peso dikes make to contain lahar flows. These lahar flows are expected to last for five or more years, according to volcanologists. The Philippines lies wi flimsy the Pacific seimic belt, which is why she experiences severer earthquakes. Christian Groups. The flock of the Philippines number about 73,265,584 (July 1995 estimate). There are several heathenish groups and more than 65 so-called heathen minorities in the Philippines, wh ich speak their own dialects or languages.Among these social 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 Filipinos and are the Christians. About 84 percent of Filipinos are Roman Catholics. The Tagalogs get going in manilla and in central and southern Luzon. Although they speak Tagalog, they have intonations of their own, as do the Batangue?os from Batangas Province. The Tagalogs mostly live in such provinces as Nueva Ecija (the Ilocanos also live in some towns in the northern affair of the province), Bulacan, Rizal, Batangas, Quezon, Laguna, and Mindoro (Oriental and Occidental). The Tagalogs dominate the deal in Manila. There are, however, many people in the city who have scratch from antithetical parts of the country, including Luzon, to live in the big city. Many also have come from the Bicol region and the Visayan islands. The Ilocanos live in the Ilocos region in northern Luzon, particularly Ilocos Sur and Ilocos Norte, barely many of them have migrated in large numbers to central Luzon, and, of course, to the join States.Most of the oldtimers in the unite States in the late 1920s and advance(prenominal) 1930s came from the Ilocos region. The Ilongos live in western 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, etc. The Pampangue?os or Kapampangans live in central Luzon, particularly in Pampanga Province. The Pangasinanians live in the Lingayen Gulf region of Luzon, including Pangasinan Province however, many Pangasinanians have migrated into an early(a)(prenominal) towns in central Luzon. The Waray-Warays are in the provinces of Samar and eastern Leyte. Other Groups. Chinese and ot her groups also live in the Philippines. The Chinese comprise 1.5 percent of the population, and are active in bloodline. 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 fold Province of Luzon. In northern Luzon, the other 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 there are groups known as the Tiruray, the TBoli, the Bagobo, the Mandaya, the Bukidnon, the Subanun, and the Manobo. The Negritoes, popula rly known as the Agta or the Aeta live in the mountainous areas of Luzon, Negros, Panay, and Mindanao. I love You Iniibig Kita Yes, I love you is say in about 87 dialects or languages in the Philippines. These include Tagalog, Kapampangan, Ilocano, Cebuano, Pangasinanian, Bicolano, Hiligaynon, Chabacano, and the different 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 face and Pilipino, are the official languages in schools, in government, and in private institutions, especially in urban places. English serves as the official language used in communications and in business bear uponings, especially by Rotarians, Jaycees, and other organizations. That is, English and Pilipino both serve as the med ia of communications among the people who also speak their own dialects. It is common that when a Filipino in the Philippines and a Filipino in America save up to each other, they communicate in English. save 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 tonic (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 b ranches. Have Pesos and Enjoy If you have the dollar, you can have it changed to the Philippine peso. The dollar when this book was about to go to mechanical press was equivalent to forty pesos (P40.00). The Philippine currency consists of the peso (P) and the centavo. One 100 centavos equal P1. Coin denominations are 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 centavos, and P1, P2, and P5. Bill denominations consist of 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000 pesos. outside currency may be exchanged in banks, hotels, and most large department stores, which have authorized money-changing shops. Charge It Charge It Most large hotels, stores, restaurants, and resort areas accept major credit cards, including Visa, Mastercard, and American Express. At hotels and other large stores, travelers checks are accepted, preferably American Express. Hows the Weather? The weather in the Philippines is tropical, the country having precisely devil seasons, the teetotal and rainy seasons. Its usually hot from April to Jul y. The dry season is amidst November and June and the rainy season is between July and October. Filipinos consider December, January, and February as the cool months. But they may not be considered as winter without snow as in the United States maybe its milder or like dancing or fall.II. FLASHBACK THE EARLY FILIPINOSThe Philippines, scientists believe, once was a part of Mainland China. According to the scientists, during the nut 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 Asian 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 theory of land bridges. He retained that the Philippines was never part of mainland Asia. He claimed that it arose from the bottom of the sea and, as the thin Pacific crust mo ved below it, continued to rise. It continues to rise today. The country lies along great Earth faults that extend to deep lowsea trenches. The resulting ferocious 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 observed 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 command of Philippine history in Filipino schools today has early Philippine habitants coming in waves. In 1962, it was concluded that about 250,000 years ago, primal men came to the Philippines from the Asian mainland. Then about 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. (T hey 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 transit of time did not prevent other people from inhabiting the Philippines. 5,000 to 6,000 Years past? The first Indonesians arrived by boat from Southeast Asia some 5,000 to 6,000 years ago. practically 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 two hundred B.C. From Borneo, they traveled by sailboats and settled in the three major islands of the Philippines Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. subsequent peoples who came from the start of Christianity until the present time include the Indians (Hindus), the Arabs, the Chin ese, other Eastern Asians, the Europeans, and the Americans. Who Came prototypical? The matter of who the first settlers were has not been really 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 agriculture.Anthropologist F. Landa Jocano of the University of the Philippines contends that what dodo evidence of ancient men show is that they not only 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 sure is that there is evidence the Philippines was be 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 humanity being, were found in a Tabon cave in Palawan Province. The discove ry 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 phylogenys 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 attribute the Filipino culture as being Malay in orientation. According to Jocanos findings, the peoples of the prehistorical islands of Southeast Asia were of the same population as the combination of human evolution that occurred in the islands of Southeast Asia about 1.9 million years ago. The proofs of this are fossil materials 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 und er any of the historically identified 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 make the Filipinos more and more different from the peoples of other Southeast Asian countries.