Informatics Educational Institutions & Programs

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

Welcome to the Philippines Portal / Maligayang pagdating sa Portal ng Pilipinas

The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. In the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of 7,641 islands, with a total area of roughly 300,000 square kilometers, which are broadly categorized in three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The Philippines is bounded by the South China Sea to the west, the Philippine Sea to the east, and the Celebes Sea to the south. It shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Japan to the northeast, Palau to the east and southeast, Indonesia to the south, Malaysia to the southwest, Vietnam to the west, and China to the northwest. It is the world's twelfth-most-populous country, with diverse ethnicities and cultures. Manila is the country's capital, and its most populated city is Quezon City. Both are within Metro Manila.

Negritos, the archipelago's earliest inhabitants, were followed by waves of Austronesian peoples. The adoption of animism, Hinduism with Buddhist influence, and Islam established island-kingdoms ruled by datus, rajas, and sultans. Extensive overseas trade with neighbors such as the late Tang or Song empire brought Chinese people to the archipelago as well, which would also gradually settle in and intermix over the centuries.

The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer leading a fleet for Castile, marked the beginning of Spanish colonization. In 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of King Philip II of Castile. Spanish colonization via New Spain, beginning in 1565, led to the Philippines becoming ruled by the Crown of Castile, as part of the Spanish Empire, for more than 300 years. Catholic Christianity became the dominant religion, and Manila became the western hub of trans-Pacific trade. Hispanic immigrants from Latin America and Iberia would also selectively colonize. The Philippine Revolution began in 1896, and became entwined with the 1898 Spanish–American War. Spain ceded the territory to the United States, and Filipino revolutionaries declared the First Philippine Republic. The ensuing Philippine–American War ended with the United States controlling the territory until the Japanese invasion of the islands during World War II. After the United States retook the Philippines from the Japanese, the Philippines became independent in 1946. The country has had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a decades-long dictatorship in a nonviolent revolution.

The Philippines is an emerging market and a developing and newly industrialized country, whose economy is transitioning from being agricultural to service- and manufacturing-centered. It is a founding member of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, ASEAN, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, and the East Asia Summit; it is a member of the Non-Aligned Movement and a major non-NATO ally of the United States. Its location as an island country on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes it prone to earthquakes and typhoons. The Philippines has a variety of natural resources and a globally-significant level of biodiversity. (Full article...)

More about the Philippines...

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Selected article - show another

Quezon Avenue and Quezon Memorial Shrine

Quezon City (UK: /ˈkeɪzɒn/, US: /ˈkeɪsɒn, -sɔːn, -soʊn/; Filipino: Lungsod Quezon [luŋˈsod ˈkɛson] ^ⓘ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino as Kyusi), is the most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 2,960,048 people. It was founded on October 12, 1939, and was named after Manuel L. Quezon, the second president of the Philippines.

The city was intended to be the national capital of the Philippines that would replace Manila, as the latter was suffering from overcrowding, lack of housing, poor sanitation, and traffic congestion. To create Quezon City, several barrios were carved out from the towns of Caloocan, Marikina, San Juan and Pasig, in addition to the eight vast estates the Philippine government purchased for this purpose. It was officially proclaimed the national capital on October 12, 1949, and several government departments and institutions moved out of Manila and settled into the new capital city. This necessitated the expansion of the city northward, carving out Novaliches from Caloocan which divided it into two non-contiguous parts. Several barrios were also taken from San Mateo and parts of Montalban. However, on June 24, 1976, Presidential Decree No. 940 was enacted, which reverted national capital status to Manila while the whole of Metro Manila was designated as the seat of government. The city was also chosen as the regional center of Southern Tagalog, which was created in 1965, along with the provinces of Quezon and Aurora, the birthplace of Manuel L. Quezon; however, its status of regional center became ineffective when the region was divided into Calabarzon and Mimaropa, through the effect of Executive Order No. 103 in May 2002 under the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and Aurora was transferred to the authority of Central Luzon, with Southern Tagalog limited to being a cultural-geographic region. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch

... that the 2025 Philippine general election is set to be the first to be held under a new voting system provider after the previous one was disqualified over bribery allegations?
... that Dolly de Leon was the first Filipino to be nominated for a Golden Globe or a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress?
... that Ploning and Mindanao, films starring Judy Ann Santos, were the Philippine submissions for Best International Feature Film at the 81st and 93rd Academy Awards, respectively?
... that Tomas Fung founded the predecessor of the restaurant Ling Nam with only 3,000 Philippine pesos?
... that the chancery of the Philippine consulate general in Honolulu was bought with donations?
... that Jason Robertson is only the second Filipino American to play in the National Hockey League?
... that the writings of José Rizal, a prominent contributor to liberalism in the Philippines, were adopted by both Philippine independence fighters and American colonial authorities?
... that former Philippine secretary of national defense Norberto Gonzales said that a Chinese invasion was "not unthinkable"?

Selected picture

Image 1Picture of a Carabao in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental, Philippines
Image 2A selection of dishes found in Filipino cuisine
Image 3A map of the Philippines showing the location of all the regions and provinces
Image 4A view at Francisco Bangoy International Airport, 2019
Image 5A view of Barlas Island, Honda Bay, Palawan, Philippines
Image 6Banaue, Philippines: a view of Banaue Municipal Town
Image 7A leaning belfry of St. Andrew Church, in Bacarra town, province of Ilocos Norte
Image 8The Bangui Wind Farm is a wind farm in Bangui, Ilocos Norte, Philippines
Image 9A skyline view of Manila
Image 10Shipping on the Pasig River, 1899
Image 11Banaue, Philippines: A man of the fugao tribe in traditional costume

Things you can do

Go to the Tambayan (Philippine WikiProject) and help out with articles.

You can join one or more of the various task forces within the WikiProject.

If you are a Filipino, consider adding Category:Filipino Wikipedians to your userpage.

Selected biography - show another

Aguinaldo in 1919

Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy QSC CCLH PMM KGCR (Spanish: [eˈmiljo aɣiˈnaldoj ˈfami]: March 22, 1869 – February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who became the first president of the Philippines (1899–1901), and the first president of an Asian constitutional republic. He led the Philippine forces first against Spain in the Philippine Revolution (1896–1898), then in the Spanish–American War (1898), and finally against the United States during the Philippine–American War (1899–1901). Though he was not recognized outside of the revolutionary Philippines, he is regarded in the Philippines as having been the country's first president during the period of the First Philippine Republic.

Aguinaldo is known as a national hero in the Philippines. However, he is also known to be somewhat controversial in the country due to his alleged involvement in the deaths of the revolutionary leader Andrés Bonifacio and general Antonio Luna, and for his collaboration with the Japanese Empire during their occupation of the Philippines in World War II. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies

General images

The following are images from various Philippines-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Sungka, a traditional Filipino game. (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 2Harana (serenade) (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 3The Kutkut art from Samar (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 4Old Senate Hall with Estilo Tampinco style of carving and ornamentation (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 5Mila del Sol starred in one of the earliest Filipino movies, Giliw Ko (1939), along with Fernando Poe Sr. (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 6Cockfight (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 7A PBA game at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 8Paoay Church in Ilocos Norte (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 9Villa Escudero exhibit depicting 19th century Filipino family in traditional attire (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 10Good Friday observance in Pampanga (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 11Vega Ancestral House, Misamis Oriental (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 12Filipina in traditional attire (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 13Dominant ethnic groups by province. (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 14Original image of the Santo Niño de Cebú. (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 15Bahay na bato, a traditional Filipino house (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 16Vigan City in Ilocos Sur (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 17Filipino traditional dance at a festival (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 18Kalesa, a traditional Philippine urban transportation, in front of Manila Cathedral entrance (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 19Loboc Church in Bohol (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 20An Itneg shaman offering pigs to anito spirits, 1922 (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 21Pineapple fiber is used to create traditional Philippine garments. (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 22Noli Me Tángere (novel) (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 23Manny Pacquiao, the only 8-division world boxing champion in history. (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 24A performer depicting a babaylan (shaman) (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 25The University of Santo Tomas, located in Manila, was established in 1611. (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 26Parol (Christmas lanterns) being sold during the Christmas season (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 27Aguinaldo Shrine in Cavite (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 28Carabao is a major symbol of Filipinos hard labor. And is known to be the "Filipino farmer's bestfriend". (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 29A Tboli woman weaving t'nalak from South Cotabato. (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 30Letras y figuras painting by Jose Honorato Lozano (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 31Museum Agrifina Circle (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 32Tortoise-shell and silver Salakot (from Culture of the Philippines)
Image 33A grandmaster of Arnis. (from Culture of the Philippines)

In the news

18 December 2024 – Indonesia–Philippines relations: Mary Jane Veloso, a former inmate on death row in Indonesia, is repatriated to the Philippines following negotiations between the two countries. (Reuters)
9 December 2024 – 2024 Kanlaon eruption: PHIVOLCS raises the alert level of the Kanlaon Volcano in the Philippines to Level 3 after an explosive eruption occurred at the summit vent. (Rappler)
4 December 2024 –: Activists file a second impeachment complaint against Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte over alleged misuse of government funds. (AP)

More did you know - show different entries

... that during the construction of the Manila Film Center (pictured), its scaffolding collapsed, where at least 169 workers fell and were buried under quick-drying wet cement?
... that several karaoke bars in the Philippines had banned the song "My Way" due to the deaths attributed to it?
... that Filipino men and women engage in a form of courtship that is far more subdued and indirect compared to Western cultures?
... that Rafael de Izquierdo was the Governor-General of the Philippines during the 1872 Cavite mutiny which led to the execution of the martyrs Gomburza?