The Philippines – A Majestic Country

Have you ever seen pictures of those white sand beaches and crystal clear water, magazines or even scrolling through Instagram? Or maybe even photographs of those who take adventures and explore the most magnificent caves in the world. Well, let me inform you that a visit to the majestic Philippines will blow your mind. So come and take an adventure with me and we can discover what the Philippines has in store. First off let me tell you a little bit about what you’re gonna expect, so take notes.

The Philippines is an archipelago over 7,100 islands, located in the Southeastern Asia, between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, which is East of Vietnam. Adding on to that it is also located on the continent of Asia, in the Northern and Eastern Hemisphere. Although, the exact location of the Philippines is 13°N and 122°E. If you were to fly there from the United States it would be about a 17 hour flight.

Well, let us go deeper into the description of these beautiful islands. The Philippines mostly contains mountains and narrow to vast coastal lowlands. The climate here usually is hot and humid, all year long. Although it does have 3 different seasons of this tropical maritime climate, which is the hot season, the rainy season, and the cool dry season. It is also home to more than 200 species of mammals, more than 50species of bats and hundreds of species of birds. It also is home to thousands of different types of plants and ferns, and they have forests that cover 1/4 of the land. The lowest elevation is the Philippine Sea, which is 0 ft, and the highest elevation is Mount Apo, which is 42500 ft.

That was just the physical characteristics, now let us transfer to the human qualities. The Capital of the Philippines in Manila, and the three biggest cities are Quezon City, Manila, and Caloocan. You see in the Philippines they don't have as many financial opportunities as the United States, so their architecture and construction materials are more simple. A few examples of this is wooden planks, bamboo, board, and straw which is material for traditional houses. The population is about 106,872, 683people. The common languages spoken here is Filipino and English, but for the most part, they speak Filipino. A few customs and traditions they have is that the older a person is, the more respect you give them. To add on to that, whenever you meet someone you must always say "hello" and "goodbye". Another thing to mention is that they serve food no matter the occasion. Their religious status is 83% Catholic, 5%Islam, 12% Christian, and 1% other.

Now let's move on to how the people on the Philippines interact with the environment. To start off fish is an important part of their diet, so most people leave near bodies of water. Most of the big cities are also near coastal areas because it's easy to import and export goods, including other things as well. Remember when I said that the 1/4 of the Philippines are cover by forests, well that was after people had transformed the landscape. Before deforestation actually 3/4 of the Philippines were covered by forests.

Continuing on the topic of importing and exporting goods, here are a few facts. The imports of the Philippines are integrated circuits, crude petroleum, refined petroleum, office machine parts, and cars. These imports come from China, Japan, the United States, South Korea, and other parts of Asia. The exports of the Philippines are integrated circuits, computers, semiconductor devices, office machine parts, and electrical transformers. The countries they export to are China, Japan, the United States, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Now here is the fun part... knowing where to go and explore when you come to the Philippines. There are so many things you can do and see, but there are so much I'll only name a few. One thing that you must do is go to these crystal clear beaches. Here are the top 10: El Nido, Palawan; Boracay, Aklan; Puerto Galera, Oriental Mindoro; Samal Island, Davao City; Panglao Island, Bohol; Coron Island, Palawan; Palaui Island, Cagayan Valley; Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte; Siargao Island, Surigao Del Norte; and Mactan Island, Cebu. Another enjoyable thing to do is visit the unusual attractions that the Philippines has to offer. Such as the Hinatuan Enchanted River, the Waterfalls Restaurant, the Aski-Aski Falls, the Vulcan Point, the Chocolate Hills (not actually chocolate), the Hanging Coffins of Sagada, the Sunken Cemetery, and the Ruins In Talisay.

For one thing, the Philippines is the fifth largest English speaking Nation. It is also the largest supplier of nurses in the world. Another thing about their country is that karaoke was developed in the Philippines. Who would have thought of that! One final fact is that the Philippines is home to the Rice Terraces, which is also known as the eighth wonder of the world.