The Philippines is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia, situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It comprises 7,641 islands, totaling approximately 300,000 square kilometers. These islands are geographically divided into three main regions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. With a population exceeding 110 million, the Philippines ranks as the world's twelfth most populous nation.
In 1900, forest cover was 70 percent of the Philippines' total land area.
After the fall of the First Philippine Republic in 1902, an American civilian government was established with the Philippine Organic Act.
From July 14 to 18, 1911, the wettest recorded typhoon dropped 2,210 millimeters of rain in Baguio.
Local film-making in the Philippines began in 1919 with the release of the first Filipino-produced feature film: Dalagang Bukid (A Girl from the Country), directed by Jose Nepomuceno.
The Philippines has participated in every Summer Olympic Games since 1924, except when they supported the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics.
In the Philippines, sound films and larger productions emerged in 1933.
In 1934, the Tydings–McDuffie Act granted a ten-year transition to independence.
In 1935, the Commonwealth of the Philippines was created, with Manuel Quezon as president and Sergio Osmeña as vice president.
In 1935, the official title "Republic of the Philippines" was included in the constitution as the name of the future independent state.
Beginning in 1942, the Japanese occupation of the Philippines was opposed by large-scale underground guerrilla activity.
In 1944, the Philippine resistance and Allied troops defeated the Japanese.
On October 11, 1945, the Philippines became a founding member of the United Nations.
On July 4, 1946, the country's independence was recognized by the United States with the Treaty of Manila.
In 1946, the Philippines gained independence after the United States retook the islands from the Japanese.
The introduction of women's suffrage during the Commonwealth period (1935–1946) signifies a progressive step towards gender equality in the Philippines.
Between 1948 and 2010, the population of the Philippines increased almost fivefold from 19 million to 92 million.
In 1951, the Philippines and the United States signed a Mutual Defense Treaty, marking a key aspect of their long-standing relationship.
The 1962–1971 decade in the Philippines saw a decline in quality films, although the commercial film industry expanded until the 1980s.
Science high schools for talented students were established in the Philippines in 1963.
In 1965, Macapagal lost the presidential election to Ferdinand Marcos.
Since 1967, the Philippines had become the largest global supplier of nurses.
In 1969, Marcos was re-elected as president.
The 1962–1971 decade in the Philippines saw a decline in quality films, although the commercial film industry expanded until the 1980s.
On September 21, 1972, Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law using the specter of communism and began to rule by decree.
In 1972, the Philippines experienced a period of martial law under the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.
The Philippines was the first tropical nation to compete at the Winter Olympic Games, debuting in 1972.
Plans to harness nuclear energy in the Philippines began during the early 1970s, during the presidency of Ferdinand Marcos in response to the 1973 oil crisis.
Since 1975, the Philippines has valued its relationship with China, which is its top trading partner, leading to significant cooperation between the two countries.
In 1976, a major earthquake occurred in the Moro Gulf.
Filipino hip-hop, which originated in 1979, entered the mainstream in 1990.
The Philippines supported the American-led boycott of the 1980 Summer Olympics.
Critically acclaimed Philippine films include Himala (Miracle) and Oro, Plata, Mata (Gold, Silver, Death), both released in 1982.
On August 21, 1983, opposition leader Benigno Aquino Jr. was assassinated at Manila International Airport.
In 1984, the Philippines completed Southeast Asia's first nuclear power plant in Bataan.
In 1984, the economy contracted by 7.3 percent annually due to economic crashes.
In 1985, the economy contracted by 7.3 percent annually due to economic crashes.
The Philippines reduced its poverty rate from 49.2 percent in 1985 to 18.1 percent in 2021.
After the return of democracy in 1986, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its military wing, the New People's Army (NPA), began to shrink militarily and politically.
In 1986, the Chernobyl disaster and political issues prevented the commissioning of the nuclear power plant.
In 1986, the People Power Revolution forced Marcos to flee, and Corazon Aquino was installed as president.
In 1986, the People Power Revolution overthrew Ferdinand Marcos.
In 1986, the return of democracy and government reforms were initiated in the Philippines.
In 1987, the constitution of the Fifth Republic was enacted, and the country has since been governed as a unitary presidential republic.
Between 1990 and 2015, the Joint Monitoring Programme noted that "good progress" had been made in the Philippines regarding access to improved sanitation.
Filipino hip-hop, which originated in 1979, entered the mainstream in 1990.
In 1990, a major earthquake occurred on Luzon.
In June 1991, the eruption of Mount Pinatubo occurred.
In 1991, a law was enacted in the Philippines to devolve some powers to local governments, representing steps towards decentralization.
In 1995, the Philippines began a military modernization program to improve its defense capabilities.
In 1996, the Moro National Liberation Front, one of Bangsamoro's largest separatist organizations, signed a final peace agreement with the Philippine government.
In 1996, the Philippines bought its first satellite as part of its space program.
In 1997, the onset of the 1997 Asian financial crisis overshadowed Ramos's economic gains.
In 1999, forest cover declined to about 18.3 percent in the Philippines.
In 1999, the Visiting Forces Agreement was signed between the Philippines and the United States, supplementing the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty.
In 2000 BC, jade artifacts were dated, with lingling-o jade items made in Luzon with raw materials from Taiwan.
On January 20, 2001, Joseph Estrada was overthrown by the 2001 EDSA Revolution, and Gloria Macapagal Arroyo succeeded him.
In 2003, the Philippines was designated a major non-NATO ally by the United States.
Since 2003, the country has sought to obtain observer status in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.
In 2004, the government in the Philippines began offering alternative education to out-of-school children, youth, and adults to improve literacy; madaris were mainstreamed in 16 regions that year, primarily in Mindanao Muslim areas under the Department of Education.
In 2004, the presidential election occurred, but was tainted by electoral fraud allegations.
In 2007, the Philippines sent an average of one billion SMS messages per day, highlighting the popularity of text messaging as a form of communication.
Since 2009, the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines has managed the country's power grid, providing overhead transmission lines across the country's islands.
Between 1948 and 2010, the population of the Philippines increased almost fivefold from 19 million to 92 million.
From 2010 to 2020, Pinoy pop (P-pop) was influenced by K-pop and J-pop.
In 2010, Protestants made up about 5% to 7% of the population in the Philippines.
The Philippines entered into the ASEAN Trade in Goods Agreement in 2010.
In 2012, Travel + Leisure called Boracay the best island in the world, solidifying the Philippines' reputation as a popular tourist destination.
In 2012, the Philippines expanded its military modernization program to build a more capable defense system.
In 2012, the Scarborough Shoal standoff occurred after China seized the shoal from the Philippines, leading to an international arbitration case.
The Philippines' income inequality began to decline in 2012.
As of 2013, the Philippines had the world's third-largest Roman Catholic population.
In 2014, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, another significant separatist organization in Bangsamoro, signed a final peace agreement with the Philippine government.
In 2015, the Joint Monitoring Programme noted that 74 percent of the Philippine population had access to improved sanitation and "good progress" was made between 1990 and 2015.
In 2015, the country's gold production reached 21 metric tonnes.
A 2016 National Geographic project concluded that people living in the Philippine archipelago carried genetic markers in the following percentages: 53 percent Southeast Asia and Oceania, 36 percent Eastern Asia, 5 percent Southern Europe, 3 percent Southern Asia, and 2 percent Native American (from Latin America).
As of 2016, ninety-six percent of Filipino households had an improved source of drinking water and 92 percent of households had sanitary toilet facilities.
In 2016, Diwata-1, the Philippines' first micro-satellite, was launched on the United States' Cygnus spacecraft.
In 2016, Rodrigo Duterte was elected president.
In 2016, the Philippines and the United States signed the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, further strengthening their defense ties.
In 2017, the air domestic market in the Philippines was dominated by Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific.
In December 2018, the Philippines had 210,528 kilometers (130,816 mi) of roads in the country.
Since 2018, Malasakit Centers (one-stop shops) have been set up in several government-operated hospitals in the Philippines to provide medical and financial assistance to indigent patients.
As of 2019, the Philippines had a railway footprint of only 79 kilometers (49 mi), which it planned to expand to 244 kilometers (152 mi).
In 2019, the Philippines had a basic literacy rate of 93.8 percent of those five years old or older, and a functional literacy rate of 91.6 percent of those aged 10 to 64.
In 2019, the Universal Health Care Act was enacted by President Duterte in the Philippines, facilitating the automatic enrollment of all Filipinos in the national health insurance program.
The Philippines has 1,975 higher education institutions as of 2019, of which 246 are public and 1,729 are private.
Before May 2020 Philippine government denial of ABS-CBN's franchise renewal, it was the country's largest network.
According to the 2020 census, the Philippines' largest ethnic groups were Tagalog (26.0 percent), Visayans (14.3 percent), Ilocano and Cebuano (both eight percent), Hiligaynon (7.9 percent), Bikol (6.5 percent), and Waray (3.8 percent).
As of 2020, Calabarzon was the region with the greatest population in the Philippines, while the National Capital Region (NCR) was the most densely populated.
As of 2020, the top languages generally spoken at home in the Philippines are Tagalog, Binisaya, Hiligaynon, Ilocano, Cebuano, and Bikol.
From 2010 to 2020, Pinoy pop (P-pop) was influenced by K-pop and J-pop.
In 2020, 54 percent of the Philippines' population lived in urban areas.
In early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic reached the Philippines, causing nationwide lockdowns and a brief economic recession.
As of end-2021, the Philippines' household electrification level was about 95.41%.
In 2021, the Philippines had a total installed power capacity of 26,882 MW, with 43 percent generated from coal.
In 2021, the Philippines received its first-ever Olympic gold medal with weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz's victory in Tokyo.
In 2021, the entry of Dito Telecommunity improved the Philippines' telecommunications service, breaking the PLDT-Globe Telecom duopoly.
In 2021, total water withdrawals in the Philippines amounted to 89 billion cubic meters.
In 2021, tourism contributed 5.2 percent to the Philippine GDP, which was lower than the 12.7 percent contribution in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic.
In early 2021, 67 percent of Filipinos (73.91 million) had Internet access; the overwhelming majority used smartphones.
The Philippines' leading causes of death in 2021 were ischaemic heart diseases, cerebrovascular diseases, COVID-19, neoplasms, and diabetes.
The Philippines women's national football team qualified for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, their first World Cup, in January 2022.
As of 2022, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) had a total manpower of around 280,000.
As of 2022, the Philippines had 90 national government-owned airports, of which eight are international.
In 2022, Bongbong Marcos won the election.
In 2022, the Philippines was the world's second biggest exporter of nickel ore.
In 2022, the total water withdrawals in the Philippines increased to 91 billion cubic meters from 89 billion cubic meters in 2021.
Per-capita health expenditure in the Philippines in 2022 was ₱10,059.49 and health expenditures were 5.5 percent of the country's GDP.
The Philippines was listed as the seventh-most-dangerous country for journalists in 2022 by the Committee to Protect Journalists due to 13 unsolved murders of journalists.
According to official estimates, the Philippines had 7,000,000 hectares of forest cover in 2023.
Almost 300,000 American citizens live in the Philippines as of 2023.
As of 2023, protected areas in the Philippines have been expanded to 7,790,000 hectares.
As of 2023, the Philippines' labor force was around 50 million, and the unemployment rate was 3.1 percent.
Average life expectancy in the Philippines as of 2023 is 70.48 years (66.97 years for males, and 74.15 years for females).
Education in the Philippines, a significant proportion of the national budget, was allocated ₱900.9 billion from the ₱5.268 trillion 2023 budget.
In 2023, remittances from overseas Filipinos reached a record US$37.20 billion, accounting for 8.5 percent of the Philippines' GDP.
In 2023, the Philippines attracted 5.45 million international visitors, which was 30 percent lower than the 8.26 million record in pre-pandemic 2019.
In 2023, the Philippines entered into the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership free trade agreement (FTA).
In 2023, the Philippines spent US$477 million, equivalent to 1.4 percent of its GDP, on its military.
The Philippines women's national football team qualified for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, their first World Cup, in January 2022.
As of January 2024, the Philippines' gross international reserves totaled US$103.406 billion.
As of July 1, 2024, the Philippines had a population of 112,729,484.
In 2024, the Philippines ranked 104th out of 163 countries in the Global Peace Index.
By the year 2025, the number of American citizens living in the Philippines increased to 750,000.
In 2025, the Philippine economy is estimated to have a nominal gross domestic product of US$507.7 billion, making it the world's 34th largest.
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