General Information About The Philippines

Official Name

Republic of the Philippines

Official Languages

Tagalog is the most widely know language of the Philippines.  It is the predominate language of Manila and Luzon. Also, it is widely spoken throughout the Philippines.

Filipino (Pilipino) is a language based on Tagalog, renamed and modified in order to create a national language.  Before 1989 Pilipino was the national language.  Filipino is said to be a combination of all the different Philippine languages, but is essentially Tagalog.  Filipino and English are the official languages in the Philippines.

There are over 50 different languages in the Philippines.  Eight major dialects spoken by the majority of the Filipinos are officially recognized. These are: Tagalog, Cebuano (Visayan), Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinense.

 English is widely spoken in urban areas and is the medium of instruction in higher education as well as being the language of commerce. However, among people with little formal education, English ability is often poor to non-existent.

Time Zone

Standard time in the Philippines is 8 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT + 8).  The Philippines does not observe daylight-savings time.

Religion

The Philippines proudly boasts to be the only Christian nation in Asia.  More than 86 percent of the population is Roman Catholic, 6 percent belong to various nationalized Christian cults, and another 2 percent belong to well over 100 Protestant denominations. In addition to the Christian majority, there is a vigorous 4 percent Muslim minority, concentrated on the southern islands of Mindanao, Sulu, and Palawan. Scattered in isolated mountainous regions, the remaining 2 percent follow non-Western, indigenous beliefs and practices. The Chinese minority, although statistically insignificant, has been culturally influential in coloring Filipino Catholicism with many of the beliefs and practices of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.

Currency

The currency of the Philippines is the Peso (P), which is divided into 100 centavos.

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Government System

The Republic of the Philippines has a representative democracy modeled on the U.S. system.  The 1987 constitution, adopted during the Aquino administration, established a presidential system of government with a bicameral legislature and an independent judiciary.  The president is limited to one 6-year term.

 The Philippine Senate is elected at large.  Two hundred six of a possible 250 members of the House of Representatives are elected from the single-member districts. The remainder of the House seats is designated for sectoral representatives elected at large through a complex "party list" system.

Population & Growth Rate

The population of the Philippines as of May 1, 2000 is 76,498,735 persons. This represents an increase of 11.5 percent or 7.88 million persons over the 1995 census count of 68,616,536 persons. The 2000 census is ten times the Philippine population in 1903 of 7,635,426 persons when the first census that counted the population in the entire archipelago was undertaken.

The population grew at the rate of 2.36 percent annually between 1995 and 2000. This is slightly higher than the growth rate during the first half of the nineties (2.32 percent). The average annual growth rate during the entire nineties was 2.34 percent, while in the eighties it was 2.35 percent.  If the annual growth rate continues at 2.36 percent, then the Philippine population is expected to double in approximately 29 years.  One source estimates the annual growth rate for 2000-2005 at 1.99%

Geography / Natural Resources

The Philippine Archipelago is one of the largest island groups in the world and is divided into three major areas that correspond broadly to the ethnicity of the human population. These three groups are Luzon in the north with a total area of 104,687.80 sq. km.; the Visayas in the central region, 57,201.92 sq. km.; and Mindanao in the south, occupying a further 94,630.10 sq. km.  This island chain stretches more than 1500 km from north to south and more than 1000 km from west to east.  Less than 400 of the islands are permanently inhabited.

In all some 65% of the country is classified as mountainous with the remainder consisting of narrow coastal plains and interior valleys and uplands.

The Philippines’ natural resources include timber, petroleum, nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, salt, and copper.

 It is also the biggest copper producer in Southeast Asia and among the top ten producer of gold in the world. It is also home to 2,145 fish species, four times more than those found in the Bahamas. The 7,100 islands boast of beautiful beaches and breathtaking sceneries that offer soothing leisure and relaxation spots for vacationers and tourists.

 Rice is an additional natural resource that is extensively harvested and consumed.  Nearly all Filipino citizens consume rice daily; sometimes with each meal.

Provincial Population / Major Cities

The following table represents the population of the largest provinces in the Philippines in terms of population.

* excluding highly urbanized city/cities

 In NCR, three cities have more than one million residents. Quezon City is the largest with 2.17 million persons, followed by Manila with 1.58 million persons, and Caloocan City with 1.18 million persons.