Facts about the Philippines

Hello Steeminians specially from Philippines and a Filipino like me. After featuring facts about Korea, I decided to feature also my very own country and research and found many facts that made the country to be known to others countries also.

The Philippines dubbed as Pearl of the Orient consists of more than 7,100 beautiful islands sculpted by Mother Nature through time. It has been battered by bad weathers, shook by strong earthquakes, and reformed by volcanic eruptions.

From beautiful emerald rice fields to bright sandy beaches, tropical forests filled with wildlife to teeming mega-cities, the Philippines is a paradise with friendly people and vibrant cultural experiences just waiting to be explored.

Although it has faced and been captured by stronger countries in the past, it has remained to be resilient. Our country never ceases to amaze me, and there is a lot more about the Philippines that most people don’t know. Here are some facts about the Philippines that might blow your mind:

The Philippines dubbed as Pearl of the Orient consists of more than 7,100 beautiful islands sculpted by Mother Nature through time. It has been battered by bad weathers, shook by strong earthquakes, and reformed by volcanic eruptions.

Although it has faced and been captured by stronger countries in the past, it has remained to be resilient. Our country never ceases to amaze me, and there is a lot more about the Philippines that most people don’t know. Here are some facts about the Philippines that might blow your mind:

1. Two of the largest naval battles in history were fought in the Philippine seas.
   -The Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19–20, 1944) and the Battle of Leyte Gulf (October 23–26, 1944) both hold a mind-blowing record for being the largest naval battle in history for some criteria.

2. There’s an islet in the Philippines within a lake on an island within a lake on an island.
   -In the Philippines, there’s an islet (Vulcan Point) within a lake (Main Crater of Taal Volcano) on an island (Volcano Island) within a lake (Taal Lake) on an island (Luzon).

3. Of the 10 largest shopping malls in the world, 3 are in the Philippines.
   -Based on the gross leasable area, SM Megamall is the 3rd largest mall in the world, while SM City North EDSA and SM Mall of Asia are the 4th and 10th largest, respectively. The expansion made on SM Megamall in 2014 has transformed the mall as the largest mall in the Philippines, surpassing SM City North EDSA.

4. The National Flag of the Philippines can be inverted to officially declare a state of war.
   -The Philippine National Flag is the only flag which may be reversed when the country is in the state of war. The Flag’s design is a horizontal bicolor of blue and red, with a white equilateral triangle at the hoist, containing three golden-yellow stars and a sun with eight primary rays at the center.

5. The three largest known pearls in the world were found in the Philippines.

The Philippines dubbed as Pearl of the Orient consists of more than 7,100 beautiful islands sculpted by Mother Nature through time. It has been battered by bad weathers, shook by strong earthquakes, and reformed by volcanic eruptions.

Although it has faced and been captured by stronger countries in the past, it has remained to be resilient. Our country never ceases to amaze me, and there is a lot more about the Philippines that most people don’t know. Here are 10 facts about the Philippines that might blow your mind:

1. Two of the largest naval battles in history were fought in the Philippine seas.

The Battle of the Philippine Sea (June 19–20, 1944) and the Battle of Leyte Gulf (October 23–26, 1944) both hold a mind-blowing record for being the largest naval battle in history for some criteria.

1. There’s an islet in the Philippines within a lake on an island within a lake on an island.

• In the Philippines, there’s an islet (Vulcan Point) within a lake (Main Crater of Taal Volcano) on an island (Volcano Island) within a lake (Taal Lake) on an island (Luzon).

The Vulcan Point is an islet inside the crater lake (known as the Main Crater Lake) of Taal Volcano, the smallest active volcano in the world. The Vulcan Point is also considered as the world’s largest island within a lake on an island in a lake on an island. The islet was formed when the deposits of the huge eruption that occurred in 1911 extensively changed the floor of the Main Crater.

Tourists from the Philippines and other parts of the world visit the Volcano Island and trek the Taal Volcano to see the stunning view of the Main Crater and the Vulcan Point inside it.

1. Of the 10 largest shopping malls in the world, 3 are in the Philippines.

SM Megamall
The Mega Fashion Hall of SM Megamall, the largest mall in the Philippines and third largest in the world in terms of gross leasable area. Image by RioHondo via Wikipedia.

Filipinos love going to mall, whether to shop, dine, watch movies or just have fun roaming around. That is why it’s not surprising that 3 of the 10 largest malls in the world are found in the Philippines.

Based on the gross leasable area, SM Megamall is the 3rd largest mall in the world, while SM City North EDSA and SM Mall of Asia are the 4th and 10th largest, respectively. The expansion made on SM Megamall in 2014 has transformed the mall as the largest mall in the Philippines, surpassing SM City North EDSA.

1. The National Flag of the Philippines can be inverted to officially declare a state of war.
   The Philippine National Flag is the only flag which may be reversed when the country is in the state of war. The Flag’s design is a horizontal bicolor of blue and red, with a white equilateral triangle at the hoist, containing three golden-yellow stars and a sun with eight primary rays at the center.

2. The three largest known pearls in the world were found in the Philippines.
   -The Pearl of Lao Tzu (also known as Pearl of Allah) is the largest known pearl in the world. It was found in Brookes Point, Palawan by a Filipino diver in 1934. The pearl, which measures 9.45 inches in diameter and weighs 6.4 kilograms (14 lbs), is a “clam pearl” or “Tridacna pearl” from a giant clam Tridacna gigas.
   -The “Palawan Princess”, considered as the world’s second largest pearl was also discovered off the coast of Palawan island. The pearl weighs 2.27 kilograms (5 lbs).
   -The Pearl of the King, owned by Richard King, chairman of the Crown Regency Hotel, is said to be bigger measuring at 18 inches in diameter and weighing 9 kilograms.

3. The top 3 most densely populated cities in the world are in Metro Manila.
   -Manila ranked first in the list of Cities by population density with only 2,498 hectares of land area occupied by over 1.65 million populace. It has a density of 42,857 people per square kilometer or 43 people per square meter.
   Pateros comes in second place with a total population of 64,147 and a population density of 30,546 people per square kilometer while the city of Caloocan comes in third place with a total population of 1,489,040 and population density of 27,916 people per square kilometer.

4. During Manny Pacquiao boxing fights, the crime rate in the Philippines almost drops to zero.
   -The whole country would virtually stand still during Manny Paquiao’s boxing fights. During his latest 12 round-fight against the undefeated American boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr., the Philippine National Police (PNP) recorded no crime at all in Metro Manila, though there were a few recorded in other parts of the country.

5. Super Typhoon Haiyan has the strongest wind ever recorded at landfall.
   -It is the deadliest typhoon in the Philippines ever recorded in modern history, killing at least 6,100 people according to the Philippine government, although some locals believed that the actual death tool could be as high as 15,000. Yolanda is also the strongest storm recorded at landfall, and the strongest typhoon ever recorded in terms of one-minute sustained wind speed of 315 km/h (195 mph). Up until now, at least a thousand remains missing.

6. Camiguin has the most number of volcanoes per square kilometer than any other island on Earth.
   -Despite of the fact that it is one of the smallest islands in the Philippines in area and population, having a length of only 23 kilometers and width of a little more than 14 kilometers, it has 7 volcanoes which were mostly responsible for the island’s formation. Camiguin province is also the only place in the Philippines which has more volcanoes (7) than towns (5).

7. The eruption of Mount Pinatubo created one of the largest mushroom clouds in history.
   -Mount Pinatubo’s eruption in June 15, 1991 sent up a cloudy plume that reached some 25 miles (40 kilometers) high into the air. The effects of the Mount Pinatubo’s destructive eruption were felt throughout the whole world after it emitted around 10 million tons of magma and 20 million tons of toxic sulfur dioxide. Due to the vast amount of ashes infused into the atmosphere, the global temperature dropped by 1 degree Fahrenheit over the following months and year.

1. The Philippines is the world's leading producer of coconuts, having produced 19.5 million tons of the fruit in 2010.

2. According to the 2000 census, 52 million people in the Philippines speak English, making it the fifth largest English-speaking nation behind the U.S., India, Pakistan, and the U.K.

3. The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River in Palawan is 8.2 kilometers long. Until the discovery of a 10-kilometer underground river in Mexico, the Puerto Princesa River was the longest subterranean waterway in the world.

4. Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the Philippines in 1521, marking the start of the archipelago's colonization under Spanish rule, a 377-year period that lasted until 1898.

5. The islands were dubbed "the Philippines" after King Philip II of Spain.

6. As a result of the Spanish influence, the country is predominantly Christian with 90% of the population practicing some mode of Christianity, the vast majority being Roman Catholic.

7. The world's largest Christmas lantern was illuminated in San Fernando, Pampanga on Dec. 24, 2002. The structure was 26.8 meters in diameter and cost five million Philippine pesos.

8. Pope John Paul II offered a mass to about five million Filipinos on Jan. 18, 1995, at Luneta Park in Manila. The event went into the Guinness Book of World Records as the Biggest Papal Crowd at the time.

9. In 2009, about 1.39 billion SMS messages were being sent in the Philippines daily. The country was one of the earliest adopters of text messaging, earning the moniker "text capital of the world" from the mid '90s to the early 2000s.

10. The English word 'boondocks' is actually a Filipino loanword: the Tagalog word for 'mountain' is 'bundok.'

11. The word entered the North American vernacular in the 1940s, just as the Philippines became involved in the Second World War.

12. A Filipino named Roberto del Rosario made the karaoke machine in 1975, but a Japanese musician invented it four years earlier. Del Rosario, however, was the first to patent the product, which makes him the first patented producer of the karaoke.

13. The modern yo-yo takes its name from a word in the Philippine language Ilocano, yóyo.

14. The University of San Carlos in Cebu City was founded by Spanish Jesuits in 1595, making it the oldest school in the Philippines.

15. Then in 1611, the University of Santo Tomas (or, lovingly, "Usté") was founded in Manila by the Dominican Order. It is the world's largest Catholic university in terms of population. Both it and University of San Carlos are older than Harvard, which was not founded until 1636.

16. The cone of the sea snail Conus gloriamaris is a highly valued collector's item, the first examples of which were found in the Philippines and sold at auction for upwards of $5,000.

17. In 2002, the world's biggest pair of shoes were made in Marikina City. The wingtips clock in at about 5.3 meters in length, 2.4 meters in width, and almost 2 meters in height. They cost two million Philippine pesos.

18. Manila, the capital city of the country, takes its name from a white flower that grew on mangrove trees, locally known as nilad. 'May nilad' can be translated to mean 'there are nilad there.'

19. The rice terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The terraces were built about 2,000 years ago and — thanks to the rough terrain keeping settlers out — remain as they would have been in pre-colonial times.

20. The Philippines has won at least eight major international beauty pageant titles: two for Miss Universe; five for Miss International; and at least one for Miss World, the current titleholder being Megan Young.

21. About 25 years before the first book was printed in the United States, the Tagala, the first Filipino-Spanish dictionary, was printed in 1613.

22. After the Second World War, the Philippine jeepney was born out of the G.I. Jeeps American soldiers brought to the country in the 1940s. It's Pinoy upcycling!

23. Some Filipinos are wary of the number 13 and will avoid having 13 people at a table. Also, steps to the main entrance of a house should not fall on a number divisible by three. Superstitious Filipinos will not travel or bathe on Holy Thursday or Good Friday during Holy Week, the week before Easter.

34.Human trafficking is a problem in the Philippines. The country has the fourth largest number of prostituted children in the world. There are estimated to be 375,000 women and girls in the sex trades, mostly between the ages of 15 and 20, though some are as young as 11.

1. The Philippines is the only majority Christian nation in Asia. Eighty percent of its population identifies as Roman Catholic.

2. The national symbol of the Philippines is the Philippine, or monkey-eating, eagle. It is the largest of all eagles and was declared the national bird of the Philippines in 1995. It stands up to 3.3 feet (1 m) in height and has a wingspan of almost 7 feet (2 m). It is critically endangered; there may only be around 180–500 eagles remaining.

3. ccording to Filipino custom, it is considered rude to open gifts immediately after they are given.

4. The Philippines has the highest rate of discovery of new animal species with 16 new species of mammals discovered just in the last 10 years.

5. Current president Benigno Aquino III is the first president of the Philippines to be a bachelor and he is the son of ex-president Corazon Aquino, making him the second president to be a child of a former president (his predecessor Gloria Arroyo was the other).

6. The world record for most women breastfeeding simultaneously was 3,541, set in Manila, Philippines, on May 4, 2006.

7. The Philippines is the world’s largest supplier of nurses, supplying roughly 25% of all overseas nurses worldwide.

8. Jellyfish Lake in the Philippines contains more than 13 million jellyfish.

9. Over 11 million Filipinos work overseas, which constitutes about 11% of the entire population of the Philippines. Filipinos are the second-largest Asian-American group in the United States, next to the Chinese.

10. The Mindanao Trench, which is near the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean, is the second deepest spot under the world’s oceans at 6.5 miles, or 34,440 feet (10,497 m). It was first explored by the German ship Emden in 1927.

11. Even though the first elected Filipino president, Ferdinand Marcos, has been dead for almost two decades, his body has never been properly buried—it remains “on ice” while officials quibble about whether he should buried in the cemetery reserved for Filipino heroes and past presidents.

12. One of the most interesting and traditional Philippine dishes is balut, which is essentially a boiled, fertilized duck egg with a half-formed chick inside. It is said to be an aphrodisiac. Other unique dishes include camaro, which are field crickets cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar; papaitan, which is a goat or cow innards stew flavored with bile; Soup #5, which is a soup made out of bull testicles; and asocena, or dog meat.

13. The Philippines experiences one large-magnitude earthquake (7.75 or higher on the Richter scale) every 10 years, seven earthquakes of major magnitude (7.0 to 7.4) every 10 years, and five earthquakes of moderate magnitude (6.0 to 6.9) every year.

14. The Philippines is the world’s second biggest geothermal producer after the United States with 18% of the country’s electricity needs being met by geothermal power.

15. he most active typhoon season for the Philippines was 1993, when 19 moved through the country. A typhoon is a strong tropical cyclone equivalent to a hurricane in North and Central America. The highest wind velocity for a typhoon that crossed the Philippines was recorded in Virac on November 30, 2006, when Typhoon Reming had a peak gust of 198 mph (320 kph).

16. After Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos and his wife Imelda fled the Malacañang Palace, she famously left behind 15 mink coats, 508 gowns, 1,000 handbags, and 1,060 pairs of shoes—from a collection rumored to contain around 3,000 pairs.

17. The anti-lock braking systems (ABS) used in Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volvo cars are made in the Philippines. Ford, Toyota, and Nissan are the most prominent automakers manufacturing cars in the country.

18. The traditional embroidered Filipino male garment, the barong Tagalog or baro, is woven from piña, pineapple plant fibers, or jusi, banana tree fibers, and worn on formal occasions.

19. In the rural Philippines, most women give birth at home and then have the baby’s placenta buried beneath the house, often with an object symbolizing what the parents hope the child will grow up to be. In the cities, this practice is prohibited by the health authorities.

20. Santelmo, or Santo Elmo, is a fireball seen by dozens of Filipinos, especially those who live in the Sierra Madre Mountains. It was scientifically explained as electrical fields that have diverged from the power lines. However, sightings have been reported since the Spanish era (16th–19th centuries).

21. Cockfighting is a centuries-old blood sport, popular since the times of ancient Persia, Greece, and Rome. In the Philippines, it is still very popular, and the country has hosted several “World Slasher Cups,” staged in Manila’s Araneta Coliseum. The world’s leading game fowl breeders gather twice a year for this event.

22. Manny Pacquiao could currently be regarded as the world’s best boxer pound per pound. He has four major titles under his belt: the WBC International Super Featherweight Title, the RING Featherweight Title, the IBF Super Bantamweight Title, and the WBC Flyweight Title. Out of 45 fights, “Pacman,” as he is called, has won 40, with 31 by knockout.

23. Basketball is the most popular sport in the Philippines. The Philippines Basketball Association (PBS) is the first and oldest league in Asia and the second oldest in the world after the United States’ National Basketball Association (NBA).

24. Tanduay rum dates back to 1854 and today remains the Philippines’ spirit of choice. Made from sugar cane milled on the island of Negros, it’s frequently cheaper than bottled water.

25. The Aswang, a mythical female vampire-like figure in Filipino folklore who eats unborn children, has been the subject of at least one American horror film and was featured in an episode of the CW television hit Supernatural called “Fresh Meat."

26. The Filipino national dish may very well be the adobo, which is a dark stew of chicken and/or pork cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, crushed garlic, bay leaf, and black peppercorns. In Spanish, adobo originally meant “sauce” or “seasoning.” The Filipino version is actually indigenous to the islands, dating back to a dish cooked up long before Magellan’s arrival.

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