15 Engrossing Facts About Philippines

The Philippines is bordered by the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. It consists of three major island groups: Luzon, the largest island and where the capital is located; Visayan, and Mindanao. Eleven islands make about 94% of the Philippine landmass, with Luzon and Mindanao measuring 105,000 and 95,000 square kilometers, respectively. The Philippines’ culture is a mix of traditional Filipino and Spanish Catholic practices, as well as influences from the United States and other parts of Asia. Filipinos are family-oriented and often religious people who enjoy art, fashion, music, and food.

1. The Philippines shares a maritime border with Taiwan to the north, Japan to the northeast, Palau to the east, Indonesia to the south, Malaysia and Brunei to the southwest, Vietnam to the west, China to the northwest.
2. The country is an archipelago comprised of 7,641 islands with a total land area of 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 sq mi).
3. The country is the 5th largest island country on the planet.
4. According to global finance rankings, the country is the most dangerous in the world.
5. There are over 175 languages spoken in the country, out of which 13 languages are spoken by at least 1 million people all around the Philippines.
6. The Philippines is the second-highest producer of coconuts on the globe after Indonesia. About 14,726,165 metric tonnes of coconut was grown in the year 2018.
7. The country has the highest percentage of population of Christians than any other southeast nation. Over 80.6% are Roman Catholics, Protestants are 8.2%, Muslims are 5.6%, tribals are 0.2%, and others are 1.9%.
8. The Philippines has the 6th most active volcanoes in the world. The country has 53 active volcanoes. The recent volcanic eruption was in the month of January 2020 when a towering column of nine mile tall cloud of ash erupted from the Taal volcano.
9. The biggest pearl in the world was found in the country by a fisherman about ten years ago. It has a weight of 34 kg and is 1ft wide and 2.2ft long.
10. The Philippines is the largest exporter of nurses worldwide. For many decades, the country has consistently supplied a large number of nurses to the United States and Saudi Arabia.
11. The country was one of the first countries in Southeast Asia to achieve independence after world war 2 in the year 1945.
12. There are 6 UNESCO world heritage sites in the Philippines, including three cultural sites and three natural sites. About twenty-nine sites are there on the UNESCO world heritage tentative list in the country.
13. The world’s largest pair of shoes can be found in the markina city of markina. It measures 529 centimeter or 5.29 meters in length and 237 centimeters or 2.37 meters in width.
14. The Philippines’ biggest exports are integrated circuits ($32.4 billion), office machine parts ($10.2 billion), gold ($8.9 billion), semiconductor devices ($3.33 billion), and insulated wire ($3.26 billion), with the majority exported to the United States ($15.5 billion), China ($15.3 billion), Hong Kong ($12.6 billion), Japan ($11.3 billion), and Singapore ($7.07 billion).
15. The Philippines’ main imports are integrated circuits ($15.7 billion), refined petroleum ($13.9 billion), coal briquettes ($5.18 billion), cars ($4.3 billion), and crude petroleum ($3.32 billion), with the majority coming from China ($53.6 billion), Indonesia ($13.6 billion), South Korea ($12.5 billion), Japan ($11.4 billion), and Singapore ($9.28 billion).