Philippines
Name
| Official name | Republic of the Philippines — Republika ng Pilipinas |
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| Former names | The Commonwealth of the Philippines (1935–46) and the Philippine Islands of the American rule (1898–1935); the Republic of 1898–1901 of Malolos; the Spanish Philippines and the Captaincy General (1565–1898); the Second Republic of the Japanese occupation (1943–45); "Las Islas Filipinas" of 1543; the "Maharlika" of the Marcos proposal of 1978 never adopted |
| Demonym | Filipino; Filipina; Pinoy and Pinay in the slang |
| Meaning of the name | From Philip — Felipe, the crown prince of Spain who became Philip II, for whom Villalobos named Leyte and Samar "Las Islas Filipinas" in 1543 and the Spanish extended the name to the archipelago; the "Pilipinas" of the Tagalog; the proposals to rename the country Maharlika, "nobility," of the 1970s and the 2019 Duterte musing |
| Motto | "Maka-Diyos, Maka-Tao, Makakalikasan at Makabansa" — for God, for the people, for nature and for the country; by the Flag and Heraldic Code of 1998 |
Quick facts
| Capital | Manila — Maynilà — the Spanish capital since 24 June 1571 and the republic's, the capital by the decree of 1976 in place of Quezon City; about 1.8 million in the city; Metro Manila, the National Capital Region of sixteen cities and a municipality, about 14 million, the metropolis of 25 million with the provinces around |
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| Largest cities | Quezon City, about 3 million, the largest city and the capital of 1948–76; Manila; Davao City of the Dutertes, the largest by area; Caloocan; Zamboanga of the Chavacano; Cebu City, the Queen City of the South and the first Spanish settlement; Antipolo; Taguig of the Bonifacio Global City; Pasig, Cagayan de Oro, Valenzuela, Dasmariñas, General Santos of the tuna, Bacolod, Iloilo, Baguio of the pines, Marawi of the siege |
| Official languages | Filipino — the national language of the Constitution of 1987 built on Tagalog, the language of Manila and the south of Luzon, understood by nearly all through the schools and the television; English, the official language of the government, the courts, the business and the call centers, the third-largest English-speaking country by some counts; the eight major regional languages — Tagalog, Cebuano of the Visayas and Mindanao, Ilocano of the north, Hiligaynon of Panay and Negros, Bikol, Waray of Samar and Leyte, Kapampangan and Pangasinan — and the 175 languages of the count; Chavacano, the Spanish creole of Zamboanga; Spanish and Arabic "promoted on a voluntary basis"; Filipino Sign Language official since 2018 |
| Currency | Philippine peso — PHP, ₱; piso; 100 sentimo; since 1949 by the central bank and since the Spanish silver; about 57 to the U.S. dollar |
| Time zone | Philippine Standard Time, UTC+8; no summer time |
| Calling code | +63 |
| Internet domain | .ph |
| ISO 3166 codes | PH · PHL · 608 |
| Vehicle registration code | RP |
| Driving side | Right — changed from the left in 1945 |
| Electricity | 220 V, 60 Hz; plug types A, B and C |
| Independence | 12 June 1898, from Spain, the declaration of Emilio Aguinaldo at Kawit in Cavite with the flag and the anthem of that day, the Independence Day since the decree of 1962; 4 July 1946, from the United States, the Treaty of Manila and the republic of Manuel Roxas, the "Republic Day" and the Filipino-American Friendship Day; the Malolos Republic of 23 January 1899 the first in Asia |
| National days | 12 June, Independence Day; 4 July, Republic Day; 30 December, Rizal Day, for the execution of 1896; 21 August, Ninoy Aquino Day; 25 February, the People Power anniversary of 1986; 9 April, the Day of Valor, for Bataan; 1 November, All Saints' and the cemeteries; 30 November, Bonifacio Day; the Holy Week of the crucifixions of Pampanga; 25 December of the longest Christmas in the world, the carols from September; 1 January; the Eids of the Muslims; the Black Nazarene of 9 January; 19 June, Rizal's birthday; 24 June, Manila Day |
| Constitution | 2 February 1987 — the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines, the "Freedom Constitution" of Corazon Aquino ratified by the plebiscite of 2 February 1987 with 77% after the People Power Revolution, the fifth since Malolos: the president elected directly for a single term of six years, the vice president elected separately, the Congress of the Senate of 24 elected nationally and the House of Representatives of the districts and the party lists, the Supreme Court of fifteen, the impeachment "by the House and the trial by the Senate with two-thirds to convict," the Bill of Rights against the martial law of the past, the ban on foreign ownership of the land and the media, the autonomous regions of the Muslim Mindanao and the Cordillera; the Constitutions of 1935, 1943 and 1973 of Marcos before it; the "charter change" of every president since Ramos never passed, the economic amendments of 2024 dropped; the one-year rule on the impeachments the Supreme Court read in July 2025 |
| Population | 112,729,484 at the census of 1 July 2024, the sixteenth; about 115 million (2026 est.) — the thirteenth-most populous and the second of Southeast Asia |
| Area | 300,000 km² (115,831 sq mi) — land 298,170 km², water 1,830 km²; 7,641 islands, Luzon 109,965 km² and Mindanao 97,530 the two largest, about 2,000 inhabited; the exclusive economic zone of 2.2 million km² |
Flag & national symbols
| National flag | Two horizontal bands of royal blue over scarlet with a white equilateral triangle at the hoist bearing a golden sun of eight rays and a five-pointed golden star in each corner of the triangle — the sun for liberty and its eight rays for the eight provinces of Luzon that rose first in 1896 and were put under martial law by Spain, the three stars for Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, the white for equality, the blue for peace and truth, the red for patriotism and valor, the triangle for the Katipunan's Masonic sign; sewn at Hong Kong by Marcela Agoncillo to Aguinaldo's design and first raised at Kawit on 12 June 1898; the only national flag that reverses in war, the red flown uppermost; banned by the Americans 1907–19, the shades and the proportions fixed by the Flag and Heraldic Code of 12 February 1998.Flag of the Philippines |
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| Coat of arms | A shield of the sun of eight rays over the three stars on white, the blue field of the American bald eagle at the left and the red field of the Spanish lion at the right for the two colonial pasts, on the scroll "Republika ng Pilipinas"; adopted 3 July 1946 on the eve of independence, the eagle and the lion ordered removed by the law of 1998 and never removed for want of the plebiscite the law required; the seal of the president with its own sun |
| National anthem | "Lupang Hinirang" ("Chosen Land") — the march that Julián Felipe composed for Aguinaldo and the band played at Kawit on 12 June 1898 as the "Marcha Nacional Filipina," the Spanish words of José Palma of 1899, the English of the American years and the Tagalog of 1956 by the law, "Bayang magiliw, perlas ng Silanganan," "beloved country, pearl of the Orient," the last line "ang mamatay nang dahil sa 'yo," "to die because of you"; sung standing, the hand on the heart, by the code of 1998 that fines the singer who changes it |
| National motto | "Maka-Diyos, Maka-Tao, Makakalikasan at Makabansa" |
| National colors | Blue, red, white and yellow |
| National animal | The carabao, the water buffalo of the rice fields and the carts, the national animal by the usage and the coins; the Philippine eagle, the monkey-eating eagle of Mindanao and the Sierra Madre, the largest eagle in the world by length, about 400 pairs left, the national bird by the proclamation of 4 July 1995; the milkfish, the bangus, the national fish; the tarsier of Bohol, the smallest primate; the tamaraw of Mindoro, the whale sharks of Donsol and Oslob, the Palawan peacock-pheasant; widely cited |
| National flower | The sampaguita — the Arabian jasmine of the garlands sold at every church door and hung on the jeepney mirrors, declared by Governor-General Dwight Davis on 1 February 1934; the narra, the rosewood of the furniture, the national tree by the same proclamation; the anahaw palm leaf of the fans the unofficial leaf; the mango of Guimaras the fruit of the pride; the waling-waling orchid of Davao proposed and refused; widely cited |
| National dish | Adobo — the chicken or pork stewed in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic and peppercorns, the dish of every house cooked a thousand ways, the national dish by the acclamation and the standard the government tried and failed to fix in 2021; sinigang of the sour tamarind soup, lechon of the roast pig of the fiestas of Cebu, kare-kare of the peanut sauce, pancit of the Chinese noodles for the long life, lumpia, the balut of the duck egg the tourists dare, the halo-halo of the shaved ice, the ube of the purple yam; the rice of every meal; the San Miguel beer of 1890, the oldest brewery of Southeast Asia; the Jollibee of the 1,500 stores; widely cited |
| National sport | Arnis, the stick-fighting martial art of the eskrima, the national sport and martial art by the law of 11 December 2009; basketball the passion of every barangay court, the Philippine Basketball Association of 1975, the first professional league of Asia, the Gilas Pilipinas of the World Cup co-hosted in 2023, the "Thrilla in Manila" of Ali and Frazier of 1 October 1975; boxing, the eight world titles of Manny Pacquiao across eight divisions, the senator and the comeback of 2025; the billiards of Efren "Bata" Reyes, the gymnastics of Carlos Yulo, the two golds of Paris 2024, and the weightlifting of Hidilyn Diaz's first gold of Tokyo; the volleyball of the arenas, the sipa and sepak takraw; the tennis of Alex Eala; widely cited |
| Symbol status | The flag, the arms, the anthem and the motto by the Flag and Heraldic Code of 1998; the flower and the tree by the proclamation of 1934; the eagle by the proclamation of 1995; arnis by the law of 2009; the carabao, the fish, the dishes and the rest widely cited |
Geography
| Location | Southeast Asia, the archipelago of the western Pacific — Taiwan to the north across the Luzon Strait, Vietnam to the west across the South China Sea, Borneo of Malaysia and Indonesia to the southwest across the Sulu and Celebes seas, Palau to the east across the Philippine Sea; the Philippine Trench off the eastern coast; the Ring of Fire and the typhoon belt |
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| Land borders | None — the maritime neighbors of Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and Palau; the exclusive economic zone of 2.2 million km² and the Spratly claims of the Kalayaan islands, the Scarborough Shoal 220 km from Luzon that China holds since 2012, the Second Thomas Shoal of the grounded BRP Sierra Madre and its marines, the arbitral award of 12 July 2016 that voided China's nine-dash line and China rejects, the "West Philippine Sea" of the law of 2024; the Sabah claim on Malaysia dormant; the Benham Rise of the continental shelf |
| Coastline | 36,289 km (22,549 mi) — the fifth-longest of any country, the 7,641 islands of the beaches of Boracay, Palawan, Siargao and Bohol, the mangroves, the reefs of Tubbataha and Apo, the seas of Sulu, Visayan, Sibuyan and Camotes among the islands, the Manila Bay of the sunset and the reclamation, the Subic Bay of the old American base, the Leyte Gulf of the largest naval battle of history, the Sulu Sea of the pirates of Abu Sayyaf; the world's center of marine biodiversity by the counts of the fish |
| Highest point | Mount Apo, 2,954 m (9,692 ft), in Davao, Mindanao; Mount Pulag of Luzon 2,928 m; Mayon 2,463 m |
| Lowest point | The Philippine Sea, 0 m; the Philippine Trench, 10,540 m, the third-deepest of the oceans |
| Mean elevation | 442 m (1,450 ft) |
| Rivers | The Cagayan, 505 km, the longest, through the valley of the north of Luzon of the corn and the tobacco to Aparri; the Rio Grande de Mindanao of 373 km through Cotabato, the largest by its flow; the Agusan of the marsh, the Pampanga of the central plain, the Pasig of Manila from Laguna de Bay to the bay, the dead river the city tries to revive, the Abra, the Bicol, the Agno; the 421 principal rivers of the islands, short and flooding; the Puerto Princesa underground river of 8.2 km of Palawan, the longest navigable of its kind |
| Lakes | Laguna de Bay, 900 km², southeast of Manila, the largest lake of the country and the third of Southeast Asia, the fishpens and the flood basin; Lake Lanao of Mindanao, 340 km², the ancient lake of the Maranao and the hydropower of the Agus; Taal, the lake in the caldera 60 km south of Manila with the Volcano Island in it and the crater lake in that, "the island in the lake on the island in the lake on the island"; Lake Sebu of the T'boli, Lake Buhi of the smallest fish, the sinarapan; Lake Mainit; the Pinatubo crater lake of 1991; the Kayangan lagoons of Coron |
| Terrain | Mountains and narrow plains on the islands — the Cordillera Central of Luzon of Mount Pulag, the Ifugao rice terraces of 2,000 years and Baguio, the Sierra Madre along the Pacific coast, the central plain of Luzon of the rice bowl, the Bicol peninsula of the volcanoes; the Visayas of the hills and the plains of Panay and Negros of the sugar, Cebu's spine, the Chocolate Hills of Bohol of the 1,268 limestone mounds; Mindanao of Mount Apo, the Lanao plateau, the Cotabato basin and the Agusan marsh, the Zamboanga peninsula; the Sulu archipelago; Palawan of the limestone and the last frontier; the 24 active volcanoes; the coral reefs of 27,000 km² |
| Climate | Tropical maritime — hot and humid all year at 27°C, the three seasons of the Filipinos: the hot dry of March to May, the rainy of June to November and the cool dry of December to February; the monsoons of the habagat from the southwest and the amihan from the northeast; 2,000 to 4,000 mm of rain, Baguio the wettest city; the typhoons, about 20 a year in the country's area and 8 or 9 that cross the land, the strongest of the earth's storms on the Pacific side; the El Niño droughts of the rice; the warming sea and the bleaching |
| Natural hazards | Typhoons — Haiyan, "Yolanda," of 8 November 2013, the strongest landfall ever recorded, with 6,300 dead and Tacloban swept by the surge; Bopha of 2012, Rai of 2021, Kristine of October 2024, the November 2025 pair of Kalmaegi, "Tino," of 4 November that drowned about 200 in Cebu and Fung-wong, "Uwan," of 9 November across Luzon, the state of calamity; earthquakes — the Luzon earthquake of 16 July 1990, magnitude 7.8, with 1,600 dead, the Bohol of 2013, the Cebu earthquake of 30 September 2025, magnitude 6.9, with 79 dead, and the Davao Oriental of 10 October 2025 of 7.4; volcanoes — Pinatubo of 15 June 1991, the second-largest eruption of the century with the lahars of the years after, Mayon of the 50 eruptions and the 1814 that buried Cagsawa, Taal of 12 January 2020 that emptied the province, Kanlaon of 2024–25; the floods of Manila of every monsoon and the flood-control money stolen; the landslides of the mines; the Doña Paz ferry of 20 December 1987 with 4,386 dead, the deadliest peacetime shipwreck; the Covid lockdown of 2020, the longest of the world |
| Natural resources | Nickel — the second-largest producer in the world after Indonesia, the ore of Surigao and Palawan shipped to China; gold of the Cordillera and Mindanao, copper of the Tampakan deposit of the plans, the largest of Southeast Asia, chromite, coal of Semirara; the geothermal heat of the volcanoes, the third-largest producer of geothermal power; the Malampaya gas of Palawan since 2001 running down; the coconut of 3.5 million hectares, the largest exporter of coconut products; the bananas of Mindanao, the second exporter; the rice of the plains, the sugar of Negros, the pineapples of Del Monte and Dole; the fish of the seas; the forests logged to a quarter; the hemp of Manila; the beaches of the tourists; the seafarers and the nurses the export the world knows |
| Land use | Agricultural land about 41%, the rice, the coconut and the corn; forest about 25%, from the 70% of 1900, the logging ban of 2011; the urban sprawl of Luzon |
| National parks | 240 protected areas on about 15% of the land and the seas by the NIPAS law of 1992 and its expansion of 2018 — Mount Apo Natural Park, Mount Pulag, Mount Kanlaon, the Tubbataha Reefs of the Sulu Sea of 970 km², the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River, the Mount Hamiguitan of the bonsai forest, the El Nido and Coron of Palawan, the Apo Reef of Mindoro, the Agusan Marsh, the Turtle Islands, the Mounts Iglit-Baco of the tamaraw, the Northern Sierra Madre, the Chocolate Hills of Bohol; the Verde Island Passage of the "center of the center" of marine life; the Ifugao terraces the living landscape |
| UNESCO World Heritage | 6 — the Baroque Churches of the Philippines (1993), San Agustín of Manila, Paoay, Santa Maria and Miagao of the "earthquake baroque"; the Tubbataha Reefs Natural Park (1993, extended 2009); the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras (1995), the Ifugao terraces of Banaue, Batad, Mayoyao, Hungduan and Kiangan, on the danger list of 2001–12; the Historic City of Vigan (1999), the Spanish-Chinese town of Ilocos; the Puerto-Princesa Subterranean River National Park (1999), a wonder of nature by the vote of 2011; the Mount Hamiguitan Range Wildlife Sanctuary (2014); the Hudhud chants of the Ifugao (2001) and the Darangen epic of the Maranao (2005), the Buklog ritual of the Subanen (2019) and the piña weaving of Aklan (2023) on the intangible list; the Chocolate Hills, the Batanes and the Mayon on the tentative |
| Administrative divisions | 17 regions of the administration — the National Capital Region of Metro Manila, the Cordillera Administrative Region and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao of 2019 with its own parliament, and the fourteen numbered regions of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western, Central and Eastern Visayas, the Negros Island Region of 2024, Zamboanga, Northern Mindanao, Davao, Soccsksargen and Caraga; 82 provinces with elected governors and boards, 149 cities, 1,493 municipalities and about 42,000 barangays with their captains, all elected on 12 May 2025 for three years and next in May 2028; the political dynasties of the provinces, 80% of the governors of the families |
People
| Population | 112,729,484 (census of 2024); about 115 million (2026 est.) |
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| Population density | About 380 per km² (985 per sq mi) — Metro Manila at 22,000, the City of Manila at 43,000, the densest city of the world; Palawan at 80 |
| Population growth | About 0.8% a year — from the 3% of the 1960s, the fertility fallen below replacement in 2022 to the demographers' surprise, the ten million abroad |
| Median age | About 25 years |
| Life expectancy | About 72 years |
| Fertility rate | About 1.9 births per woman — from 6.5 in 1960, the 1.9 of the survey of 2022 that ended the "population bomb" |
| Urban population | About 48% by the count, more by the sprawl |
| Adult literacy | About 97%; the "functional" literacy the worry of 2025 |
| Ethnic groups | Tagalog 26%, the people of Manila and its provinces and of the national language; Bisaya or Binisaya 14.3% and Cebuano 8%, the Visayans of Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and the Mindanao migrants, the largest group by the older counts; Ilocano 8% of the north, the Marcoses' people; Hiligaynon 7.9% of Iloilo and Negros; Bikol 6.5%; Waray 3.8% of Samar and Leyte; the other groups 26.1% — the Kapampangan, the Pangasinan, the Maranao, Maguindanao and Tausug of the Moros of Mindanao and Sulu, 6% of the country, the Igorots of the Cordillera, the Ifugao, the Kalinga, the Lumad of Mindanao's 18 peoples, the T'boli, the Manobo, the Aeta of the Negrito first settlers, the Ivatan of Batanes, the Badjao of the sea (census of 2020); the Chinese Filipinos of 1.5 million, the taipans of the economy since the Binondo of 1594, the oldest Chinatown; the Spanish mestizos of the old elite; the Americans, the Koreans of the schools, the Indians |
| Languages | Filipino and English by nearly all as the second languages of the schools; Tagalog by 28 million as the first, Cebuano by 25 million and the Bisaya varieties, Ilocano 9 million, Hiligaynon 9 million, Bikol 6 million, Waray 3 million, Kapampangan 3 million, Pangasinan 2 million, the Maranao, Maguindanao and Tausug of the Moros, the 175 languages of the count in the Austronesian family, 40 of them dying; Chavacano of Zamboanga of 700,000, the only Spanish creole of Asia; the Taglish of the cities; Hokkien of the Chinese; Spanish gone from the people and kept in the names; the English of the "third-largest English-speaking nation" and the call centers; Filipino Sign Language |
| Religion | Roman Catholic 78.8% by the census of 2020, the largest Catholic nation of Asia and the third of the world, the Spanish friars' three centuries, the Black Nazarene of Quiapo of the January procession of millions, the Santo Niño of Cebu, the Simbang Gabi of the nine dawn masses, the popes of 1970, 1981, 1995 with the largest Mass in history at Luneta of 5 million and of 2015 with 6 million, the divorce still banned; Muslim 6.4%, the Moros of the Bangsamoro of Mindanao and Sulu of the sultanates of 1405 and the wars of centuries; Iglesia ni Cristo 2.6%, the church of Felix Manalo of 1914 that votes as a bloc; Evangelical 2.4%, the Aglipayan Independent Church of 1902 1.4%, the Seventh-day Adventists, the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Mormons, the Baptists; the Buddhists and Taoists of the Chinese; the animists of the Lumad and the Cordillera; none 0.1% by the answers; the Church of the People Power and of the drug war's critics |
| Human Development Index | 0.720 (2023 data, 2025 report) — high; about 117th of 193 |
| The overseas Filipinos | The ten million Filipinos abroad, a tenth of the nation — the two million Overseas Filipino Workers of the contracts, the nurses of the American and British hospitals, the domestic workers of Hong Kong, Singapore and the Gulf, the construction workers of Saudi Arabia and the Emirates, the seafarers of a quarter of the world's crews, the teachers of Thailand, the entertainers of Japan; the four million Filipino Americans of California and Hawaii, the Canadians, the Australians; the remittances of US$38 billion a year, the fourth-largest of the world and a tenth of the economy, the "bagong bayani," the new heroes, of every president's speech; the Gulf of the two million and the Iran war of 2026 that stopped the flights and the wages; the "brain drain" of the doctors who become nurses to leave; the balikbayan boxes of Christmas |
| Sport | Basketball — the PBA of 1975 and the Gilas of the World Cups of 2019 and 2023 at home, the courts of every barangay, the Ateneo–La Salle of the UAAP, the NBA of the television; boxing, Pacquiao's eight divisions of 1998–2021 and the draw of the comeback of July 2025 at 46, Nonito Donaire, the "Thrilla" of 1975; the Olympics — Diaz's weightlifting gold of Tokyo 2021, the first in 97 years of trying, Yulo's floor and vault golds of Paris 2024, the first Filipino with two, the boxers' medals, the bronze of Eumir Marcial; the billiards of Reyes and the darts; Alex Eala, the first Filipina of the tennis top 50, the Miami semifinal of 2025; the volleyball of the packed arenas and the 2025 world championship hosted; the SEA Games of 2019 at home; the sipa, the arnis, the cockfighting of the sabong of the barangays and the online sabong scandal; the Southeast Asian Games of Bangkok 2025; the Asian Games of Nagoya of September 2026 |
| Diaspora | About 10 million — the United States of 4 million, the largest, Saudi Arabia of a million, the Emirates, Canada of a million, Malaysia of the Sabah Filipinos, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong of the 200,000 domestic workers, Singapore, Italy, Britain of the nurses, Kuwait and Qatar; the dual citizenship of the law of 2003; the overseas vote since 2004; the remittances the largest source of dollars; the "OFW" the word of the nation |
Government
| Form of government | Unitary presidential constitutional republic under the Constitution of 1987 — the president elected by plurality for a single six-year term as head of state and government and commander in chief, the vice president elected separately and often of another party, the cabinet; the Congress of the Senate of 24 and the House of Representatives of about 318; the Supreme Court of 15; the impeachment of the president, the vice president and the justices by a third of the House and two-thirds of the Senate; the 17 regions, the Bangsamoro autonomy; the "political dynasties" the Constitution forbids and the law never defined, the Marcoses, the Dutertes, the Aquinos, the Estradas, the Villars, the Cayetanos and the Tulfos of the ballot; "partly free" by Freedom House, the "flawed democracy" of the index; the "people power" of the streets the constitution's memory |
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| President | Ferdinand "Bongbong" Romualdez Marcos Jr. (Partido Federal ng Pilipinas), since 30 June 2022 — the seventeenth president; born 13 September 1957 at Manila, the only son of Ferdinand Marcos, the president and dictator of 1965–86, and Imelda Marcos of the 3,000 shoes, the boy of the palace who left with the family on the American helicopters of 25 February 1986 for Hawaii and returned in 1991, the Oxford student without the degree, the governor of Ilocos Norte of 1998–2007, the congressman and the senator of 2010–16, the loser of the vice presidency of 2016 to Leni Robredo by 263,000 votes and the six years of the protest; the winner of 9 May 2022 with 58.77% and 31.6 million votes, the largest majority since his father, on the "Uniteam" with Sara Duterte, the "unity" of the two dynasties and the rehabilitation of the name the People Power drove out, the TikTok campaign of the "golden age"; the president of the "Bagong Pilipinas," the Maharlika sovereign fund of 2023, the rice price fixed and the tariff cut, the POGO gambling hubs banned in 2024, the American alliance restored with the bases of EDCA and the Typhon missiles, the "transparency" of the ships at Ayungin and Scarborough, the arrest of Rodrigo Duterte for The Hague on 11 March 2025, "in compliance with Interpol"; the flood-control scandal he named in his address of 28 July 2025 and that reached his cousin the Speaker, his own name in the ex-governor Singson's accusation of May 2026, the "mastermind" he denies, the two impeachment complaints against him the House threw out in February 2026; "open to reconciling with the Dutertes," his word of May 2025 and the trial his allies press; Liza Araneta Marcos the first lady; his term to 30 June 2028, no re-election |
| Vice President | Sara Duterte-Carpio (Lakas–CMD, expelled 2024; the Hugpong ng Pagbabago), since 30 June 2022 — the fifteenth vice president; born 31 May 1978 at Davao, the daughter of Rodrigo Duterte, the lawyer, the mayor of Davao of 2010–13 and 2016–22 who punched a sheriff on camera, the winner of the vice presidency of 2022 with 61.5% and 32 million votes, more than the president, the education secretary of 2022–24 who resigned from the cabinet on 19 June 2024 as the Uniteam broke, the "confidential funds" of P612 million of her offices the House investigated, the remark of November 2024 that she had hired an assassin for the president, the first lady and the Speaker if she were killed; impeached by the House on 5 February 2025 by 215 votes, the first vice president impeached, the case remanded by the Senate on 10 June 2025 and the complaint voided by the Supreme Court on 25 July 2025 for the one-year rule, "not absolving her"; the four new complaints of February 2026, her candidacy for 2028 announced the same month, the House justice committee's 55–0 of 4 May 2026 and the second impeachment of 11 May 2026 by 257 votes to 25 for betrayal of public trust, culpable violation of the Constitution, graft and bribery — the funds of the vice presidency and the Department of Education, the "unexplained wealth," the gifts to the officials and the threat to kill; the Senate trial opened 6 July 2026; her arraignment in the criminal case postponed on 11 September 2026 before her supporters at Quezon City; "politically motivated," her defense; the front-runner of the polls for 2028 |
| The impeachment trial | The Senate as the impeachment court of the 24 senator-judges since the articles arrived in May 2026 — the week of the Senate presidency's fall on 11 May 2026 when the Duterte bloc, with Senator dela Rosa reappearing from hiding to cast the vote and fleeing the police through the chamber, ousted Vicente Sotto III for Alan Peter Cayetano, and the June counterstroke of the Marcos bloc that made Sherwin Gatchalian the president; the court convened 18 May 2026 with ten days for the answer, the trial opened 6 July 2026 under the presiding officer Francis Escudero, the morning Senator Marcoleta was arrested for plunder on the Sandiganbayan's charge of the undeclared campaign money, the prosecutors of the House and the witnesses of the "hostile" defense counsels; the four senators who cannot vote — Marcoleta and Jinggoy Estrada detained on plunder, the one for the flood-control money, dela Rosa nowhere to be found under his ICC warrant, Loren Legarda on medical leave in France since 2 August 2026 — and the ruling of 23 September 2026 by 13 votes to Escudero's one, on Senator Erwin Tulfo's motion with the minority of Cayetano walking out, that "all members of the Senate" means the members who can sit, the two-thirds of 20 and the threshold to convict lowered from 16 to 14; the conviction that would remove her and bar her from office for life and the acquittal that would send her to 2028; "the trial could last several months" |
| Rodrigo Duterte and the Hague | The president of 30 June 2016 to 30 June 2022, the mayor of Davao of the death squads, the "war on drugs" of the 6,252 killed in the police operations by the government's own count and 12,000 to 30,000 by the human rights groups, the "Oplan Tokhang" of the knocks on the doors, "kill them all"; the ICC's inquiry since 2018 and the withdrawal from the Rome Statute he ordered, in force 17 March 2019, the court keeping its jurisdiction over the years before; the sealed warrant of 7 March 2025 for murder as a crime against humanity, the arrest at the Manila airport on 11 March 2025 on the return from Hong Kong, the flight to Rotterdam the same night, the first Asian former head of state in the court's custody, the first appearance of 14 March 2025 by video from Scheveningen; the confirmation of charges hearing postponed from 23 September 2025 over his fitness at 80 and the ruling of 2026 awaited, the interim release refused; elected mayor of Davao on 12 May 2025 from his cell, the son Sebastian the acting mayor; the warrant for Senator Ronald "Bato" dela Rosa, his police chief, reported in November 2025 and the senator in hiding since; the Senate inquiry into the "kidnapping," Imee Marcos's "sovereignty"; the Duterte supporters' rallies of Davao and The Hague, the AI photographs of his return; the bomb he suggested for the senators in the campaign of 2025 |
| The 2022 and 2025 elections | The general election of 9 May 2022: Marcos 58.77% and 31,629,783 votes, Leni Robredo 27.94% and 15 million, Manny Pacquiao 6.8%, Isko Moreno 6.4%, Ping Lacson 1.6%, turnout 83%, the largest presidential majority since 1981 and the vice presidency of Sara Duterte by 61.5%; the midterm election of 12 May 2025 for the 12 Senate seats, the 317 House seats and the 18,000 local offices, the "referendum on the feud": the Senate's twelve — Bong Go of the Dutertes first with 27 million votes, Bam Aquino second and Kiko Pangilinan fifth in the opposition's surprise return, dela Rosa third, Erwin Tulfo, Camille Villar, Lito Lapid, Panfilo Lacson, Vicente Sotto, Pia Cayetano, Rodante Marcoleta of the Dutertes and Imee Marcos of the president's sister who ran with the Dutertes — "some victories by Duterte-aligned candidates gave Sara Duterte an important foothold in the Senate," the count of the impeachment; the House of the president's allies of 250 and more; Rodrigo Duterte elected mayor of Davao from The Hague; the vote-counting machines of the controversy |
| Parliament | The Congress of the Philippines — Kongreso — of two houses at the Batasang Pambansa of Quezon City and the Senate at Pasay: the Senate of 24 elected nationally for six years by halves, its president the third in the succession — Francis Escudero of 2024–25, Vicente Sotto III from 8 September 2025 in the flood-control fall, Alan Peter Cayetano from 11 May 2026 by the Duterte bloc's coup and Sherwin Gatchalian from June 2026 by the counter-coup; the House of Representatives of about 318, 254 from the districts and 63 from the party lists, elected 12 May 2025 for three years, the Speaker Martin Romualdez, the president's cousin, resigned on 17 September 2025 in the scandal and Faustino "Bojie" Dy III since; the "pork barrel" of the insertions, the Priority Development Assistance Fund the Supreme Court struck in 2013 and the "budget insertions" of 2025; the impeachment of Chief Justice Corona of 2012 and of the Ombudsman; the Bangsamoro Parliament of 80 of the interim authority since 2019, its first election postponed from 2022 and 2025 to 2026 |
| The next election | The general election of 9 May 2028 for the president, the vice president, 12 senators, the House and the local offices; the barangay elections of the postponements; the first parliamentary election of the Bangsamoro, reset from 13 October 2025 by the Supreme Court's ruling on the districts; the president barred from a second term |
| The flood-control scandal | The "ghost" and substandard flood-control projects of the Department of Public Works of the Marcos years — the president's state of the nation address of 28 July 2025 that named them, the P545 billion of the projects since 2022 and the P100 billion and more stolen by the estimates, the contractors of the Discaya couple of the 28 luxury cars, the "budget insertions" of the congressmen, the district engineers of Bulacan, the "conduit" congressman Zaldy Co who fled; the Independent Commission for Infrastructure of 11 September 2025 under a former chief justice; the Trillion Peso March of 21 September 2025, the anniversary of martial law, of the hundred thousand at Luneta and the EDSA shrine and the clashes at Mendiola; the Speaker Romualdez resigned 17 September and the Senate President Escudero replaced 8 September 2025; the plunder charges of 2026, Senator Jinggoy Estrada detained for the flood-control money and Senator Marcoleta for the undeclared donations, the former Ilocos Sur governor Singson's accusation of May 2026 that the president was the "mastermind"; the "Gen Z" of the Philippine streets of the world's season of 2025 |
| The Bangsamoro and the South | The Moros of Mindanao and Sulu, the Muslims of the sultanates of Sulu of 1405 and Maguindanao whom Spain never conquered and America did, the Moro National Liberation Front of Nur Misuari of 1972 and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front of the war of 120,000 dead, the peace of the Tripoli agreement of 1976, the Final Peace Agreement of 1996, the Comprehensive Agreement of 27 March 2014 and the Bangsamoro Organic Law of 2018 ratified by the plebiscite of 21 January 2019; the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region of the five provinces and Cotabato City under the MILF's Murad Ebrahim and, since March 2024, Abdulraof Macacua of the transition authority, the parliament of 80 of the interim, the election postponed to 2026; the Abu Sayyaf of the kidnappings and the Sulu piracy, the Maute of the Marawi siege of 23 May to 23 October 2017 of the five months and the 1,000 dead, the martial law of Mindanao of 2017–19; the Communist New People's Army of 1969, the longest Maoist insurgency of Asia, 40,000 dead, the talks of Oslo of 2023 and the "localized" surrenders; the Sabah claim |
| The West Philippine Sea | The South China Sea of the Chinese nine-dash line and the "West Philippine Sea" of the law of 2024 — the Scarborough Shoal, Bajo de Masinloc, 220 km off Zambales, held by China's coast guard since the standoff of 2012 and declared a Chinese "nature reserve" in September 2025; the Second Thomas Shoal, Ayungin, of the BRP Sierra Madre grounded in 1999 and the marines the resupply boats feed, the water cannon and the axes of the clash of 17 June 2024 that cost a sailor his thumb, the "provisional arrangement" of July 2024; the Sabina Shoal, the collision of the Chinese ships chasing a Philippine boat at Scarborough on 11 August 2025; the arbitral award of 12 July 2016 at The Hague for the Philippines that China calls "a piece of paper"; the "transparency initiative" of the videos; the Balikatan exercises of the Americans, the nine EDCA bases, the Typhon missiles of 2024, the Mutual Defense Treaty of 1951 Washington restates, the "squad" with Japan and Australia, the Reciprocal Access Agreement with Japan of 2024 in force 2025; the fishermen of Masinloc; the Duterte pivot to China undone |
| Legal system | A mixture — the civil law of the Spanish codes, the common law of the American courts and procedure, the Sharia courts of the Bangsamoro for the Muslims' personal law, the customary law of the Indigenous peoples — the Supreme Court of fifteen under Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo since 2021, the Court of Appeals, the Sandiganbayan of the graft cases of the officials, the Ombudsman; the death penalty abolished in 2006 after the restoration of 1993 and the seven executions of 1999–2000, the "revival" of every Duterte bill; the ICC withdrawal of 2019 and the "we will not rejoin" of Marcos; the drug war's convictions of a handful of policemen; the Maguindanao massacre of 23 November 2009 of the 58, 32 of them journalists, the Ampatuans convicted in 2019; the plunder of Estrada of 2007 pardoned, of Arroyo acquitted, the Marcos ill-gotten wealth of the PCGG since 1986, US$10 billion sought and US$3 billion recovered; the libel of the cyber law and Maria Ressa's Nobel of 2021; the divorce banned with the Vatican; the Sara Duterte criminal case |
| Local government | 82 provinces with governors and boards, 149 cities and 1,493 municipalities with mayors and councils, about 42,000 barangays with captains and kagawads, all elected 12 May 2025 for three years to 2028; the Local Government Code of 1991 of the devolution; the "political dynasties" of the provinces, the Ampatuans, the Dys, the Singsons, the Marcoses of Ilocos Norte, the Dutertes of Davao — Sebastian the acting mayor for the father in The Hague; Metro Manila's sixteen mayors and the MMDA; the Bangsamoro of its own; the "Internal Revenue Allotment" the Supreme Court enlarged in 2018 |
| Defense | The Armed Forces of the Philippines of about 150,000 — the army of the counterinsurgencies of the NPA and the Moros, the navy of the two frigates of 2020–21 and the BRP Miguel Malvar of 2025 from South Korea, the old American cutters and the Sierra Madre rusting on the shoal, the coast guard of the water cannon, the air force of the FA-50s of Korea and the F-16 hopes; the Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States of 30 August 1951, the bases of Clark and Subic until the Senate's vote of 16 September 1991 and the closure of 1992, the Visiting Forces Agreement of 1999, the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement of 2014 and its nine sites, four added in 2023 facing Taiwan, the Balikatan of 16,000 troops each spring, the Typhon and NMESIS missiles of 2024–25; the Japan agreement, the Australian, the Comprehensive Archipelagic Defense Concept; the defense budget of about 1.5% of GDP and the "Horizon 3" of the modernization; the Bataan of April 1942, the Death March of 76,000 and the Corregidor, the Leyte Gulf of 23–26 October 1944, the largest naval battle in history, and the "I shall return" of MacArthur on 20 October; no conscription; the Marawi of 2017 the last siege |
| Foreign policy | The American alliance of the treaty of 1951, the colony and the "special relationship" of the bases lost and regained, the tariff of 19% of 2025 and the "friend, partner, ally"; China of the shoals and the trade, the largest partner, the Duterte pivot of 2016 and the Marcos return, the "we will not yield a square inch"; Japan of the aid, the trains and the defense pact, the largest donor; the ASEAN of the founders of 1967 and the chairmanship of 2026, the summits of May and of 16–18 November 2026 at Manila, the code of conduct of the sea Manila presses; Australia and the "squad"; Taiwan of the 150,000 Filipino workers and the Bashi Channel; the Gulf of the two million workers and the Iran war of 2026; the Vatican; the ICC of Duterte; the Sabah quarrel with Malaysia |
| United Nations | A founding member of 24 October 1945, Carlos Romulo the president of the General Assembly of 1949; the Security Council seats of 1957, 1963, 1980–81 and 2004–05; the peacekeepers of Liberia, Haiti and the Golan; the UNCLOS of the arbitration; the Human Rights Council's inquiry into the drug war and the joint program of 2021; the World Heritage of the six; the typhoon appeals of Haiyan |
| Other memberships | ASEAN (1967), a founder, its chair in 2026; the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (1989), a founder, the host of 1996 and 2015; the Asian Development Bank of 1966, its headquarters at Manila; the WTO (1995); the Non-Aligned Movement; the Colombo Plan; the East Asia Summit; the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (2023); the Rome Statute left 2019; the Mutual Defense Treaty; the Squad of 2024 |
Economy
| GDP (nominal) | About US$500 billion (2025, IMF) — the thirty-second economy of the world and the fifth of Southeast Asia |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita | About US$4,300 (2025) |
| GDP per capita (PPP) | About US$12,500 (2025) |
| GDP growth | About 5.7% in 2024, about 5.5% in 2025 and about 5.5% expected in 2026, among the fastest of Asia on the consumption of the remittances and the outsourcing, the fuel prices of the Iran war of 2026 the drag and the fares the government held; inflation about 2 to 3% after the rice of 2023–24; the peso at about 57; the public debt about 62% of GDP; the unemployment about 4% and the underemployment a tenth; the poverty of 15.5% of the count of 2023 toward the single digit the president promised; the "upper-middle income" of the World Bank's threshold the country has chased since 2019 |
| Economy by sector | Services about 62%, the remittances, the outsourcing, the retail, the property and the finance; industry about 29%, the electronics, the food, the construction and the mining; agriculture and fishing about 9%, the rice, the coconut, the corn and the bananas of a quarter of the workers |
| Currency | Philippine peso (PHP) |
| Remittances and the call centers | The overseas workers' remittances of US$38 billion in 2024, the fourth-largest flow in the world after India, Mexico and China, about 9% of GDP, the money of the houses, the schools and the shopping malls; the business process outsourcing of 1.7 million workers in the call centers and the back offices of Manila, Cebu and Clark, US$38 billion of revenue in 2024, the "call center capital of the world" since the country passed India in 2011, the English and the accent the asset and the artificial intelligence the threat; the two together a fifth of the economy; the SM, Ayala and Robinsons malls of the largest in the world; the Jollibee, the San Miguel, the taipans of the Sy, Gokongwei, Tan and Ayala families |
| Electronics and the exports | Exports of about US$100 billion — the electronics at 55%, the semiconductors of the Texas Instruments of Baguio, the Analog Devices and the hard-drive parts of the Laguna and Cavite export zones, the country a link of the chips; the coconut oil, the bananas of the Japanese tables, the pineapples, the tuna of General Santos, the nickel ore to China, the copper of Toledo, the garments of the past; to the United States, China, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore; imports of about US$130 billion of the fuel, the electronics, the machinery and the rice, the deficit the remittances cover; the American tariff of 19% of 2025; the RCEP of 2023; the free-trade agreement with the European Union of the talks |
| Farming and the fish | The rice of the Luzon plain and the Cagayan of 20 million tons, the country the world's largest rice importer some years, the Rice Tariffication Law of 2019 and the price cap of 2023, the farmers of the small plots; the coconut of 3.5 million hectares and 3 million farmers, the copra, the oil and the water, the largest exporter of coconut products; the bananas of Mindanao of Dole and Del Monte, the second-largest exporter, the Panama disease; the pineapples of Bukidnon, the sugar of Negros of the haciendas, the corn of the hills, the mangoes of Guimaras; the fishing of the 2 million fishers and the milkfish ponds, the tuna of the Celebes Sea, the sardines of Zamboanga, the reefs dynamited; the land reform of 1988 half done; the typhoons that take the harvest |
| Mining and the power | The nickel of Surigao, Palawan and Zambales, the second-largest producer of the world at 400,000 tons of metal a year, the laterite ore to the Chinese smelters, the "ban on ore exports" of the debates; the gold of the Cordillera's Lepanto and the small-scale miners, the Tampakan copper-gold of South Cotabato blocked by the province's open-pit ban until 2022 and the plans since; the Semirara coal of the power plants of a coal-heavy grid, the geothermal of the third producer of the world, the solar of the 2020s, the Malampaya gas of Palawan running out in 2027 and the LNG terminals of Batangas; the electricity of the highest prices of Asia after Japan; the Bataan nuclear plant of 1984 never switched on; the Meralco of Manila; the mining law of 1995 and the open-pit ban lifted in 2021 |
| Public finances | Public debt about 62% of GDP, P17 trillion, from the 40% before the pandemic, the "fiscal consolidation" of the deficit of 5%; the budget of P6.3 trillion for 2026 of the flood-control insertions cut; the tax reform of TRAIN of 2018 and the CREATE MORE of 2024 for the investors; the Maharlika Investment Fund of 2023 of the P500 billion the critics feared; the PhilHealth subsidy fight of 2025; the remittances of the tax-free dollars; the investment grade of BBB+ |
| Income classification | Lower-middle income (World Bank) — the upper-middle threshold missed in 2025 by a few dollars of income per head |
Transport & infrastructure
| Main airports | Ninoy Aquino International Airport of Manila, about 50 million passengers at the four terminals, taken over by the San Miguel consortium in September 2024 for the rebuilding of the "world's worst" of the old lists; Mactan–Cebu International of the Aboitiz, the resort terminal of 2018; Clark International of the old American base and the terminal of 2022; Davao, Iloilo, Kalibo and Caticlan of Boracay, Puerto Princesa, Bacolod; the New Manila International Airport of San Miguel at Bulacan building for 2028, the four runways of the reclaimed bay; the 90 airports of the islands |
|---|---|
| Airlines | Philippine Airlines, the PAL of 15 March 1941, the oldest airline of Asia still flying under its name, the flag carrier of the Lucio Tan group of the bankruptcy of 2021 and the return, the Boeing 777s and the A350s to New York, London and the Gulf; Cebu Pacific of 1996, the largest by passengers, the low-cost of the islands and the 150 Airbuses of the order of 2024; AirAsia Philippines, Sunlight Air; the helicopters of the taipans |
| Main ports | The Port of Manila, the busiest, the Manila International Container Terminal of the ICTSI of Enrique Razon, the Filipino operator of 30 ports on six continents, 5 million containers a year; Batangas of the ferries and the industry, Subic of the old naval base, Cebu, Cagayan de Oro, Davao of the bananas, General Santos of the tuna, Iloilo; the "Strong Republic Nautical Highway" of the RORO ferries of 2003 that links the islands by road and ship; the Doña Paz of 1987; the 2GO and the bancas of the islands |
| Railways | About 1,200 km (750 mi) in the building — the Philippine National Railways of the Manila–Dagupan line of 1892, the Bicol Express of the south suspended, the North–South Commuter Railway of 147 km from Clark through Manila to Calamba building since 2019 with Japan and the Asian Development Bank for 2028–29; the Manila LRT Line 1 of 1 December 1984, the first light rail of Southeast Asia, extended to Cavite in 2024, the LRT-2 of 2003, the MRT-3 of EDSA of 1999 of the crowds; the Metro Manila Subway of 33 km of the Japanese loan building since 2022 for 2029–32; the Mindanao Railway of the Chinese loan stalled; the Cebu bus rapid transit; the Tutuban station |
| Roads | About 217,000 km (135,000 mi), a third paved — the Pan-Philippine Highway, the Maharlika Highway of 3,400 km from Laoag to Zamboanga by the ferries of the nautical highway; the North and South Luzon Expressways, the Skyway of Manila's stacked toll road, the Cavite–Laguna, the TPLEX to the north; EDSA, the 24 km ring road of Metro Manila and the world's worst traffic by the index of 2023, the "Carmageddon" of the buses; the Cebu–Cordova Link Expressway of 2022, 8.9 km, the longest bridge, the Panguil Bay Bridge of 2024 of Mindanao, the Bataan–Cavite bridge of 32 km building for 2028; the jeepneys of the Willys jeeps of 1945 and the "modernization" that retired them from 2024–25 to the drivers' strikes, the tricycles, the habal-habal motorcycles, the Grab; the driving on the right |
| The islands | The RORO ferries of the nautical highways, the fast craft of Cebu and Bohol, the bancas of the outriggers; the flights of the islands; the Batanes of the north reached when the weather allows; the Palawan of El Nido and Coron; the Boracay closed six months in 2018 for the cleanup; the Chocolate Hills; the Banaue terraces of the jeepney road; the Mount Pinatubo of the four-by-fours over the lahar |
History in dates
| c. 67,000 BC | Callao Man — Homo luzonensis of 2019 |
|---|---|
| c. 3000 BC | The Austronesians arrive |
| 900 | The Laguna Copperplate — the oldest document |
| 1405 | The Sultanate of Sulu |
| 1521 | Magellan lands, 16 March; killed at Mactan by Lapulapu, 27 April |
| 1543 | "Las Islas Filipinas" — Villalobos |
| 1565 | Legazpi at Cebu; the galleon trade to 1815 |
| 1571 | Manila founded, 24 June |
| 1762 | The British take Manila, to 1764 |
| 1872 | The Cavite mutiny; GomBurZa executed, 17 February |
| 1892 | The Katipunan, 7 July — Bonifacio |
| 1896 | The revolution, August; Rizal executed, 30 December |
| 1898 | Manila Bay, 1 May; independence declared, 12 June; sold to America, 10 December |
| 1899 | The Malolos Republic, 23 January; the Philippine–American War, 4 February — to 1902 |
| 1935 | The Commonwealth, 15 November — Quezon |
| 1941 | The Japanese invade, 8 December |
| 1942 | Bataan falls, 9 April — the Death March; Corregidor, 6 May |
| 1944 | MacArthur returns at Leyte, 20 October; the Battle of Leyte Gulf |
| 1945 | The Battle of Manila, February — 100,000 dead |
| 1946 | Independence, 4 July — Roxas |
| 1965 | Ferdinand Marcos elected |
| 1972 | Martial law, 21 September |
| 1983 | Ninoy Aquino shot at the airport, 21 August |
| 1986 | People Power, 22–25 February — Marcos flees; Cory Aquino |
| 1987 | The Constitution, 2 February |
| 1991 | Pinatubo, 15 June; the bases rejected, 16 September |
| 2001 | EDSA II — Estrada out, 20 January |
| 2009 | The Maguindanao massacre, 23 November — 58 dead |
| 2013 | Haiyan, 8 November — 6,300 dead |
| 2016 | Duterte, 30 June; the arbitral award, 12 July; the drug war |
| 2017 | The Marawi siege, 23 May – 23 October |
| 2019 | The Bangsamoro, 21 January; the ICC left, 17 March |
| 2022 | Marcos Jr. elected, 9 May; sworn, 30 June |
| 2024 | Sara Duterte leaves the cabinet, 19 June; the Ayungin clash, 17 June; the POGO ban |
| 2025 | The first impeachment, 5 February; Duterte to The Hague, 11 March; the midterms, 12 May; the Supreme Court voids, 25 July; the address, 28 July; the Trillion Peso March, 21 September; the Cebu quake, 30 September; Kalmaegi, 4 November; dela Rosa's warrant, November |
| 2026 | The ASEAN chair, 1 January; the four complaints, 23 February; the second impeachment, 11 May; Cayetano, 11 May; Gatchalian, June; the trial opens, 6 July — Marcoleta arrested; the arraignment postponed, 11 September; the threshold lowered, 23 September; the ASEAN summit, 16–18 November |
Records & firsts
| The fifth-longest coastline | 36,289 km |
|---|---|
| The largest Catholic country of Asia | Third in the world |
| The first republic of Asia | Malolos, 23 January 1899 |
| The strongest typhoon landfall | Haiyan, 8 November 2013 |
| The second-largest eruption of the century | Pinatubo, 1991 |
| The deadliest peacetime shipwreck | Doña Paz, 4,386 |
| The largest naval battle | Leyte Gulf, 1944 |
| The call-center capital of the world | Since 2011 |
| The fourth-largest remittances | US$38 billion |
| The world's seafarers | A quarter of the crews |
| The second nickel producer | After Indonesia |
| The oldest airline of Asia | PAL, 1941 |
| The first Asian ex-head of state at the ICC | Duterte, 2025 |
| The first vice president impeached, twice | Sara Duterte, 2025 and 2026 |
Frequently asked questions
What is the official name of the Philippines?
The Republic of the Philippines — Republika ng Pilipinas in Filipino — the archipelago named in 1543 by the Spanish navigator Ruy López de Villalobos "Las Islas Filipinas" for the crown prince who became Philip II of Spain, ruled by Spain for 333 years from Manila, declared independent by Emilio Aguinaldo at Kawit on 12 June 1898, sold to the United States for twenty million dollars six months later, the first republic of Asia at Malolos in 1899 and the American colony of a war of two hundred thousand dead, the Commonwealth of 1935 and the independent republic of 4 July 1946. The Filipinos keep both dates, the June of the declaration as Independence Day and the July of the handover as the day of Filipino-American friendship; the "Pilipinas" of the Tagalog spelling is the state's own name.
What is the capital of the Philippines?
Manila — Maynilà, "where the nilad grows," the Muslim rajahs' town on the Pasig that Miguel López de Legazpi took on 24 June 1571 and made the capital of the Spanish Philippines and the port of the galleons to Acapulco, the walled Intramuros of the friars, the city the battle of February 1945 destroyed with 100,000 of its people, the capital of the republic in law and the second city of the metropolis in size — about 1.8 million in the City of Manila and 14 million in Metro Manila, the National Capital Region of sixteen cities where Quezon City, the capital of 1948–76, is the largest, with Makati of the banks, Taguig of the towers, Pasay of the bay and the Senate, the traffic of EDSA among the worst on earth, the Black Nazarene of January and the ASEAN summit of November 2026. Davao of the Dutertes, Cebu of the Visayas, Zamboanga and Cagayan de Oro follow.
How big is the Philippines, and how many people live there?
About 300,000 km² (115,831 sq mi) — the size of Arizona, a little larger than Italy — an archipelago of 7,641 islands, 2,000 of them inhabited, in the western Pacific between Taiwan and Borneo, the three groups of Luzon of the capital and the Cordillera, the Visayas of Cebu, Bohol and Leyte and Mindanao of the Moros and the Lumad, with a coastline of 36,289 km, the fifth-longest of any country, and the South China Sea, the "West Philippine Sea" of the maps, on the west. The census of 2024 counted 112,729,484 people, the thirteenth-most populous country and the second of Southeast Asia after Indonesia, and the estimate for 2026 is about 115 million, growing at 0.8 percent a year on a fertility that fell to 1.9 in 2022, a young nation of the Tagalogs, the Visayans and the Ilocanos with the ten million overseas workers whose remittances carry it, the largest Catholic country of Asia and the third of the world.
What are the highest and lowest points of the Philippines?
Mount Apo, 2,954 m (9,692 ft), the "grandfather" volcano above Davao at the south of Mindanao, dormant, the home of the Philippine eagle, with Mount Pulag of Luzon second; and the sea, beyond which the Philippine Trench falls to 10,540 m, the third-deepest place on earth. The country is the Ring of Fire — Mayon of the perfect cone, Pinatubo whose eruption of 15 June 1991 was the second-largest of the century and cooled the world by half a degree, Taal of the island in the lake in the island that erupted in January 2020; the Cagayan is the longest river at 505 km, Laguna de Bay the largest lake, the Banaue rice terraces of the Ifugao the "eighth wonder," the Chocolate Hills of Bohol, the underground river of Puerto Princesa and the reefs of Tubbataha the country's World Heritage, and the twenty typhoons a year its scourge.
What currency does the Philippines use?
The Philippine peso (ISO code PHP, ₱), piso in Filipino, of 100 sentimo, the currency of the Spanish silver coins of the galleon trade that the Americans kept at two to the dollar, issued by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas since 1949 and floating since 1970, about 57 to the U.S. dollar in the 2020s, the notes of the polymer of 2022 with the Philippine eagle and the national heroes; the dollar of the remittances and the tourists beside it. Clocks keep Philippine Standard Time, UTC+8, the same as Hong Kong and Manila's Chinese trade, all year; the Philippines drives on the right since the Americans changed it in 1945, on the jeepneys of the old Willys and the tricycles.
Who governs the Philippines?
President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., head of state and government since 30 June 2022, the son of the dictator the People Power Revolution drove out in 1986, elected in the landslide of 31 million votes on a "Uniteam" ticket with Sara Duterte, the daughter of the president before him — an alliance that broke in 2024 into the bitterest feud of the country's politics: Marcos had Rodrigo Duterte arrested for the International Criminal Court on 11 March 2025 and flown to The Hague, where the former president awaits trial for the thousands killed in his war on drugs; the House impeached the vice president in February 2025 and, after the Supreme Court voided that, again on 11 May 2026, and the Senate has tried her since 6 July 2026 on the charges of misused funds and the threat to kill the president, the conviction that would end her run for 2028 needing 14 of the 20 senators who can vote since the court lowered the bar on 23 September 2026. The president, meanwhile, faces the flood-control scandal that filled the streets in September 2025 and put two senators in jail. The next election, for his successor, is due on 9 May 2028.
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