DISCOVERY OF PHILIPPINES

#1: King Philip II of Spain

·  Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to have made it to Philippines. He had served King Charles I of Spain and he went for searching spices in the west. His expedition was the first expedition to sail from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific Ocean.

·         Magellan also gave his name to the Magellanic Penguins being the first European to notice them.

·       Ruy Lopez de Villalobos was a Spanish explorer who named Philippines in the honor of King Phiip II of Spain.

·         Filipinos form the largest network of Diasporas in the world. They amount to around 11 million people.

Ferdinand Magellan

VOLCANOES

#2: Volcanoes

The country has number of volcanoes. Over two hundred volcanoes are presented in Philippines.

•    Mount Pintabu erupted in 1991 on June 15 and created the largest mushroom clouds ever in the world having effects throughout the planet. 10 billion metric tons of magma and 20 million tons of sulphur di oxide were ejected. It surpassed aerosol injection into the atmosphere’s stratosphere compared to the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883.  The eruption also brought metals and minerals to the surface.



Mount Pintabu

• The Taal volcano in the Taal Lake is a volcano inside another volcano. Many reckon it is the most active of the world’s volcanoes.

Taal Lake-Volcano

TEXT CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

#3: Text Capital of the World

·         Philippines is called the “text capital of the world.”

Reason: On an average, every day, about 35 million mobile subscribers in the country send about 450 million short text messages (SMS) on an average. The United States and Europe together can’t beat this daily text messages count.

KARAOKE

#4: Karaoke

·         Karaoke was invented in Philippines despite popular belief of it having been invented by the Japanese. It was invented by Roberto Del Rosario and was called “Sing along with the system”.

Later, the word karaoke came from Japanese meaning singing without accompaniment.

SNAKES

#5: Snakes

·         The Reticulated Python (Python Reticulatus) is the world’s longest snake and largest reptile. It is found slithering in Philippines and nearby areas. These adult snakes grow to 8.7m in length.

The Reticulated Python

·         The Faint banded sea snake known for being the most toxic snake in the world. It is found in the Visayas and Panay areas in the Philippines, New Guinea, Australia, Solomon Islands, Gulf of Thailand and Timor.

The Sea Snake 

FRUITS

#6: Tropical Fruits

·         Philippines is the largest producer of coconuts.

·         It also exports tropical fruits to the level of being the largest exporter.

·         In Philippines, you can find the sweetest mango.

·  The largest pineapple was also harvested from one of Philippines plantations. These interesting facts about Philippines related to tropical fruits are really amazing.

FLAG

#7: Flag

·         The specialty of the Filipino flag is that it is displayed according to the circumstance around.

·         During times of war, the red side is put on top; whereas when at peace, the blue side is displayed on top.

BACKGROUND

#8: Ethnic Background

·         Malay, Chinese, Spanish, American and other civilizations form the ethnic background of Philippines.

SOME OF THE PHILIPPINES' ETHNIC GROUPS

POPULATION

#9: Population

·         The figures stand at 90 million people, making Philippines the 12^th largest country in terms of population.

·         It also stands third in the list of English speaking nations of the world.

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RELIGION

#10: Christian Nation

·         Philippines is the only Christian nation in all of Asia.

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