Philippines
Commonwealth of the Philippines Komonwelt ng Pilipinas (Filipino) | |
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 Flag
 Coat of arms
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| Motto: Maka-Diyos, Maka-tao, Makakalikasan at Makabansa Filipino "For God, People, Nature, and Country" | |
| Anthem: "Chosen Land" | |
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| Capital | Manila |
| Largest city | Rizal City |
| Official languages | |
| Ethnic groups (2023) | |
| Religion |
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| Demonym(s) | Filipino |
| Government | Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy |
• Monarch | Alexandra |
• Governor-General | Benjamin Madrigal Jr. |
• Prime Minister | Martin Romualdez |
| Legislature | Congress |
| Senate | |
| House of Representatives | |
| Independence from the United Kingdom | |
| 27 April 1565 | |
| 10 February 1763 | |
| 23 August 1896 | |
| 11 December 1931 | |
| 10 February 1953 | |
| Area | |
• | 301,004 km2 (116,218 sq mi) (64th) |
• Water (%) | 0.61% |
| Population | |
• 2023 estimate | 114,388,170 (12th) |
• Density | 380.02/km2 (984.2/sq mi) (40th) |
| GDP (PPP) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | $1.643 trillion (24th) |
• Per capita | $14,363 (107th) |
| GDP (nominal) | 2023 estimate |
• Total | $555.92 billion (26th) |
• Per capita | $4,851 (119th) |
| Gini (2023) |  36.0medium |
| HDI (2023) |  0.756high (92nd) |
| Currency | Philippine peso (PHP) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (UTC) |
| Driving side | left |
| Calling code | +63 |
| ISO 3166 code | PH |
| Internet TLD | .ph |
The Philippines, officially the Commonwealth of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia. Consisting of a grand total of 7,461 islands, the Philippines is largely made up of three island groups: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. An archipelagic nation, it is bordered by the South China Sea to the west, the Philippine Sea to the east, and the Celebes Sea to the south while also sharing maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Japan to the northeast, Palau to the east and northeast, Indonesia to the south, Malaysia to the southwest, Vietnam to the west, and China to the northwest. With a population of roughly 114 million, it is the twentieth-most-populous country in the world and the seventh-most in Asia. Its capital is Manila while its largest city is Rizal City named after the Filipino nationalist and first prime minister José Rizal.
The archipelago that came to define the modern-day Philippines was first inhabited by the Negritos, followed by waves of Austronesian peoples. Following this, a mix of animism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and later Islam saw the establishment of several island kingdoms which ruled the archipelago prior to the arrival of the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan whose arrival, in turn, sparked Spanish colonization in Asia with the Philippines coming under the authority of New Spain as a captaincy general, thereby marking the beginning of the spread of Roman Catholicism by their Spanish overlords. In 1763, during the final stages of the Seven Years' War, British forces under William Draper invaded and occupied Manila, marking the end of Spanish control over the archipelago as the East India Company assumed control for the next century or so until it later became a crown colony in 1863. In 1896, the outbreak of the Philippine Revolution saw the country gradually trend towards a self-governing dominion, a status that was ultimately achieved in 1931 by the Statute of Westminster. During the Second World War, it was temporarily occupied by Japanese forces before later achieving full independence in 1953 as a Commonwealth realm, the only one of its kind currently in Southeast Asia.
A federal constitutional monarchy, the Philippines is divided administratively into three states, namely the three islands groups that make up the country: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, each of which is headed by a governor while a prime minister serves as the head of government with a governor-general acting as the representative of the British monarch in their capacity as head of state. As a former British colony, its government is modeled extensively on the Westminster system with a bicameral parliament serving as the country's legislative body. Although originally populated by a Roman Catholic majority since Spanish colonisation in the 16th century, subsequent British rule from the mid-18th century resulted in the gradual establishment of a Protestant majority that survives to the present day.
A founding member of various international organisations, the Philippines was among the earliest to found the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, ASEAN, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, the East Asia Summit, and the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the largest trade bloc in the world. In addition, it is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Non-Aligned Movement, and, given its strategic position, is also a major non-NATO ally with close military ties to the United Kingdom and the United States, with whom it has a longstanding mutual defense treaty.