Philippines

The Philippines

The population of the Philippines is made up of 70 different ethnic groups. There are 81 160 000 people living in the Philippines. The Filipino’s speak 70 different languages, but the two most common languages are Tagalog and English. The major religion is Roman Catholicism. Buddhism, a religion founded by Buddha, an ancient religious leader from India is also another religion in the Philippines. The currency the Filipinos use is the peso. They have a democratic government. The government tries to fix the country’s problems and restore the democratic government. The first leader of the country was Prince Philip and he was Spanish.

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The country is located off the coast of Southeast Asia (13 degrees North, 123 degrees East). The time zone they are in is GMT + 8. The Philippines is an island that is surrounded by clear blue oceans. Other bodies of water that surround the country are The Visayan Sea, The Luzon Strait, The Sulu Sea, The Celebes Sea, The Archipelogo, The Philippine Sea, and The South China Sea. Some important bodies of water and landforms are The Pasig River, The Cagayan River, The Mindanao River, St. Paul’s River, The Iyam River, The Pasigan Falls and The Zambies Mountains. The capital city of the Philippines is Manila. Other major cities are Intramuros, San Ausutin, Santiago, Quezon, Cebu, Gensan, Davoa and Iloilo.

The climate there is hot with sunny days. They have a dry season with a tropical climate, wet winds and dry breezes. They also have a wet season.

Filipinos live in many different types of homes. In the country homes are often made of bamboo which is a long, woody grass with hollow stems, and some stand above the ground on stilts, but can be made of wood, brick, cement or stone. Other homes are on stilts over the water and some Filipinos live on their boats. City homes are either houses or apartments but one third of the population can only afford homes mad out of scrap material in shantytowns.
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The different types of schools in the Philippines are elementary, military school, high school, university, college, private school and public school. They go to school from June to March. The subjects that they learn are History, Math, Science, Music, Sports and Trades. The literacy rate is high because most of the people can read and write.

The main job of the people that live there are in construction and factories. Other people pack or can sea foods, vegetables or fruits.

The popular sports in this country are basketball, martial arts, tennis, boxing, swimming, mountain climbing and fighting roosters. A famous sport player from the Philippines is Marieris Fernadez and she is a professional tennis player.

The Filipinos use sea shells in many different ways. The artists use shells to make jewelry, bracelets, earrings, jars, pictures frames, lamp shades and many other things.

Some traditional instruments they play are gongs, bamboo pipe, organs, and bamboo flutes. They listen to Spanish guitar songs, classical music and rock n’ roll. Many songs in the Philippines are called serenades because they are long romantic songs that one person sings to another.

They have lots of celebrations or fiestas. Some of these celebrations are Christmas, Nocha Buena and Independence on June 12. The Filipinos eat many types of foods. The foods that they mostly eat are rice, fish, shrimp and the most common food they eat is Bibinka. Other foods they eat are lechon (roasted pig), adobo, pancit, mangos, corn, sweet potatoes and buns.

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