Philippines | 50 The Amazing Facts About Philippines

Philippines

1. The Philippines was the first country in Southeast Asia to gain independence after World War II, in 1945
2. The Philippines has the highest rate of discovery of new animal species with 16 new species of mammals discovered just in the last 10 years
3. Human trafficking is a problem in the Philippines. The country has the fourth largest number of prostituted    -- children in the world. There are estimated to be 375,000 women and girls in the sex trades, mostly between the ages of 15 and 20, though some are as young as 11
4. The world’s biggest pair of shoes was made in Marikina City, Philippines, in 2002. The wingtips measured about 17.4 feet (5.3 m) in length, 7.9 feet (2.4 m) in width, and almost 6.6 feet (2 m) in height. Their cost was 2 million Philippine pesos
5. The Philippines are named after King Philip II of Spain. Explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the Eastern Visayas Felipenas first, and the name was later applied to the entire archipelago. The country’s official name is the Republic of the Philippines
6. Of the top 10 largest shopping malls in the world, three are found in the Philippines: SM Megamall, SM North Edsa, and SM Mall of Asia
7. The world’s largest pearl was discovered by a Filipino diver in the Palawan Sea in 1934. Known as the “Pearl of Lao Tzu,” or “Pearl of Allah,” the gem weighs 14 pounds (6.35 kg) and measures 9.5 inches (24 cm) long and 5.5 inches (.4 cm) in diameter. It has a value of over US$40 million. It is believed to be 600 years old.
8. The Philippines is the world’s largest exporter of coconuts and tropical fruits, such as papaya and mangosteen,
9. Some Filipinos are wary of the number 13 and will avoid having 13 people at a table. Also, steps to the main entrance of a house should not fall on a number divisible by three. Superstitious Filipinos will not travel or bathe on Holy Thursday or Good Friday during Holy Week, the week before Easter
10. The only place in the world where skunks are found other than America is Indonesia and the Philippines, where they are called stink badgers,
11. The Philippines is the only majority Christian nation in Asia. Eighty percent of its population identifies as Roman Catholic,
12. The Philippines has a population of more than 100 million people, which makes it the 12th most populous country in the world. Its annual growth rate of around 2% makes it one of the fastest growing countries in the world,
13. Mt. Pinatubo on the Philippine island of Luzon erupted on June 15, 1991, and created the largest mushroom cloud in the world. Its eruption ejected 10 billion metric tons of magma and 20 million tons of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere.
14. The Philippines is the only country in the world whose flag is hoisted upside down when the country is at war,
15. The Conus glorious, the rarest and most expensive seashell in the world, is one of the 12,000 species of seashells found in the Philippines. The first examples of these shells sold at auction for about US$5,000,
16. The Philippines is home to the world’s longest snake, the Reticulated Python (Python reticulatus), which also happens to be the world’s longest reptile. It can grow to 28.5 feet,
17. There are between 120 and 175 individual languages spoken in the Philippines, 171 of which are living while the other four no longer have any known speakers. English and Filipino, based on Tagalog, are the country’s two officially recognized languages
18. The Philippines is the world’s largest supplier of nurses, supplying roughly 25% of all overseas nurses worldwide
19. The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River in Palawan, Philippines, is 5 miles (8.2 km) long. Until the discovery of a 6.2-mile (10-km) underground river in Mexico, the Puerto Princesa River was known as the longest subterranean waterway in the world,
20. 2The Philippines is the second largest archipelago in the world and is made up of 7,107 islands located in the South China Sea, Philippine Sea, Sulu Sea, Celebes Sea, and the Luzon Strait,
21. San Fernando, Philippines, is known as the “Christmas Capital of the Philippines” and is most famous for its parols (giant Christmas lanterns), which symbolize the star of Bethlehem and can rise 20 feet (6 m) in the air. Only about 10 giant parols are produced each year to compete in the Ligligan Parul (Giant Lantern Festival). Each parol costs around US$11,300 to $15,820 to build,
22. The Taal Volcano on the Philippine island of Luzon is one of the world’s 17 Decade Volcanoes, which are volcanoes being specially monitored given their active state and explosive history. Taal is also located in a lake, which has another lake inside of it, with an even smaller island inside of that lake,
23. A Filipino named Roberto del Rosario patented the first working karaoke machine in 1975, calling it the “Sing Along System.” The Japanese later translated its name to “karaoke,” which means “singing without accompaniment,
24. In the Philippine island province of Camiguin, there are more volcanoes (7) than towns (5). There hasn’t been an eruption since the mid-1950s, but the island has the most number of volcanoes per square kilometer in the world,
25. The  University of Santo Tomas was founded in Manila, Philippines, by Dominican monks in 1611. It is the world’s largest Catholic university in terms of population. Both it and the University of San Carlos in Cebu City, founded in 1595, are older than Harvard University, which was not founded until 1636,
26. Jellyfish Lake in the Philippines contains more than 13 million jellyfish,
27. Over 11 million Filipinos work overseas, which constitutes about 11% of the entire population of the Philippines. Filipinos are the second-largest Asian-American group in the United States,
28. The Mindanao Trench, which is near the Philippines in the Pacific Ocean, is the second deepest spot under the world’s oceans at 6.5 miles, or 34,440 feet (10,497 m).
29. Filipinos observe the world’s longest Christmas season. It begins with the playing of carols in September and officially ends in January with the Feast of the Three Kings. As part of the festivities, they celebrate Simbang Gabi, or Night Mass, where Catholics attend nine services in a row leading up to Christmas Eve. If a person attends all nine masses, it is said their wish will be granted. Filipinos’ Christmas feasts are called Noche Buena and compare to America’s Thanksgiving,
30. Filipino-American Eleanor “Connie” Concepcion Mariano was the personal physician to President Bill Clinton. She was also the youngest captain and first female to be named Rear Admiral in the U.S. Navy,
31. War journalist Carlos Peňa Rómulo was the first Asian/Filipino to win the American Pulitzer Prize for Correspondence in 1942. He was also the first Asian to become president of the United Nations,
32. Even though the first elected Filipino president, Ferdinand Marcos, has been dead for almost two decades, his body has never been properly buried—it remains “on ice” while officials quibble about whether he should buried in the cemetery reserved for Filipino heroes and past presidents,
33. The Philippines is home to the world’s smallest hoofed animal, the Philippine mouse-deer. Locally known as the Pilandok (Tragulus nigricans), this creature stands about 15.8 inches (40 cm) tall at the shoulder level,
34. One of the most interesting and traditional Philippine dishes is balut, which is essentially a boiled, fertilized duck egg with a half-formed chick inside. It is said to be an aphrodisiac. Other unique dishes include Camaro, which are field crickets cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, and sugar; papaitan, which is a goat or cow innards stew flavored with bile; Soup #5, which is a soup made out of bull testicles; and asocena, or dog meat,
35. The Philippines experiences one large-magnitude earthquake (7.75 or higher on the Richter scale) every 10 years, seven earthquakes of major magnitude (7.0 to 7.4) every 10 years, and five earthquakes of moderate magnitude (6.0 to 6.9) every year,
36. The Philippines is the world’s second-biggest geothermal producer after the United States with 18% of the country’s electricity needs being met by geothermal power,
37. The most active typhoon season for the Philippines was 1993 when 19 moved through the country. A typhoon is a strong tropical cyclone equivalent to a hurricane in North and Central America. The highest wind velocity for a typhoon that crossed the Philippines was recorded in Virac on November 30, 2006, when Typhoon Reming had a peak gust of 198 mph (320 kph)
38. Pop singer Bruno Mars is half Filipino and half Puerto Rican. His childhood nickname was “Little Elvis.” His real name is Peter Gene Bayot Hernandez. His stage name was inspired by the chubby wrestler Bruno Sammartino,
39. The anti-lock braking systems (ABS) used in Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volvo cars are made in the Philippines. Ford, Toyota, and Nissan are the most prominent automakers manufacturing cars in the country,
40. The jeepney is sometimes referred to as the “King of the Philippine roads.” It is a descendant of the Jeeps American troops drove in the Philippines during World War II. Second- and third-generation jeepneys have air conditioning units and closely resemble minibuses. They can carry up to 16 passengers,
41. The traditional embroidered Filipino male garment, the Barong Tagalog or baro, is woven from piña, pineapple plant fibers, or jusi, banana tree fibers, and worn on formal occasions,
42. In the rural Philippines, most women give birth at home and then have the baby’s placenta buried beneath the house, often with an object symbolizing what the parents hope the child will grow up to be. In the cities, this practice is prohibited by the health authorities,
43. Cockfighting is a centuries-old blood sport, popular since the times of ancient Persia, Greece, and Rome. In the Philippines, it is still very popular, and the country has hosted several “World Slasher Cups,” staged in Manila’s Araneta Coliseum. The world’s leading game fowl breeders gather twice a year for this event.
44. Manny Pacquiao could currently be regarded as the world’s best boxer pound per pound. He has four major titles under his belt: the WBC International Super Featherweight Title, the RING Featherweight Title, the IBF Super Bantamweight Title, and the WBC Flyweight Title. Out of 45 fights, “Pacman,” as he is called, has won 44, with 31 by knockout,
45. Basketball is the most popular sport in the Philippines. The Philippines Basketball Association (PBS) is the first and oldest league in Asia and the second oldest in the world after the United States’ National Basketball Association (NBA),
46. The Philippines is considered the text capital of the world. Every day, 35 million Filipinos send about 450 million SMS messages. This is more than the total number of daily text messages sent in the U.S. and Europe combined,
47. The Aswang, a mythical female vampire-like figure in Filipino folklore who eats unborn children, has been the subject of at least one American horror film and was featured in an episode of the CW television hit Supernatural called “Fresh Meat",
48. 52 million people in the Philippines speak English, making it the fifth largest English-speaking nation behind the U.S., India, Pakistan, and the U.k,
49. As a result of the Spanish influence, the country is predominantly Christian with 90% of the population practicing some mode of Christianity, the vast majority being Roman Catholic,

National symbols

National Anthem: “Lupang Hinirang”

National Flower: Sampaguita (jasmine)

National Tree: Narra

National Bird: Philippine Eagle

National Gem: Philippine Pearl

National Sport: Arnis

National hero: Dr. Jose Rizal

National leaf: Anahaw

National fruit: Mango

National animal: Carabao

National House: Bahay Kubo

National Fish: Bangus

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