Philippines: A Wide Archipelago with Wonderful Destinations to Explore
Submitted by theultimatecyborg at December 5, 2011 - 12:59 pm
A Huge Archipelago made up 7,107 Islands with three Major Island Groups or Regions-Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, this is the way to describe the Philippines by simple means. Talk about the people-The inhabitants of the Philippines are called as Filipinos, sometimes known as Pinoys. They are known as the most hospitable and accommodating people in the world. The National Language of the Philippines is called as Filipino, it is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest, Filipino language is based from the Tagalog dialect spoken by most of the People around the country.English is also one of the national language of the Philippines since there are Filipinos who knows how to speak their own dialect, but they don’t know how to speak in Filipino, so by this, they interact with people by using the English language, which is also known as the universal language.
The Filipinos also know different native dialects based on the place where they originate (also within the different regions of the country). As a matter of fact, there are about a total of 154 dialects in the Philippines including Tagalog, which is the primary basis of the Filipino Language.
The Philippine Islands are surrounded by large bodies of water. They are bounded on the west by the South China Sea, on the north by the Luzon Strait separating the Philippine Islands from Taiwan, on the east by the Philippine Sea (and the Pacific Ocean),on the south by the Celebes Sea, and on the southwest by the Sulu Sea separating thePhilippine Islands from Borneo. The location of the Philippines state its climate and temperature. Since it is surrounded by large bodies of water, and is situated near the Pacific Ocean, The Philippines always experience Strong typhoons from time to time.
Philippines is a tropical country, therefore it only have 2 seasons called The Wet Season and Dry Season. Wet or Rainy Seasons are from months starting from mid of May to December. While the Hot or Dry Seasons start from January until the second or third week of May. Philippines experience an average of around 19 tropical cyclones (Typhoons) enter the Philippines’ area of responsibility in a typical year and of these, usually 6 to 9 make landfall.
With an estimated population of about 92 million people, the Philippines is the world’s 12th most populous country. An additional 11 million Filipinos live overseas. Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelago’s earliest inhabitants. They were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples who brought with them influences from Malay, Hindu, and Islamic cultures. Trade introduced Chinese cultural influences. Philippines was dominated thrice by foreign nations, first is the Spanish people during the Spanish Period from 1521-1898. After that, the American came and tried to colonized the country during 1898-1946 and then Japanese came and tried to colonize the country during the World War II from 1942- 1944.
Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao
Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao represent the three stars in the Flag of the Philippines. All in all, the Philippine Area of Responsibility cover about 115,831 sq. mi of land and 0.61% of inland water. There are about 17 regions, 80 provinces, 138 cities, 1,496 municipalities, and 42,025 barangays in the Philippines.
Luzon, Philippines’ Primer and largest island, is also the location of the country’s capital, Manila. The city is divided into six legislative districts and consists of sixteen geographical districts: Binondo, Ermita, Intramuros, Malate, Paco, Pandacan, Port Area, Quiapo, Sampaloc, San Andres, San Miguel, San Nicolas, Santa Ana, Santa Cruz, Santa Mesa and Tondo. Within their precincts can be found areas of bustling commerce and some of the most historically and culturally significant iconic landmarks in the country as well as the seat of the executive and judicial branches of the government. It is home to many scientific and educational institutions, as well as numerous sport facilities. These make the city a major political, commercial, cosmopolitan, cultural, educational, religious, and transportation center of the Philippines. You can see many tourist destinations in Manila such as Luneta, which is formerly Bagumbayan, this is where Philippines’ National Hero, Dr. Jose P. Rizal shot by the Spanish Rebel due to his revelation of the true plans of the Spaniards during the Spanish Era about their colonization and anomalies they are doing in their occupation in the Philippines due to his books Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.Luneta is also where the the Rizal Park and Monument situated.
On the other hand, you can also visit the world’s third and fourth Shopping Mall in the whole world- SM North EDSA and SM Mall of Asia for leisure and luxury shopping and see the sunset of Roxas Boulevard and might as well ride in the Philippines’ pride in transportation, The Jeepney or Kalesa.
Luzon’s area is 104,688 square kilometers, making it the world’s 17th largest island. It is the fifth most populated island in the world. Located on Luzon are the country’s capital, Manila, and its most populated city, Quezon City. The island is very mountainous and is home to Mount Pulag, the third highest mountain in the country and Mount Pinatubo, Mayon, and Taal Volcano, Luzon’s most famous volcanoes. To the west of Luzon island is the South China Sea (Luzon Sea in Philippine territorial waters), to the east is the Philippine Sea, and to the north is Luzon Strait containing Babuyan Channeland Balintang Channel. There are plenty of travel destinations to visit in Luzon, and we will feature some of those probably in the next weeks or months to come.
Next is the geographical division of Visayas, locally known as Kabisay-an gid since it is the region with different dialects such as visaya,which is the prominent dialect in Visayas, ilonggo is the signature dialect of the people living in Iloilo and Negros Oriental and Occidental and other parts of Visayas as well. Trivia about the Ilonggo dialect, this dialect is a mixture of spanish and visayan language, due to the Spanish occupation influence of the Philippines before.
The Visayas group consists of seven large and several hundred smaller islands clustered around the Visayan, Samar, and Camotes seas. The seven main islands are Bohol, Cebu, Leyte, Masbate, Negros, Panay, and Samar. These islands and their smaller neighbours make up the central group of the Philippine archipelago.
Administratively, the Visayas is divided into 3 regions, namely Western Visayas, Central Visayas and Eastern Visayas. Each region is headed by a Regional Director who is elected from a pool of governors from the different provinces in each region.
The Visayas is composed of 16 provinces, each headed by a Governor. A governor is elected by popular vote and can serve a maximum of three terms consisting of three years each.
Visayas is also one of the regions where folklores are prominent, Filipinos living in this area have different stories about ghosts and other night creatures. This is also a part of the Philippine Culture being passed from the previous generations until the present. People in Visayas are kind and very sweet people. They are very accommodating when it comes to their visitors, they would even sacrifice their own beds to let it used by their visitors for the sake of the happiness they could give to their visitors. Visayas is also the home of white sand beaches, and is also the location of Boracay Island, Philippines’ pride and the most visited island in the Philippines and Chocolate Hills in Bohol, one of the greatest yet wonderful natural land forms in the Philippines.
The Boracay Island and Bohol’s Chocolate Hills are just few of the different exotic tourist destinations in Visayas. And now, let me introduce to you the third geographical division of the Philippines, which is the Mindanao.
Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. The island of Mindanao is called The Land of Promise. Mindanao is the only area of the Philippines with a significant Muslim presence. A guerrilla war is ongoing on the islands. In addition, the crime rate on the island is among the highest in the country. Among the three major geographical division, Mindanao is the not so unexplored part of the Philippines. There are still plenty of unknown places in Mindanao which are not yet discovered by the experts in Luzon, in addition to this, different faunas and floras which are said to be endangered are said to be living in the islands of Mindanao but the experts cannot handle some explorations since the place is protected by the inhabitants of Mindanao.
Mindanao is the second largest island in the country at 94,630 square kilometers, and is the eighth most populous island in the world. The island of Mindanao is larger than 125 countries worldwide, including the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Czech Republic, Hungary, Taiwan and Ireland. The island is mountainous, and is home to Mount Apo, the highest mountain in the country. Mindanao is surrounded by seas: the Sulu Sea to the west, the Philippine Sea to the east, and the Celebes Sea to the south. Of all the islands of the Philippines, Mindanao and Borneo shows the greatest variety of physiographic development. High, rugged, faulted mountains; almost isolated volcanic peaks; high rolling plateaus; and broad, level, swampy plains are found there.
The island group of Mindanao encompasses Mindanao island itself and the Sulu Archipelago to the southwest. The island group is divided into six regions, which are further subdivided into 25provinces.
Mindanao is the home of another Philippine Pride-The Eight-Division World Champion, Manny Pacman Pacquiao since he was born and raised in General Santos in South Cotabato, Philippines. Mindanao is also a pride of the Philippines when it comes to its wonderful tourist destinations such as the Mt. Apo, the highest peak in the entire Philippines, located at the southern part of Mindanao, with a hight of 2,909 meters and covering 76,000 hectares. It is also known as the Grandfather of Philippine Mountains. Mount Apo is a Dormant Strato-volcano with no recorded eruptions. Its jagged crater walls nevertheless are the mute testimony to its ancient activity.
Mindanao is also the home of Haribons and Eagles, Philippines’ most protected bird species because they are currently endangered. Mindanao is also the best place to go Surfing, Surigao del Norte is the home of the Philippines’ largest sea waves, that’s why it is visited by surfers from around the world.
Of course, Mindanao’s largest city, Davao should not be left behind and must be on the lists to visit when you travel in the Philippines. Davao City is also one of several cities in the Philippines that are independent of any province. The city serves as the regional center for Davao Region (Region XI). It has a population of 1,464,301 (2010 census), making it the country’s second largest city, and is named by the Foreign Direct Investment Magazine as the 10th “Asian City of the Future”.In recent years, Davao City has emerged as the business, investment and tourism hub for the entire southern Philippines. The city has good beaches and mountain resorts, and is close to diving spots and the highest peak in the Philippines,Mount Apo. It is awarded by the Department of Tourism as the Most Livable City in the Philippines in 2008. This is the reason why Davao is one of the famous travel spots in the Philippines!
Philippines is one of the best and unique country to go to whenever you travel due to its exotic destinations and finest sands. Its just a sneak preview of what Philippines is all about, we will get to know about the different pride destinations of the country closely in the next weeks or months to come. Explore the Philippines and Discover the wonderful gifts of Nature the world haven’t seen.