I think I have been going about my Manila travel journals the wrong way. I have been so fixated on how much the Philippines ressembles North America or Europe in culture that I haven’t not really paid attention to the differences. The wonder and awe that I belive runs through the journals I kept while in India seems to be missing from my log of my travels to Manila. It appears I’ve had blinders on that I wasn’t able to see past. I am hoping to rectify that with this trip.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again before I leave – the Filipino’s and Filipina’s I’ve had the opportunity to meet are incredibly friendly and happy individuals. They have recently been voted the 17th happiest culture on earth. Interestingly enough, Canada ranked 111th in comparison.

General information about the Philippines.

• Official Country Name: Republic of the Philippines
• Also Known As: The Philippines, The Philippine Archipelago
• Capital: Manila
• Total Area: 115,830.65 square miles (300,000.00 square km)
• Population: 82,841,518 (July 2001 est.)
• Estimated Population in 2050: 153,913,427
• Languages: There are two official languages in the Philippines: Filipino (based on Tagalog) and English. In addition, there are eight major dialects spoken on the various islands: Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocan, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinense.
• Literacy Rate: 94.6% (1995 est.)
• Religion: Roman Catholic 83%, Protestant 9%, Muslim 5%, Buddhist and other 3%
• Life Expectancy: 64.96 male, 70.79 female (2001 est.)
• Government Type: Republic
• Currency: 1 Philippine peso (P) = 100 centavos
• GDP (per capita): $3,800 (2000 est.)
• Industry: textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, wood products, food processing, electronics assembly, petroleum refining, fishing
• Agriculture: rice, coconuts, corn, sugarcane, bananas, pineapples, mangoes; pork, eggs, beef; fish
• Arable Land: 19%
• Natural Resources: timber, petroleum, nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, salt, copper

More Information can be found at the following sites:

• Government of the Philippines – Official web site
• Philippines – CIA World Factbook
• Philippines Archipelago
• Philippines – Wikipedia

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