Introduction

The Republic of the Philippines is an archipelago situated between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea. The Philippines is the 12th most populated country in the world, with about 98 million people. Manila, the country's capital, has a population of 11.5 million in an area of only 636 square kilometres. However, the greater urban area of Manila, which includes Metro Manila, puts the capital's population at around 20 million people.

The majority of Filipinos are descendants of various Malay/Malayo–Polynesian ethnic groups that migrated to the islands in the course of centuries and displaced the indigenous inhabitants. Due to intermarriage, many are mestizo (mixed blood), a term referring to Filipinos whose ancestry is part Malay and part Spanish, American, Chinese, Indian or Arab. As a result of this mixing, there are about 87 languages spoken, including the four principal languages: Cebuano, spoken in the Visayas; Ilocano, spoken in northern Luzon; Maranao and related dialects spoken in Mindanao and Tagalog, upon which the national language, Pilipino, is based.

There are an estimated 4.5 million Filipinos working overseas. In 2008 their total remittance was 141,904 million pesos, an increase from 85,415 million pesos in 2005. The remittances clearly prop up the Philippine economy during times of financial crisis.

The Philippines has a presidential, unitary form of government, where the President functions as both head of state and head of Government and is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.