Справка.
Philippines. Information.
PHILIPPINES (officially known as the Republic of the Philippines), is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 7,107 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Area - 299 764 sq.km. Population - 101 108 300 (2013) Capital - Manila There are several opposing theories regarding the origins of ancient Filipinos. The most widely accepted based on linguistic and archeological evidence, is the "Out-of-Taiwan" model, which hypothesizes that Austronesians from Taiwan, who were themselves descended from the neolithic civilizations of the Yangtze river such as the Liangzhu culture, began migrating to the Philippines around 4000 BCE, displacing earlier arrivals. By 1000 BCE the inhabitants of the archipelago had developed into four kinds of social groups: hunter-gatherer tribes, warrior societies, highland plutocracies, and maritime harbor principalities. Some of the societies scattered in the islands remained isolated but many evolved into states that developed substantial trade and contacts with the peoples of Eastern, Southern and Southeastern Asia; including those from Brunei, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Japan as well as other Austronesian islands. The first millennium saw the rise of the harbor principalities and their growth into maritime states composed of autonomous barangays independent of or allied with larger nations which were either Malay thalassocracies led by Datus, Chinese tributary states ruled by Huangs or Indianized Kingdoms governed by Rajahs. The Kedatuan of Madja-as was founded following a civil-war in collapsing Srivijaya, wherein loyalists to the Austronesian Datus of Srivijaya defied the invading Chola Dynasty and its puppet-Rajah called Makatunao and set up a guerrilla-state in the Visayas islands. The 1300s heralded the arrival and eventual spread of the Islamic religion in the Philippine archipelago. In 1380, Karim ul' Makdum and Shari'ful Hashem Syed Abu Bakr, an Arab trader born in Johore, arrived in Sulu from Malacca and established the Sultanate of Sulu by converting Sulu's rajah, Rajah Baguinda Ali and marrying his daughter. At the end of the 15th century, Shariff Mohammed Kabungsuwan of Johor introduced Islam in the island of Mindanao and established the Sultanate of Maguindanao. The sultanate form of government extended further into Lanao. In 1521, Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in the Philippines and claimed the islands for Spain. Colonization began when Spanish explorer Miguel López de Legazpi arrived from Mexico in 1565 and formed the first Hispanic settlements in Cebu. After relocating to Panay island and consolidating a coalition of native Visayan allies and Hispanic soldiers, the Spaniards then captured Islamic Manila. Under Spanish rule, Manila became the capital of the Spanish East Indies (1571), therein they put down the Tondo Conspiracy and exiled the conspirators to Guam and Guerrero. They also defeated the Chinese-warlord Limahong despite the enemies' overwhelming numbers. In response to the Islamic invasion of Tondo, the Castille War was waged against the Sultanate of Brunei in Borneo and war was also waged against the Sultanate of Ternate and Tidore (In response to Ternatan slaving and piracy against the Butuan Rajahnate and Bohol).Fortifications were also set up in Taiwan and the Maluku islands. These were abandoned and the soldiers withdrew back to the Philippines. They withdrew in order to re-concentrate the military forces because of a threatened invasion by the Japan-born Ming-dynasty loyalist, Koxinga, ruler of the stronghold of Tungning. However, the invasion was aborted. Meanwhile, settlers were sent to the Pacific islands of Palau and the Marianas. During its rule, the Spanish quelled various indigenous revolts. There were several external military challenges from Chinese and Japanese pirates, the Dutch, the English and the Portuguese but these were successfully fought-off despite these hostile forces having encircled the Philippine archipelago in a crescent formed from Japan to Indonesia. Nevertheless, the British forces occupied Manila from 1762 to 1764 in an extension of the fighting of the Seven Years' War. However, Spanish rule was restored following the 1763 Treaty of Paris. Revolutionary sentiments were stoked in 1872 after three priests—Mariano Gómez, José Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora (collectively known as Gomburza)—were accused of sedition by colonial authorities and executed. This would inspire a propaganda movement in Spain, organized by Marcelo H. del Pilar, José Rizal, and Mariano Ponce, lobbying for political reforms in the Philippines. Rizal was eventually executed on December 30, 1896, on charges of rebellion. As attempts at reform met with resistance, Andrés Bonifacio in 1892 established the secret society called the Katipunan, who sought independence from Spain through armed revolt. Bonifacio and the Katipunan started the Philippine Revolution in 1896. A faction of the Katipunan, the Magdalo of Cavite province, eventually came to challenge Bonifacio's position as the leader of the revolution and Emilio Aguinaldo took over. In 1898, the Spanish–American War began in Cuba and reached the Philippines. Aguinaldo declared Philippine independence from Spain in Kawit, Cavite on June 12, 1898, and the First Philippine Republic was established in the Barasoain Church in the following year.[ The islands were ceded by Spain to the United States as a result of the latter's victory in the Spanish–American War. A compensation of 20 million US dollars was paid to Spain according to the terms of the 1898 Treaty of Paris. As it became increasingly clear the United States would not recognize the nascent First Philippine Republic, the Philippine–American War broke out, the First Republic was defeated, and the archipelago was administered under an Insular Government. The war resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands of combatants as well as a couple hundred thousand civilians, mostly from a cholera epidemic. The Americans then suppressed the sub-states the First Republic had fractured into: mainly, the waning Sultanate of Sulu, as well as the insurgent Tagalog Republic, the Cantonal Republic of Negros, in the Visayas, and the Republic of Zamboanga, in Mindanao. During this era, a renaissance in Philippine culture occurred, with the expansion of Philippine cinema and literature. Daniel Burnham built an architectural plan for Manila which would have transformed it into a modern city. In 1935, the Philippines was granted Commonwealth status with Manuel Quezon as president. He designated a national language and introduced women's suffrage and land reform. Plans for independence over the next decade were interrupted by World War II when the Japanese Empire invaded and the Second Philippine Republic of José P. Laurel was established as a collaborator state. Many atrocities and war crimes were committed during the war such as the Bataan Death March and the Manila massacre that culminated during the Battle of Manila. In 1944, Quezon died in exile in the United States and Sergio Osmeña succeeded him. The largest naval battle in history by gross tonnage, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, occurred when the Allied Forces started the liberation of the Philippines from the Empire of Japan.[Eventually, Allied troops defeated the Japanese in 1945. By the end of the war it is estimated that over a million Filipinos had died. On October 24, 1945, the Philippines became one of the founding members of the United Nations and the following year, on July 4, 1946, it became recognized by the United States as independent, during the presidency of Manuel Roxas. Disgruntled remnants of the communist Hukbalahap continued to roam the countryside but were put down by President Elpidio Quirino's successor Ramon Magsaysay.Magsaysay's successor, Carlos P. Garcia initiated the Filipino First Policy, which was continued by Diosdado Macapagal, with celebration of Independence Day moved from July 4 to June 12, the date of Emilio Aguinaldo's declaration, while furthering the claim on the eastern part of North Borneo. In 1965, Macapagal lost to Ferdinand Marcos, who was elected president. Early in his presidency he initiated numerous public projects but was accused of massive corruption, such as the embezzlement of billions of dollars in public funds.[104] Amidst great social turmoil and nearing the end of his term, Marcos declared Martial Law on September 21, 1972. This period of his rule was characterized by political repression, censorship, and human rights violations. His wife Imelda continued to live a lavish lifestyle as the majority of Filipinos remained in poverty. On August 21, 1983, Marcos' chief rival, opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr., was assassinated at Manila International Airport. Marcos eventually called for snap presidential elections in 1986 against Aquino's widow, Corazón. Marcos was proclaimed the winner, but the results were widely regarded as fraudulent, leading to the People Power Revolution. Marcos and his allies fled to Hawaii and Corazón Aquino was recognized as president. The return of democracy and government reforms beginning in 1986 were hampered by national debt, government corruption, coup attempts, disasters, a persistent communist insurgency, and a military conflict with Moro separatists. During Corazon Aquino's administration, U.S. forces withdrew from the Philippines, due the rejection of the U.S. Bases Extension Treaty, and leading to the official transfer of Clark Air Base in November 1991 and Subic Bay to the government in December 1992. The administration also faced a series of natural disasters, including the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991. After introducing a constitution that limited presidents to a single term, Aquino did not stand for re-election. Currency: 1 Peso (PHP)
