The Colorful Culture of the Philippines

• The Philippines is an archipelago, a chain of islands- 7,107 of them, of which 2,00 are inhabited.

• They are grouped into 3 major island groups- Luzon in the north, Visayas in the center and Mindanao in the South.

This country composed of a multitude of islands has a culture that is comparable to no other country in the world.

Luzon

Visayas

Mindanao

• Language of the Philippines • Luzon speaks the Tagalog dialects • The Visayan Islands speak the Visayan dialects • Mindanao speaks the Muslim dialects plus the

Visayan and Tagalog dialects. • There is a total of about 300 dialects, including:

o Cantoneseo Mandarino Fookieneseo Englisho Spanish

The first inhabitants of the Philippines were called Aetas, small black people, who lived in the mountains.

Then the brown-skinned people came from the neighboring islands – most notable of them are the Malayans and Indonesians. Some settled in Luzon and the Visayan islands. Some of these tribes settled in Mindanao. They are called Muslims.

A Portuguese navigator called Ferdinand Magellan, set out to discover more countries for the Spanish Crown. In March 16, 1521, he discovered the Philippines and called it “Las Islas Filipinas,” in honor of King Philip II of Spain. Thus started the Spanish Regime in the Philippines which lasted for 400 years.

This 400 years rule was punctuated by attempts at revolution against Spain. But, the peace-loving nature of the Filipinos made it hard for a successful revolution plus the scattered islands and the different dialects were factors that made it hard to unite the people for one cause.

However, in 1898, The United States came into the picture and rescued the Philippines. Spain gave up its rule in the Philippines.

The Americans taught the Filipinos to speak their language and the American way of life. A lot of Filipinos liked this. However, there are Filipinos who desire to be an independent nation.

In 1941, Japan occupied the Philippines. The Filipino and American soldiers fought side by side and won the war by the end of 1944.

In July 4, 1945, America granted the Philippines its independence.

Again, there were Filipino leaders who wanted the country to have their own Independence, so they chose June 12 as their Independence Day.

They chose one language to unify them. It was mostly derived from the Tagalog language which they now call PILIPINO.

Interesting Fact:Every Filipino is taught the national language, although up to this day, the official language of the country remains to be English.

The story of the Filipino shows what a peace-loving, fun-loving, and brave-hearted people they are. The combination of the cultures of the different peoples and nations who have come to live in this country have enriched the Filipino culture and heritage.

Thank you for viewing our rich and colorful culture!

Any comments would be welcome.Maraming Salamat.