PHILIPPINES

The Philippines is an archipelago, or string of over 7,100 islands, in southeastern Asia between the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean. The two largest islands, Luzon and Mindanao, make up for two-thirds of the total land area. Only about one third of the islands are inhabited.

Fil-Am is short for Filipino-American, either an individual born in the Philippines and living in America, or born to a full-blooded Filipino parent and an American parent.

DID YOU KNOW?

LANGUAGE

Tagalog is one of the major languages spoken in the Philippines whose population is now more than 100 million. Filipino is the fourth most spoken language following English, Spanish, and Chinese, but Filipino language classes are rare, even at the college level.

CULTURE

Filipinos are predominantly of Malay descent, with Chinese, Vietnamese, and Spanish and American ancestry. Many Filipinos have Spanish names because of a 19th-century Spanish decree that required them to use Spanish surnames, or last names.

ANIMALS

The Philippines are inhabited by more than 200 species of mammals, including monkeys, squirrels, lemurs, mice, pangolins, chevrotains, mongooses, civet cats, and red and brown deer, among others.

NATIONAL DISH

In the Philippines, adobo is considered the unofficial national dish, taking many forms across the country, but the base ingredients for the stew are typically the same: vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, black pepper and bay leaves, along with some kind of marinated meat or vegetables.