01/04/2021
I love my Beloved Country of Birth Philippines 🇵đź‡
"WORLD’S MOST MEGA DIVERSE" & “THE RICHEST PART OF THE OCEAN" - 7,641 ISLANDS PHILIPPINES "THE PEARL OF THE ORIENT"
Philippines is one of the luckiest countries in the world.
The Philippines is the Pearl of the Orient. It has an abundant of Natural Resources and some of the world's greatest Biodiversities and is famous for its rich Culture and History. With more than 50,000 species—half of which are only found in the Philippines. It is obvious that the early humans preferred a Tropical Climate Paradise.
Philippines is home to some of the best Islands in the world, the most beautiful Beaches, world's clearest Lake, amazing white Sandbars, spectacular Waterfalls and seafood Capital of the world.
The tasty Cuisine and very hospitable people add to the charm of the place. Blessed with an abundance of fresh seafood and a wide array of succulent tropical fruit. Philippine Cuisine is special because of the ingredients, procedures and culture. The style of cooking and the food associated with it have evolved over many centuries from their indigenous origins. Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the Islands.
The Philippines, is an Archipelago country located in Southeast Asia and in the western of Pacific Ocean, with Manila as its Capital Region. The Philippines has a Tropical Rainforest climate. The current population of the Philippines is 108,202,001 million and ranks 13th in the list of countries by population with a total land area of approximately 300,000 sq km (115,831 sq mi). The islands are broken up into three categories: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao - which are basically north, central and south, respectively.
The Liguasan Marsh in Mindanao holds a huge reservoir of 583 Billion Barrel Methane natural Gas deposits worth more than $1 Trillion. Buluan Lake forms part of Liguasan marsh that borders Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato provinces.
The Philippines supports a rich and varied flora. The diverse flora includes 8,000 species of flowering plants, 1,000 kinds of ferns, and 800 species of orchids. Rafflesia are found in the Philippines 'largest flower in the world'.
The mountain regions and some of the lowlands remain heavily forested, the principal mountain tree is pine. In other areas often predominates, lauan (Philippine mahogany) and bagras (Eucalyptus deglupta/Rainbow gum or Mindanao gum) 'the most beautiful and most amazing tree', native to the Philippines.
The fruit industry of the Philippines contributes considerably to the economy of the country. These are some species grown in the country - carabao mango 'the sweetest mango and fruit in the world', banana, pineapple, coconut, papaya, avocado, calamondin, guava, macopa, chesa, dalandan, sugar-apple, chico, guyabano, anonas, marang, carambola, star fruit, siniguelas, aratiles, buli, tamarind, kamias, calamansi, santol, biriba, kamansi, bulala, pomelo, star apple, mabolo, suha, siniguelas, granada, passion fruit, dragon fruit, susong kalabaw, sapinit, bignay, kahel, mangosteen, strawberries, grapes, melon, watermelon, peras, duhat, durian, rambutan, jackfruit and lanzones. Some are available all-year round in the market, some are in season, whilst some only grow in the backyard.
The Philippines are inhabited by more than 200 species of mammals. The tamarau, a species of small water buffalo, is found only in Mindoro. Of more than 50 species of bats, many are peculiar to the Philippines.
Many species are endemic to the island of Palawan. The endangered Philippine eagle also known as the monkey-eating eagle or great Philippine eagle. It is considered the largest of the extant eagles in the world. Among the rarest and most powerful birds in the world, it has been declared the Philippine national bird. It is critically endangered is limited mainly to isolated areas on Mindanao and in the Sierra Madre on Luzon. Killing a Philippine eagle is punishable under Philippine law by up to 12 years in prison and heavy fines. The Philippine tarsier is endemic to the Philippine archipelago. Carlito syrichta populations are generally found in the southeastern part of the archipelago. Established populations are present primarily on the islands of Bohol, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao.
The Philippines has the highest bird endemism in the world. Hundreds of species of birds live in the Philippines, either for all or part of the year. Prominent birdlife includes among the more numerous being the megapodes (turkey-like wildfowl), jungle fowl, pigeons, peacocks, pheasants, doves, parrots, hornbills, kingfishers, sunbirds, tailorbirds, weaverbirds, herons, button quail and hornbill. Reptilian life is represented by 190 species.
The Philippine freshwater crocodile or Mindoro crocodile, and more generally as a buwaya in most Filipino lowland cultures. Philippine crocodile Lolong was the largest crocodile in captivity. He was a saltwater crocodile measured at 6.17 m (20 ft 3 in), and weighed 1,075 kg (2,370 lb), making him one of the largest crocodiles ever measured from snout-to-tail. In November 2011, National Geographic crocodile expert sedated and measured Lolong in his enclosure and confirmed him as the world's largest crocodile ever caught and placed in captivity, he died on the 10 February 2013. It is strictly prohibited to kill a crocodile in the country, and it is punishable by law.
A number of species of marine turtles, including the leatherback turtle and the Philippine forest turtle are protected. The islands are home to a diverse array of reptiles and amphibians, including several flying varieties; most are endemic to the islands.
The seas surrounding the islands and the inland lakes, rivers, estuaries, and ponds are inhabited by no fewer than 2,000 varieties of fish. General Santos is the 'tuna capital of the world'. The Tubbataha Reefs in the Sulu Sea were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993 in recognition of their abundance and diversity of marine life; in 2009 the boundaries of the World Heritage site were extended to triple its original size. The milkfish, a popular food fish and the national fish of the Philippines, is plentiful in brackish and marine waters. Sea horses are common in the reefs of the Visayan Islands.
The Philippines is famous for its scientifically-backed title the Center of the Center of Marine Shorefish Biodiversity and as the Center of the Center of the Marine Biodiversity of the World. Verde Island Passage is a strait that separates the islands of Luzon and Mindoro, connecting the West Philippine Sea with the Tayabas Bay and the Sibuyan Sea beyond. It is one of the busiest sea lanes in the Philippines because it is the main shipping route between the Port of Manila and the Visayas and Mindanao in the south. Also, many ferries navigate the waters, connecting the surrounding provinces of Batangas, Marinduque, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro and Romblon. The 1.14 million hectare passage is extremely rich in marine biodiversity, the richest area in the entire Coral Triangle.
The Prehistory of the Philippines:
New species of ancient humans discovered in Philippine cave. The specimen, named Homo Luzonensis 'Ancient Islanders', was excavated from Callao Cave on Luzon island in the northern Philippines and has been dated to 50,000-67,000 years ago, during the Late Pleistocene epoch. The foot bones found in Callao Cave are more similar to Australopithecus (Lucy), which was known to live only in Africa some 2-3 million years ago. Recently archeologist unearthed stone tools and bones from a butchered rhinoceros in Kalinga valley near Callao Cave, suggesting the Homo luzonensis of its ancestors were on Luzon many as 700,000 years ago. Researchers believed that the Philippine Negritos could be the descendants of Callao Man. The aboriginal settlers of the Philippines were primarily Negrito groups, an Australoid group. They, along with Papuan, Melanesians and Australian Aboriginals also hold sizable Denisovan admixture in their genomes. Recent genetics shows that they found that the Philippine Negritos all share DNA with larger-bodied groups and mainland agriculture populations in the Philippines.
The majority of present-day Filipinos are a product of the long process of evolution and movement of people. After the mass migrations through land bridges, migrations continued by boat during the maritime era of South East Asia. The ancient races became homogenized into the Malayo-Polynesians which colonized the majority of the Philippine, Malaysian and Indonesian archipelagos. Through ancient migrations can be found as indigenous peoples stretching as far east as the Pacific Islands and as far west as Madagascar off the coast of Africa.
The Philippines is a country that contains a myriad of different amalgamated cultures and influences. The ancient Asian aspects of Filipino culture are seen through the strength of filial piety, family and its influence emphasis on the group before the individual, the concept of maintaining social harmony, ancient cultural beliefs and mythology, the complexities of local psychology and accepted social etiquette between other Filipinos. Within Asia, this Western-Eastern comparison is most seen in the Philippines, and continues to fascinate many a guest to the country. Filipinos are naturally very friendly, loyal, kind, caring, happy and fun-loving people. According to Gallup World Poll, Philippines is the world leader of Love. The most loving country in the world, where's 93 percent of the population feeling loved on a typical day.
Filipino Diaspora:
Twelve million Filipinos migrated to other countries for work opportunities. Given its close ties with America, it is not surprising that the United States is home to the largest group of overseas Filipinos - around 4,037,564 millions. Filipino-Americans constitute the second-largest population of Asian Americans. There's been a strong History of military and economic cooperation between the two nations since the Philippines became Independent in 1946.
In Canada 851,410; In South America, Filipinos are the oldest Asian Latin-American ethnic groups. There are large Filipino populations in Europe 10.2 Millions: in Italy 168,243; in UK 144,000; in Greece 61,717; in France 57,000; in Germany 20,589; in Spain 115,362; in Austria 12,474; in the Netherlands 16,719; in Sweden 13,000; in Switzerland 10,000; in Cyprus 19,948; in Norway 12,262; in Ireland 12,729
There are also large Filipino populations in the Middle East: 938,430 in Saudi Arabia; 679,819 in the United Arab Emirates; 240,000 in Qatar, 276,000 in Kuwait; 31,000 in Israel; 72,083 in Bahrain; 55,590 in Oman, 36,400 in Israel; 29,766 in Jordan; 29,113 in Lebanon; 21,000 in Brunei.
In Asia: 325,089 in Malaysia; 184,000 in Hong Kong; 263,553 in Japan; 163,000 in Singapore; 108,820 in Taiwan; 63,464 in South Korea; Thailand 17,574; Macau 14,544; Kazakhstan 8,000.
In Oceania: 342,000 in Hawaii; 232,386 in Australia; Guam is 160,000 - 26.3% are Filipinos; in New Zealand 40,347; in Papua New Guinea 25,000.
The Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW) are the Philippine Economic Heroes, they are very hardworking, dedicated and are well educated. The remittances from the Filipino workers abroad rose to 25 Billion USD in 2013 according to Central Bank of the Philippines, providing a key source of strength for the Philippines balance of payments and helping to underpin consumer spending the Philippines. Filipinos literacy rate is 94 percent and 70 percent of the population are fluent in English, ranking them 6th as the largest English-speaking country in the world.
Philippine Economy growth is projected to be the fourth fastest in the world, with growing Labor demand and raising salaries. Some analysts say this trend will continue. The Philippines is booming!
Credits to the Owners of the photos and videos which I chose. Thank You Most Kindly. Mahal ko kayo, Nanie Dinsay. MABUHAY! 💝🏝🇵đź‡đź™Ź
