Homo erectus was the first human ancestor to spread beyond the continent of Africa toward the Southeast Asian region about 1 million years ago. After detaching from the landmass, the archipelago became its own isolated and independent country (Diamond 37).
The Land: Facts on the Philippines.
Officially called Republic of the Philippines, this small island country in Southeast Asia is an archipelago consisting of some 7,100 islands and islets lying about 500 miles off the coast. The total land area of the Philippines is 115,800 square miles. It lies in the southwest Pacific Ocean bounded by the Philippine Sea to the east, the Celebes Sea to the south, and the South China Sea to the west and north. During the Spanish rule, the archipelago was named Islas Filipinas, or Philippine Islands, in honor of Philip II of Spain. Filipino is the term for the citizens of the country and originated when lowland Christians referred to themselves as "Filipinos" (Dolan 76). Because of the separation of the isolated islands, Philippines has many different sub-languages, depending on certain regions. Almost each island has its own language, but the main language used is Tagalog, a large ethnolinguistic group indigenous to central and southern Luzon, particularly around Manila, !.
which is the nation's capital (Britannica).
The Land: The Main Sectioned Island Regions.
Of the 7,100 islands, eleven have an area of more than 2,600 square miles each and contain the bulk of the population (Dolan 53). The eleven islands are divided into three primary regions. The largest island, located in the north, is Luzon, which has a land area of 40,420 square miles and contains major cities such as Manila, the national capital, Quezon City, and Baguio. Luzon is also home of the well known Mount Pinatubo. Mindanao is the second largest island, with an area of 36,537 square miles and lies in the south. Mount Apo and cities like Davao, Isabela, and Bututan can be found in Mindanao.
