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Historically, the Philippine territory saw the interchange of many populations that have provided Malaysian, Indian and Islamic influences, while the commerce gave influences from the China. In 1521 came in the Philippines the Spanish explorer Magellan, who beside looking for new commercial routes, brought to the local populations the Christianity. In 1565 it began the Spanish colonisation that lasted for more than three centuries. The Spanish, politically, unified the archipelago, formed before by independent islands, forming what will be the Philippine community. In 1575 Manila has been founded, today’s Philippines capital city. During the Spanish colonial period lot of cities have been founded, infrastructures built, the commerce became flourishing and Spanish missionaries converted the majority of the population to Christianity.

In 1886 it began the revolution against Spain that culminated, in 1898, with the Independence Proclamation and the establishment of the First Republic of the Philippines. However, always in 1898, the Treaty of Paris, that put an end to the Spanish-American war, established that the control of the Philippines would have been transferred to the United States.

The Philippine Government did not accept the treaty and in 1899 declared war to the United States. In 1905, it began officially the American colonial domination, sawing a partial autonomy concession only in 1935, in prevision of a full independence planned for the 1946.

The independence preparation works went however stopped by the Japanese occupation during the Second World War.

After the war, in 1946, it went signed the treaty that established the Philippines Independence. In 1972 settled a corrupted dictatorship that lasted until the 1981, year when the Philippines returned to the democracy. The archipelago of the Philippines has not land borders and include 7641 islands.

The Philippines are the twelfth most populous nation in the world with a population of more than 100 million citizens and other more or less 10 million that live abroad and, with circa 36000 Km of coast, are the fifth nation of the world with the longest seaboard. The Philippines are characterized by a hot and damp tropical climate with a yearly average temperature of 26.5 °C.

Tagalog and English are the two official languages but, in the Philippines, people speak 171 different languages. The

Philippines, with the 92.5%, are one of the three Asian nation with the majority of Christians, followed by a 5% of Moslems and the remaining population is believing in other creeds like Animism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.

In 2009, the Philippines presented an alphabetization ratio of 92.6% and the primary and secondary education is defined by the law as mandatory and free.

Currently, since 2016, the President of the Republic of the Philippines is Rodrigo Roa Duterte, much appreciated by the Philippine population.

The family in the Filipino culture is considered very important and do not stop at the household, but is a much more enlarged concept, indeed the community, as neighbors and friends, is also inserted in the concept of family, and this sense of belonging is also felt with the friends of own parents. Also when Filipinos meet themselves abroad it establish oneself immediately a sense of belonging. In the Philippines there is the custom of the family day, that is a day (normally the payday or the Sunday) where all the member of the family use clothes of the same color.

In the Filipino culture there is a great respect for persons and relationships, particularly for older persons, also if just for one year, who are addressed with titles of courtesy. A very popular ritual in the entire archipelago is the “Bless”, deriving from the Catholic culture that consists in greeting an elderly person by placing his hand on the own forehead.

Filipinos people when they are at the seaside tend to stay dressed or to stay under the beach umbrella. That is because being suntanned is view as a synonym of poor open-air jobs, so they prefer having the fair skin. Filipinos are a very open and friendly people and tourists are treated as guests.