10 Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About The Philippines

10 Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About The Philippines

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• # 1 The Philippines is the second largest archipelago in the world and is made up of 7,107islands located in the South china sea , Philippine sea , Sulu sea ,Celebes sea and the Luzon Strait.

 

 #2 The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River in Palawan, Philippines, is 5 miles (8.2 km) long. Until the discovery of a 6.2-mile (10-km) underground river in Mexico, the Puerto Princesa River was known as the longest subterranean waterway in the world.

#3 The Philippines is the world’s largest exporter of coconuts and tropical fruits, such as papaya and mangosteen

• #4 The Philippines are named after King Philip II of Spain. Explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the Eastern Visayas Felipenas first, and the name was later applied to the entire archipelago. The country’s official name is the Republic of the Philippines.
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#5 Then in 1611, the University of Santo Tomas (or, lovingly, "Usté") was founded in Manila by the Dominican Order. It is the world's largest Catholic university in terms of population. Both it and University of San Carlos are older than Harvard, which was not founded until 1636

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• #6 The national symbol of the Philippines is the Philippine, or monkey-eating, eagle. It is the largest of all eagles and was declared the national bird of the Philippines in 1995. It stands up to 3.3 feet (1 m) in height and has a wingspan of almost 7 feet (2 m). It is critically endangered; there may only be around 180–500 eagles remaining. Killing one is punishable by Philippine law by 12 years in jail and a heavy fine.

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• #7 Filipinos observe the world’s longest Christmas season. It begins with the playing of carols in September and officially ends in January with the Feast of the Three Kings. As part of the festivities, they celebrate Simbang Gabi, or Night Mass, where Catholics attend nine services in a row leading up to Christmas Eve. If a person attends all nine masses, it is said their wish will be granted. Filipinos’ Christmas feasts are called Noche Buena and compare to America’s Thanksgiving.

#8 The Philippines is considered the text capital of the world. Every day, 35 million Filipinos send about 450 million SMS messages. This is more than the total number of daily text messages sent in the U.S. and Europe combined.

 #9 The Filipino national dish may very well be the adobo, which is a dark stew of chicken and/or pork cooked in soy sauce, vinegar, crushed garlic, bay leaf, and black peppercorns. In Spanish, adobo originally meant “sauce” or “seasoning.” The Filipino version is actually indigenous to the islands, dating back to a dish cooked up long before Magellan’s arrival

 # 10 Basketball is the most popular sport in the Philippines. The Philippines Basketball Association (PBS) is the first and oldest league in Asia and the second oldest in the world after the United States’ National Basketball Association (NBA).