Category:Asia/Philippines/

Coordinates: 14°34′56″N 120°58′39″E 14.582129806910073, 120.97754001617432

Philippines

The Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean. The Philippines is the world's 12th most populous country, with a population of about 90 million people. Its national economy is the 47th largest in the world, with an estimated 2008 gross domestic product (GDP) of over USD 168.6 billion (nominal). There are more than 11 million overseas Filipinos worldwide, about 11% of the total population of the Philippines. A former colony of Spain and the United States, the Philippines is one of two predominant Roman Catholic countries in Asia, the other being East Timor. There are also a number of minority religious groups, including Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. Ecologically, the Philippines is one of the most diverse countries in the world.^[1]