The Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean.

With an estimated population of about 92 million people, the Philippines is the world's 12th most populous country. It is estimated that there are an additional 11 million overseas Filipinos worldwide. Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. Its tropical climate sustains one of the richest areas in terms of biodiversity in the world.

For hundreds of years the Philippines were a Spanish colony, but then were ceded to the U.S. in 1898, following the Spanish-American War.

One of the main focal points of battles between Japan and the U.S. during World War II, at the end of that war (in 1946) with the U.S. victory in the South Pacific, the Philippines attained total independence.

The dictatorialgovernment of Ferdinand Marcos ended in 1986, and since then, a long parade of electoral presidential problems and internal struggles have continued.