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The Philippines are a fascinating country that has a rich culture and history. They refer to themselves as Pinoy if they are a male and Pinay if they are a female. There are many different languages that are spoken in the Philippines. It has two national languages, English and Pilipino, which is based on Tagalog . Numerous dialects are spoken throughout the land, but there are eight major ones; Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocan, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinan .

The cultural history of the Philippines can be divided into for periods: Pre-Spanish, Spanish, American and Post Independence. The Pre-Spanish rule period started when the first inhabitants of the Philippines are believed to be the Negritos . They are believed to have first stepped onto the island about 30,000 years ago. They lived in scattered communities and traded and fished. The Spanish period started when Ferdinand Magellan claimed the chain of islands for Spain . Following the arrival of Spanish forces, Christianity was established. The influence of the Spanish was strongest in the central area of the country. There were many uprisings against the Spanish. In 1896, a final revolt succeeded and the Philippines gained their independence from the Spanish on June 12, 1898 .

After gaining independence, a period of time known as the American Period emerged. The United States received the Philippines under the Treaty of Paris in 1898 .The Philippine-American war was started to resist US rule. Capturing of one of the war biggest revolutionaries and the Peace Proclamation of 1902 helped to end resistance. Under the Tydings-McDuffie Act, the Philippines became a self-governing country. During WWII, US forces in the Philippines surrendered to Japan, which put the country under Japanese rule. Filipinos and Americans united together working to defeat Japan; they succeeded when Japan surrendered in 1945 . In July of 1946, the Philippines became the independent Republic of the Philippines. The Post-Independence Period consisted of many presidents; some did a lot of good and some were corrupted. The legalization of communism was used to rule the country for a period of time under the rule of Fidel Ramos . In some presidencies, democracy was used to rule the land.

The religions that are practiced in the Philippines are very widespread, the biggest being Roman Catholicism. They are the only Christian nation in Asia. According to a census done in 2000, 80 % of the population is Roman Catholic, 5% is Muslim, 2.8% is Evangelical, 2.3% is Iglesia ni Kristo, 2% is Aglipayan, 4.5% is other Christian,1.8% is other,and 0,6 % were of an unspecified religion . Though the population of the Chinese is a minority, they still play a dramatic role in shaping Filipino Catholicism in the regard of numerous with beliefs and practices of Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucianism.

The Philippines have many ethnic groups in addition to having one of the highest literacy rates in the world. According to a census done in 2000, 28.1% of the total population are Tagalog, 13.1% are Cebuano, 9% are Ilocano,7.6% are Bisaya/Binisaya, 7.5% are Hiligaynon Ilonggo, 6% are Bikol, 3.4% are Waray, 25.3% are other . Of those people, about 61.3% of them are between the ages of 15 and 64 years of age. The average life expectancy of it’s inhabitants is 70.51 years . The country also has one of the highest literacy rates in the world; an amazing 92.6 %, according to a 2000 census.

There are many activities of daily living that are associated the Philippines. Filipinos believe that maintaining a youthful look and look well, then you are healthy. They believe that good health is associated with modest dress and prim behavior. Girls that are from wealthier families should be seen in public with a chaperone . Even though much of the western culture has been adopted in the Philippines, they still wear their national costumes on out of the ordinary occasions. The women wear a terno, which is a long dress that had a flared skirt and butterfly sleeves . Although Filipinos have adopted Western dress, they still wear their national costumes on special occasions. Women wear a terno¸ a long dress with a flared skirt and butterfly sleeves . Men wear slacks and the barong tagalog, a fine shirt made out of pineapple pulp with either long or short sleeves.

Hygiene is a problem that the country is still trying to work on. Some schools in there hygiene practices in schools are different. In 2005- 2006, three lucky schools got working modern toilets put in their school . Their old toilets were remodeled so that the teachers could use them. Separate toilets were to be built and installed for boys and girls.

As with any country, food is always a big part of culture. They adopted the Spanish custom of merienda, which is a late afternoon snack . It usually includes some light and tasty snacks and dishes. Since it doesn’t have any rice, it is not seen as a meal; the meal is a proper meal only if rice is present . Meals late at night are usually followed by a walk in the city. However, the influence of Western culture is pushing dinner hours earlier, so late night strolls are becoming less common. Filipino cuisine is also heavily influenced by both China and Spain. The dish pancit, which is a dish that contains rice and noodles, is influenced by China . In Spanish cuisine, it is not uncommon to mix a variety of ingredients together to make on dish. Filipino cuisine took this concept and make cocidas, which is a stew with legumes and meat . Bitter chocolate also finds its way into Filipino cuisine. The poorer people of the Philippines eat a lot of rice, with a lot of corn in between. They usually eat their rice with a little patis or bagoong sauce for flavor . Every grain of rice is thought to be precious and is treasured. Fluffy and glutinous rice are usually made into a variety of things from puddings to breads.

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<http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/2794.htm#history>.

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Lieurance, Suzanne. The Phillippines. United States: Enslow Inc, 2004. 21-31.

“Schools in Philippines.” WASTE. 28 Aug. 2006. WASTE. 17 Jan. 2008 <http://www.ecosan.nl/page/947>.