Philippines

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Country Name

The Philippines, or officially the Republic of the Philippines.

Location

The Philippines is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Bounded by the South China Sea on the west, the Philippine Sea on the east, and the Celebes Sea on the southwest, the Philippines shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Japan to the northeast, Palau to the east, Indonesia to the south, Malaysia and Brunei to the southwest, Vietnam to the west, and China to the northwest.

Capital

Manila.

Reason for Naming

Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, during his expedition in 1542, named the islands of Leyte and Samar, "Felipinas" after Philip II of Spain, then the Prince of Asturias. Eventually the name "Las Islas Filipinas" would be used to cover the archipelago's Spanish possessions. Before Spanish rule was established, other names such as Islas del Poniente (Islands of the West) and Magellan's name for the islands, San Lázaro, were also used by the Spanish to refer to islands in the region

Flag

The first use of the current flag design was in 1898. The current flag was adopted on February 12, 1998.

The flag consists of a horizontal bicolor of blue and red with a white equilateral triangle based at the hoist containing three, five-pointed gold stars at its points, and an eight-rayed gold sun at its center.

The blue color represents peace, truth, and justice, The red color represents loyalty and bravery, the white color represents liberty, equality, and fraternity, and the three yellow