Philippines (Liberty Nests in the Orient)

The Philippines, officially called the Republic of the Philippines (Filipino: Republika ng Pilipinas), is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of 7,107 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City; both are part of Metro Manila. The country its north across the Luzon Strait is Taiwan, also known as the Republic of China. West across the South China Sea (now called West Philippine Sea by the Filipinos) is Vietnam, and south across the Celebes Sea is Indonesia. In addition, the Philippines borders three U.S. enclave cities situated in: Dumaguete City bordering southeast of Negros Oriental in the island of Negros, Subic-Olongapo Enclave bordering the province of Zambales, and the Clark Freeport Zone bordering the province of Pampanga.