The Republic of the Philippines is an island nation in Southeast Asia. To 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.
The archipelago had been known to the Chinese for many centuries, who called it "Ma-i/Mayi".
The Philippines has been part of several empires: The Spanish Empire during the age of Imperialism, the United States after the Spanish-American War of 1898, and the Japanese Empire during World War II, until the official Philippine independence in 1945. The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 marked the beginning of an era of Spanish interest and eventual colonization. In 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain. Miguel López de Legazpi arrived in the Philippines in 1565 and consolidated Spanish rule in the islands, which remained a colony of Spain for more than 300 years.
Manila became the Asian hub of the Manila–Acapulco galleon fleet. Christianity was widely adopted. As the 19th century gave way to the 20th, there followed in quick succession the Philippine Revolution, which spawned the short-lived First Philippine Republic; the Spanish-American War; and the Philippine–American War. In the aftermath, the United States emerged as the dominant power. Aside from the period of Japanese occupation, the United States retained sovereignty over the islands until the end of World War II when the Philippines gained independence. The United States bequeathed to the Philippines the English language and a stronger affinity for Western culture. Since independence the Philippines has had an often tumultuous experience with democracy, with popular "people power" movements overthrowing a dictatorship in one instance but also underlining the institutional weaknesses of its constitutional republic in others.
Alternate versions of the Philippines have been discovered in the multiverse:
- Commonwealth of the Philippines (Twilight of a New Era)
- Luzon (Vegetarian World)
- Manana (Ætas ab Brian)
- Manuelinhas (Cabotia and Brasil)
- Maharlika (Maharlika Timeline)
- People's Republic of the Philippines (The Empire of Atlantis)
- People's Republic of the Philippines (North American War)
- People's Republic of the Philippines (PS-1)
- Philippines (Yellowstone: 1936)
- Philippines (1983: Doomsday)
- Philippines (Burma Ascension)
- Philippines (Cherry, Plum, and Chrysanthemum)
- Philippines (Differently)
- Philippines (Double Collapse)
- Philippines (Great Nuclear War)
- Philippines (How many Sixes does Adolf Nazi have to Roll?)
- Philippines (HSE)
- Philippines (New Union)
- Philippines (New Republic)
- Philippines (Nuclear Apocalypse)
- Philippines (Pax Filipina)
- Philippines (Raj Karega Khalsa)
- Philippines (Scotland says "Yes")
- Philippines (Tejeros Victory)
- Philippines (The Era of Relative Peace)
- Philippine Commonwealth
- Philippine Empire (Andromeda)
- Philippine Union (2014: The Philippine Uprising)
- Federal Philippines
- The Greater Filipino Republic (The Revolution)
Alternate versions of the Philippines have been discovered to be part of other nations in these timelines:
- Khmer Empire (Celestial Ascendance)
- North Maharlika (Celestial Ascendance)
- South Maharlika (Celestial Ascendance)
- Kingdom of Spain (The Legacy of the Glorious)
- Philippines (Austria and others)
- Philippines (Dai-tō-a)
- United States of America (Alternity)
- Luzon (state)
- Visayas (Alternity)
- Mindanao
- United States of America (No FDR)
- Ma-i, part of the Canadian Commonwealth (Chaos)
Flags[]
Many variations of the Philippines flag have been made. See Flags of the Philippines.