25 Fun & Educational Facts About the Philippines + Free Colouring Sheet!

The Philippines is a country in Southeast Asia with a rich culture and heritage, including many different religions, languages, and music.

We’ve put together 25 fun facts about the Philippines that will spark curiosity and might even inspire a future family trip!

Scroll down to grab your free printable coloring sheet - made especially for parents, caregivers, and educators. It’s a fun and engaging way for kids to:

• Explore cultural symbols

• Practice motor skills through coloring

• Learn shapes, colors, and a little bit of Asian culture too!

1. The Philippines is composed of 7,107 islands, the majority of which is uninhabited. It has 300,000 square kilometres of land and is the 12th largest country in Asia and 11th in the world.
2. The Philippines has a total land area of approximately 300,000 square kilometers and has a tropical climate.
3. The Philippines is the 12th most populated country on Earth, with a population of over 100 million. The country has a rich and diverse culture that's influenced by Malay, Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, and American culture. This has led to a diverse culture with many different beliefs and traditions.
4. Filipino and English are the official languages in the Philippines. Filipino is a standard language which is based on Tagalog. The country has more than 1,000 dialects and more than 100 languages, such as Bikol, Pangasinense, Cebuano or Waray.
5. The Filipino language has its own unique alphabet that was derived from Latin script called Baybayin.
6. There are over 250 active volcanoes in the Philippines. Taal Volcano is an active volcano in Batangas province on Luzon Island that only last erupted in 2012.
7. The Philippine eagle is also known as the monkey-eating eagle. It was last seen in 2013 and is considered extinct.
8. The Philippine giant monitor lizard is an endemic species, meaning the reptile is only found in the country.
9. Although today's flag is not the same as the original flag of the Philippines, it has been used since 1952. The national flag of the Philippines is a horizontal bicolor flag with equal bands of royal blue and crimson red, with a white, equilateral triangle at the hoist. In the center of the triangle is a golden-yellow sun with eight primary rays, each representing a province in the country.
10. Manila is the capital city of the Philippines. It is one of the ten largest island countries in the world and is slightly larger than the state of Arizona/USA or about the size of Italy.
11. The Philippines was occupied by Spanish colonialists for 333 years. The country was free from Spanish reign in 1898.
12. After Spanish rule, America settled in the Philippines. In 1898, Spain gave up the Philippines to the US. American colonization then lasted for at least 48 years.
13. When the Japanese came to the Philippines, the Americans waged a war together with the Filipinos to fight against the Japanese forces from 1941 to 1945. Finally, the Americans recognized the independence of the country in 1946.
14. Philippines became an independent nation on July 4, 1946. This day is now known as Republic Day. But The Philippines actually has two days of independence to celebrate. First on June 12, when they gained independence from Spanish domination. Independence from America occurred on July 4, the same day as American Independence Day, but some Filipinos consider June 12 to be their legitimate day of independence.
15. There are three main island groups in the Philippines: Luzon, Mindanao and Visayas.
16. The largest island of the Philippines is Luzon and is the northernmost island. It is also the most populated island of the Philippines.
17. The Philippines longest river is the Rio Grande or Cagayan River on Luzon island with a length of 505 km/ 314 miles.
18. The highest mountain is Mount Apo with 2,954 m/ 9,692 ft. This is a volcano located on Mindanao island.
19. Football, volleyball, tennis, basketball, and martial arts are popular sports in the Philippines. The national sport is called Arnis, a martial arts sport which includes stick-fighting.
20. About 48% of the country's people live in urbanized areas or near the coast, where a lot of agricultural produce is grown. About 25% work in rural agricultural areas to produce sugar cane and other crops. Most produce grown are vegetables, coconuts, sugar cane and more.
21. The rainforests of the Philippines house over 500 species of birds, more than a third of the bird species are not found anywhere else in the world. There are also about 100 mammal species that only can be found on the Philippines.
22. Tarsiers are considered an in between lemurs and monkeys, measuring only about 9–16 cm (3.5–6 inches) long and a tail that is double their height. They are unique to rainforest areas, but today they only exist in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. On the Philippine islands, there is an estimated 700 tarsiers remaining.
23. There are about 13,500 plant species with over 8,500 species of flowering plants. Over 3,000 plant species are only found on the Philippines. The Sampaguita (Jasmine flower) first became the National Flower of the Philippines in 1934.
24. The Philippine cuisine is very varied and consists of rice and vegetable dishes as well as many dishes containing fish, seafood, chicken, pork or beef and include spices such as ginger and garlic as well as soy sauce or fish sauce and rice vinegar.
25. Popular dishes of the Philippines include: Adobo: chicken or pork meat marinated in soy sauce, vinegar and spices such as bay leaf, peppercorn, ginger and garlic. Kaldereta: beef stew usually made with bell peppers, carrots and potatoes. Chicken tinola: chicken soup with green papaya. pansit: fried noodle dish with many variations. Lumpia: Filipino version of a spring roll usually dunked in a sweet and sour sauce. Halo-halo: desert with fruits, sweet beans and multicoloured shaved ice topped with evaporated milk and often purple ice-cream. Ube ice-cream: The purple colour comes from using ube, which are purple coloured sweet yams.