Philippines

Philippines - Is officially known as the Republic of the Philippines. Philippines is an Asian island country comprised of 7,107 islands located in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. The Philippine shares maritime borders with Indonesia, Malaysia, Palau, China, and Vietnam. The Philippine Islands became a Spanish colony during the 16th century; they were ceded to the US in 1898 following the Spanish-American War. In 1935 the Philippines became a self-governing commonwealth. In 1942 the islands fell under Japanese occupation during World War II, and US forces and Filipinos fought together during 1944-45 to regain control and independence. Today the Philippine Government faces threats from three terrorist groups on the US Government's Foreign Terrorist Organization list, but in 2006 and 2007 scored some major successes in capturing or killing key wanted terrorists. Decades of Muslim insurgency in the southern Philippines have led to a peace accord with one group and an ongoing cease-fire and peace talks with another.
Philippine islands have a rich history archaeological, and paleontological discoveries show that Humans existed in here around 30,000 to 50,000 BC.