Sitting in South East Asia and comprising of some 7,000 plus islands, the archipelago nation of the Philippines has coastlines on the Philippine Sea, the South China Sea and the Celebes Sea. The islands have a number of volcanoes between them and are prone to seismic activity – though most earthquakes are far too weak to be felt – the country is heavily forested and is home to some wonderful, lush vegetation throughout. Whilst the country does sit smack in the middle of an area very popular with tourists, the Philippines do not attract the sheer volume of visitors attributed to other nearby countries, such as Thailand – as a result the country is something of an undiscovered gem, and there aren’t likely to be times when the amount of travellers there is overwhelming. The beautiful landscapes and friendly people are yet to have been overtaken by tourism, which is surprising, and the country is ideal for those looking at an out-of-the-way destination.

The earliest peoples in the Philippines region arrived around 250,000 years ago, most likely via a land bridge during an ice age – recorded history, however, picks up around 1521 when the Spanish arrived an claimed the lands as their own. Ferdinand Magellan, who claimed the islands, was killed by locals who were rather against the Spaniards invading their land, and it wasn’t until 1543 that the Spaniards had even named the islands – after King Philip II – and it took until 1565 for permanent occupation of the region by the Spanish. The Spanish occupiers brought with them Christianity, which has left the country to this day one of the few predominantly Christian nations in the region, and in 1571 the majority of the islands were under complete Spanish control, with the capital having been set up in Manila. The islands remained under Spanish control and saw little in the way of notable occurrences over the next 300 plus years, until 1896 when the fuel of revolution was ignited – with growing public desire for independence, the Philippines sided with the USA in the Spanish-American War of 1898. When the Americans won, they promptly took control of the islands after Spain ceded them – it wasn’t until after the Second World War and Japanese occupation that the US formally recognised the Philippines’ independence, in 1946. Two decades of relative insignificance followed, until 1965 when Ferdinand Marcos took charge – Marcos saw about bringing the economy of the country up to speed, and at one point it was second in South East Asia, behind only Japan. By the time his second term was coming to a close in 1972, however, Marcos declared martial law and installed himself as the sole leader of the nation, plunging the Philippines into a dictatorship for nearly two decades. This time saw many attempted coups and uprisings from the people, which filled the populace with confidence that they could overcome this dictatorship. These dissenting voices got the attention of US President Ronald Reagan, who withdrew his support for Marcos’ government – this pushed Marcos to hold a snap election in 1986, which he lost. After a standoff between military loyalists and military mutineers when Marcos refused to accept the results of the election, he fled the country in exile and lived his last few years in Hawaii – he died there in 1989. The new government of the Philippines saw seven coup attempts in six years, and was unable to stabilise a flailing economy – successive presidencies have seen the economy recover somewhat, though it suffered (as all Asian nations did) in the economic crisis of 1998, and one president – Joseph Estrada – thrown out of office for corruption charges. The current government, lead by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been plagued by both corruption allegations and a number of attempted coups, but so far these have all been survived. The economy in the country has picked up over recent years and the vast majority of the country is perfectly safe, but insurgency in certain southern islands has lead to US military intervention and raised suspicions about possible links to global terrorist activities in the country.

Economically speaking, the Philippines are on the up – slowly, at least. The Peso was the best performing currency in East Asia in 2005/06, and the GDP of the nation has seen constant growth over the last few years. The government, whilst sidestepping attempted coups and corruption allegations, have been placing an impetus on foreign investment to attract more money into the country. The growing popularity of the nation as a tourist spot and the relative unspoilt nature of it just contribute to many economic reasons why the Philippines would be a good spot for any potential off plan investor to put their cash.

The standards of healthcare in the Philippines are generally good in major towns and cities, but standards elsewhere can be much lower. Health insurance is essential, as all treatment has to be paid for in full.

Mobile phone coverage stretches across the Manila and larger towns and cities. Landlines are widely available and lines are of a decent standard. Internet cafes are widespread.