Filipino Americans - History, Spanish Rule, 1565-1898

Overview

The Philippine Islands, off the east coast of Asia, are part of the Pacific Ocean's fiery volcanic rim. The Philippine archipelago, consisting of about 7,100 islands, lies along a north-south arc of 1,152 miles. From east to west, its widest dimension is 682 miles. Most islands, large and small, have high mountains, and many are surrounded by coral-reef shorelines.

The Philippines' land area is 115,831 square miles, slightly larger than the state of Nevada. Eleven islands comprise about 95 percent of the land mass of the Philippines, with the two largest, Luzon and Mindanao, accounting for 65 percent of the total. The national capital, Quezon City, and the de facto capital and largest city, Manila, are both situated on Luzon, on which over 25 percent of the country's population lives. Thirty-five percent inhabits the Visayan Islands, a cluster of islands—Samar, Leyete Bohol, Cebu, Negros, Panay, and Masbate—that lie between Luzon and Mindanao. Cebu has the highest population concentration with more than 400 people per square mile. The country's total population in 1992 was about 67,144,000. Malays are in the majority; major ethnic minorities are Chinese, Americans, and Spanish. Eighty-three percent of the population is Roman Catholic, nine percent is Protestant, and five percent is Muslim. Mindanao has the greatest Islamic concentration.

Climatic conditions, which are about the same throughout the archipelago, help determine the islanders' lifestyle. The climate, both tropical and maritime in nature, usually has high humidity and high temperatures. Monsoons and typhoons, over-riding normal conditions, bring periods of heavy rain. All of these factors have determined where and how Filipinos have cultivated their land. Agriculture, ranging from subsistence farming to export plantations, remains the basis of the islands' economy. Even so, given the mountainous terrain, only about 15 percent of the land is cultivated. Major domestic crops are rice and corn; important export crops are abaca (Manila hemp), copra (dried coconut meat, from which coconut oil is made), pineapple, sugar, and tobacco.

One of the persistent problems for Philippines islanders has been inequitable land distribution. A share tenant system has made most farmers captives of landlords, or caciques. At the time of independence in 1946, over 70 percent of the crops went to caciqueors. Share tenancy has brought considerable political and social unrest. Historically, limited economic opportunities tied to tenancy and a high birthrate led to immigration to Hawaii and the mainland United States.