Читать книгу Philippines: A Visual Journey - Elizabeth V. Reyes - Страница 5

tHE PHILIPPINES is a Southeast Asian archipelago of over 7,000 islands strewn between the Pacific Ocean and the Asian mainland. Here Orient meets Occident with a distinctive flair. Three centuries of Spanish Christianization and 40 years of American colonization have left their mark, contributing to the East-West character of a vibrant, Latinized people of Asian bloodlines. Catholicism is the major religion, English is the tongue of the educated, and the soulful creativity of the Filipinos prevails in visual arts and daily life. Music, basketball, boxing and politics are the national pasttimes, from bustling Metro Manila to historic Cebu to booming Davao in Mindanao. Ecotourism adventures await in all 81 provinces—from Boracay to Bohol, Panay to Palawan, to the Banaue Rice Terraces of Northern Luzon. All in this high-spirited place, the Philippines.