7ILT1 Asian Food Safari: Philippines

Location and Geography. The Republic of the Philippines, a nation of 7,107 islands with a total area of 111,830 square miles (307,055 square kilometers), is located on the Pacific Rim of Southeast Asia. Two thousand of its islands are inhabited. Luzon, the largest island with one-third of the land and half the population, is in the north. Mindanao, the second largest island, is in the south.

The Philippines' location between the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean has made the islands a crossing point for migrating Philippines people all over the world. As a result, the Philippines is made up of a range of different people and ethnic groups. While there are many different dialects and languages, Tagalog is the national language. The people of the Philippines are called Filipino. Filipino cuisine reflects the blending of these wide and varied cultures.

Location: Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, east of Vietnam.

More than most Far East countries, the Philippines has an incredible diversity in their diet, which is primarily the result of foreign influences and immigrations. This diversity begins with the diversity of the country itself. The Filipinos are an ethnic combination of Chinese, Japanese, Malay, Polynesian, and Melanesian among others. With each group came new foods.