If you are scared of snakes, Philippines is definitely a country to think about before visiting as they are home to the biggest snake in the world. The Philippines is an incredibly diverse country in terms of religion, language, ethnicity and also geography. However, there is more about this country to know. Learn more by reading about these Philippines Facts.

1. The official name of the country is Republic of Philippines.

2. The largest city is Quezon City.

3. The total population of Philippines is 104,256,076 as of July 2017.

4. The total area of Philippines is 300,000 sq km.

5. Their official languages are Filipino and English.

6. The official currency is the Philippines Piso.

7. The Philippines was the first country in Asia to gain independence after World War II.

8. The Philippines has the fourth largest number of children who get prostituted in the world.

9. The Philippines has the highest rate of discovery of new animal species.

10. The Philippines is the world’s leading producer of coconuts.

11. Approximately 52 million people speak English in the Philippines, making it the fifth largest English-speaking country behind the U.S., India, and United Kingdom.

12. Basketball is the Filipinos’ most popular sport.

13. Christmas in the Philippines begins in September & ends with the Feast of the Three Kings in January.

14. The Philippines is the seventh most populated country in Asia and the 12th in the world.

15. The Philippines is home to the world’s top 10 largest shopping malls.

16. The three stars on the Philippines flag represent three sections of the country.

17. The country has the world’s fifth largest coastline.

18. The Philippines has three active volcanoes: Taal Volcano, Mount Pinatubo, and the Mayon Volcano.

19. The Philippines’s entire landmass consists of islands which make it the second-largest archipelago in the world.

20. Manila is the capital of the Philippines.

21. On June 15, 1991, Philippines suffered one of the largest volcanic eruptions in history.

22. The national bird of the country is the monkey-eating eagle.

23. Other than America, the Philippines and Indonesia are the only places in the world where skunks are found.

24. The most expensive and rarest seashell in the world is from the Philippines.

25. Ferdinand Marcos was the country’s first elected president.

26. Filipino Dr. Abelardo Aguilar discovered the antibiotic erythromycin in 1949.

27. The Philippines is home to the longest snake in the world.

28. The world’s biggest pair of shoes was made in Marikina City in 2002.

29. The Philippines was named after King Philip II of Spain.

30. The world record for most women breastfeeding was set in Manila, Philippines, on May 4, 2006.

31. The largest pearl in the world was discovered by a Filipino diver in the Palawan Sea in 1934.

32. It is considered rude to open gifts immediately after they are given.

33. The Philippines is the world’s largest supplier of nurses worldwide.

34. The Puerto Princesa river in the Philippines is known as the longest subterranean waterway in the world.

35. The University of Santo Tomas was founded in Manila in 1611 and it’s the world’s largest Catholic university in terms of population.

36. Philippines’s Jellyfish Lake contains more than 13 million jellyfishes.

37. Of the eight known species of giant clams in the world, seven are found in the Philippines.

38. The anti-lock braking systems used in BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo cars are made in the Philippines.

39. Every day, 35 million Filipinos send about 450 million SMS messages.

40. There’s banana ketchup in the Philippines. During WW2, there was a lack of tomatoes and they had to use bananas as an additional to replicate ketchup.