Positioned on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean, along the Ring of Fire, the Philippines is the second-largest archipelago on the planet, with over 7,100 individual islands counted within its borders.
 

 For hundreds of years the Philippines were a Spanish colony, but then were ceded to the US in 1898, following the Spanish-American War.
 
 One of the main focal points of battles between Japan and the US during World War II, at the end of that war (in 1946) with the US victory in the South Pacific, the Philippines attained total independence.
 
 The dictatorial government of Ferdinand MARCOS ended in 1986, and since then, a long parade of electoral presidential problems and internal struggles have continued.
 
 In addition, Abu Sayyaf, an armed Muslim insurgency group operating in the south, has collectively plagued the country for many years, and is now causing serious disruptions, especially in western tourism visits.
 
 In 1992, after many years of negotiations, the US finally closed its last military bases on the islands, and in the view of many, the Philippines lost much needed revenue from that action.
 
 And speaking of problems, the Philippines has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world. At the current rate of deforestation it's been estimated that the country’s virgin forests are in danger of disappearing.
 
 Tourism has never been a major industry in the Philippines, although Manila, beaches and resorts on some of the smaller islands, as well as rain forest tours remain popular.