The history of the Philippines is believed to have begun with the arrival of the first humans using

rafts or primitive boats at least 67,000 years ago as the 2007 discovery of Callao Man suggested.
[1]

Negrito tribes first inhabited the isles. Groups of Austronesianslater migrated to the islands.

Eventually various groups developed, separated into hunter-gatherer tribes, warrior societies,
petty plutocracies and maritime-oriented harbor principalities which eventually grew into
kingdoms, rajahnates, kedatuans, huangdoms and sultanates. These small nations were either
greatly influenced by Hindu religions, literature and philosophy from India, [2] Islam from Arabia or
were Sinified tributary states allied to China. The nations included the Indianized Rajahnates
of Butuan and Cebu, the dynasty of Tondo, the august kingdoms of Maysapan and Maynila,
the Kedatuan of Madja-as, the sinified Huangdom of Ma-i, the Huangdom of Pangasinan as well as
the Muslim Sultanates of Sulu, Lanao and Maguindanao. These small maritime states flourished
from the 1st millennium.[3][4] These kingdoms traded with what are now
called China, India, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia.[5] The remainder of the settlements
were independent barangays allied with one of the larger states.
The first recorded visit by Europeans is the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan. He sighted Samar
Island on March 16, 1521 and landed the next day on Homonhon Island, now part of Guiuan,
Eastern Samar.[6] Spanish colonization began with the arrival of Miguel Lpez de Legazpi's
expedition on February 13, 1565 from Mexico. He established the first permanent settlement
in Cebu.[7] Much of the archipelago came under Spanish rule, creating the first unified political
structure known as the Philippines. Spanish colonial rule saw the introduction of Christianity,
the code of law and the oldest modern university in Asia. The Philippines was ruled under the
Mexico-based Viceroyalty of New Spain until Mexican independence. After which, the colony was
directly governed by Spain.
Spanish rule ended in 1898 with Spain's defeat in the SpanishAmerican War. The Philippines then
became a colony of the United States.
American rule was not uncontested. The Philippine Revolution had begun in August 1896 against
Spain, and after the defeat of Spain in the Battle of Manila Bay began again in earnest, culminating
in the Philippine Declaration of Independence and the establishment of the First Philippine Republic.
The PhilippineAmerican War ensued, with extensive damage and death, and ultimately resulting in
the defeat of the Philippine Republic.[8][9][10][11]
The United States established the Insular Government to rule the Philippines.[12] In 1907, the
elected Philippine Assembly was convened as the lower house of a bicameral legislature and in
1916 the U.S. Federal Government formally promised independence in the Jones Act.
[12]

The Philippine Commonwealth was established in 1935, as a 10-year interim step prior to full

independence.[13]Before independence, World War II began and Japan occupied the Philippines.
[14]

After the end of the war, the Treaty of Manilaestablished an independent Philippine Republic.[15]

In 1972, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos imposed martial law. Following the assassination of
the Ninoy Aquino, Marcos heldsnap elections in 1986 and subsequently fled the country during
the People Power Revolution which installed Cory Aquino as president and reestablished
democracy.
In the 21st century, the Philippines is the 12th most populous country of the world, part of ASEAN, a
key ally of the United States, with an economy dominated by fishing and agriculture with a
growing business process outsourcing (BPO) industry and nearly 10% of the population abroad
as overseas Filipino workers.
Contents
[hide]

1Prehistory

2Pre-colonial period (900 AD to 1535)

o

2.1Initial recorded history

2.2The Kingdom of Tondo

2.3The Huangdom of Pangasinan

2.4The Huangdom of Mai

2.5The Kedatuan of Madja-as

2.6The Rajahnate of Cebu

2.7The Rajahnate of Butuan

2.8The Sultanate of Lanao

2.9The Sultanate of Sulu

2.10The Sultanate of Maguindanao

2.11The Bruneian Empire and the expansion of Islam

3Spanish settlement and rule (15651898)

o

3.1Early Spanish expeditions and conquests

3.2Spanish settlement during the 16th and 17th centuries

3.3Spanish rule during the 18th century

3.3.1British invasion (17621764)

3.3.2Spanish rule in the second part of the 18th century

3.4Spanish rule during the 19th century

3.5Philippine Revolution

4American rule (18981946)

o

4.1PhilippineAmerican War

4.2The Tagalog, Negros and Zamboanga Cantonal Republics

4.3Insular Government (19011935)

4.4Commonwealth

4.5World War II and Japanese occupation

4.5.1Military

4.5.2Home front

5Independent Philippines and the Third Republic (19461965)

o

5.1Administration of Manuel Roxas (19461948)

5.2Administration of Elpidio Quirino (19481953)

5.3Administration of Ramon Magsaysay (19531957)

5.4Administration of Carlos P. Garcia (19571961)

5.5Administration of Diosdado Macapagal (19611965)

5.5.1Land Reform Code

5.5.2Maphilindo
6Marcos era and martial law (19651986)

6.1Martial law

6.2Fourth Republic
7Fifth Republic (1986present)

7.1Administration of Corazon Cojuangco Aquino (19861992)

7.2Administration of Fidel Valdez Ramos (19921998)

7.3Administration of Joseph Ejercito Estrada (19982001)

7.4Administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (20012010)

7.5Administration of Benigno Simeon Aquino III

8See also

9Notes

10References

11Further reading

12External links

Prehistory[edit]
Main article: Prehistory of the Philippines
The earliest archeological evidence for man in the archipelago is the 67,000-year-old Callao
Man of Cagayan and the Angono Petroglyphs in Rizal, both of whom appear to suggest the
presence of human settlement prior to the arrival of the Negritos and Austronesian speaking people.
[16][17][18][19][20]

There are several opposing theories regarding the origins of ancient Filipinos. F. Landa Jocano
theorizes that the ancestors of the Filipinos evolved locally. Wilhelm Solheim'sIsland Origin
Theory[21] postulates that the peopling of the archipelago transpired via trade networks originating in
the Sundaland area around 48,000 to 5000 BC rather than by wide-scale migration.
The Austronesian Expansion Theory states that Malayo-Polynesians coming from Taiwan began
migrating to the Philippines around 4000 BC, displacing earlier arrivals. [22][23]
The Negritos were early settlers, but their appearance in the Philippines has not been reliably dated.
[24]

They were followed by speakers of the Malayo-Polynesian languages, a branch of

the Austronesian languages, who began to arrive in successive waves beginning about 4000 BC,
displacing the earlier arrivals.[25][26] Before the expansion out of Taiwan, recent archaeological,
linguistic and genetic evidence has linked Austronesian speakers in Insular Southeast Asia to
cultures such as the Hemudu, its successor theLiangzhu[27][28] and Dapenkeng in Neolithic China.[29][30]
[31][32][33]

During this neolithic period, a "jade culture" is said to have existed as evidenced by tens of

thousands of exquisitely crafted jade artifacts found in the Philippines dated to 2000 BC. [34][35] The
jade is said to have originated nearby in Taiwan and is also found in many other areas in insular and

mainland Southeast Asia. These artifacts are said to be evidence of long range communication
between prehistoric Southeast Asian societies.[36]
By 1000 BC the inhabitants of the Philippine archipelago had developed into four distinct kinds of
peoples: tribal groups, such as the Aetas, Hanunoo, Ilongots and the Mangyanwho depended
on hunter-gathering and were concentrated in forests; warrior societies, such as
the Isneg and Kalinga who practiced social ranking and ritualized warfare and roamed the plains; the
petty plutocracy of the Ifugao Cordillera Highlanders, who occupied the mountain ranges of Luzon;
and the harbor principalities of the estuarine civilizations that grew along rivers and seashores while
participating in trans-island maritime trade.[37] It was also during the first millennium BC that early
metallurgy was said to have reached the archipelagos of maritime Southeast Asia via trade
with India[38][39]
Around 300700 AD the seafaring peoples of the islands traveling in balangays began to trade with
the Indianized kingdoms in the Malay Archipelago and the nearby East Asianprincipalities, adopting
influences from both Buddhism and Hinduism.[40][41]

Pre-colonial period (900 AD to 1535)[edit]