Characteristics And History
Manila has an interesting history, as does the rest of the Philippines, because it was first colonised by the Spanish, then was heavily influenced by the USA. The city was founded in 1571 by the Spanish Conquistador Miguel Lopez de Legaspi. It was made the capital of the colony "Felipinas". The Spanish fought off the Moslems with their muskets and cannons, and then kept control of the city for 327 years, except for the brief period (the Seven Years War) when it was controlled by the British. The Filipinos didn't like Spain's rule over Manila, so one of them started a group called the Katipunan, dedicated to freeing the city from the Spanish rule. When this group was discovered in 1896, hundreds of Filipinos were exiled or killed, and ten days later there was a war. The Filipinos didn't manage to win, so another revolution started a while later, and failed again. The Philippines remained under Spanish control until 1898 when the Americans won the Battle of Manila Bay, part of the Spanish-American War, and bought the former colony for 20 million dollars. Then war broke out between the Americans and Filipinos in 1899, and in 1905, the Philippines were finally declared an independent country.
The Spanish Conquistadors established many Catholic Churches in Manila, and most of the people that live there are Roman Catholic (over 80%). The rest are mostly Protestant and Buddhist. There is a traditional religion, a form of animism, that is still followed by a few citizens of the Philippines that is quite similar to Hinduism.
Many dialects are spoken in the Philippines. The dialect spoken in Metro Manila is Tagalog, although a lot of the newspapers are written in English, and the second language is almost always English. Lots of the names of the towns in Metro Manila are in Spanish.
Tourism is quite an important industry in Manila, the city and region received 974,379 overnight visitors in 2012. One of the reasons of this is the fact that going through Manila is the main way to get to the rest of the Philipines' destinations. In Mastercard's "global top 20 fastest growing cities for international visitors from 2009-2013" it is ranked 10th. One of the main tourist destinations in Manila is the "mall". Global Blue ranked Manila 11th in the "Best Shopping Destinations in Asia".
Manila's economy has many facets. It produces rope, textiles, chemicals, coconut oil, and shoes. Many residents are imployed in food and tobacco processing. Manila harbour is the main port of the country, and the city is the centre of publishing and finances. Its widespread use of English gives it an advantage over other Asian countries trade-wise, but with its advantages come disadvantages; Manila is quite overpopulated, the municipal agencies find it hard to provide service for the residents.