Overview
The Philippines is an archipelago in south east Asia. It is made up of more than 7,000 islands, with the largest being Luzon in the north and Mindanao in the south. The country was a Spanish colony for more than 300 years until the end of the 19th Century, and was subsequently governed by the US until independence in 1946.
The Philippines is a secular state with freedom of religion. The vast majority of the population would identify as Christian, with most of these being members of the Church of Rome, which wields considerable influence in the country as a whole. Islam makes up about 6% of the population.
What it means to be a Christian in Philippines
Evangelical Christianity has been growing in the Philippines and a strong missionary-sending momentum has developed.
Most of the country’s Muslims live in Mindanao to the south. Here various Islamist groups have been pressing for an independent Islamic state. Christians living in this part of the country have been routinely threatened and sporadically attacked, creating an atmosphere of constant tension.
