- published: 16 Oct 2015
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The University of the Philippines (UP; Filipino: Unibersidad ng Pilipinas or Pamantasan ng Pilipinas) is a public university system in the Philippines. Founded by the American colonial government on June 18, 1908, it was originally a university conceived for the Filipinos. Act No. 1870 of the 1st Philippine Legislature was signed to establish UP to provide "advanced instruction in literature, philosophy, the sciences and arts, and to give professional and technical training" to eligible students regardless of "age, sex, nationality, religious belief and political affiliation". UP has institutional autonomy as the country's national university as mandated by Republic Act No. 9500 (UP Charter of 2008).
The University of the Philippines has 7 constituent universities (CUs), 1 autonomous college and 4 basic education schools located in 15 campuses across the country. The first UP opened in Manila in 1909 with the Colleges of Fine Arts, and Medicine and Surgery; UP Los Baños was also initiated as the UP College of Agriculture in the same year. 5 other constituent universities have since been established; the latest since 2002 is UP Baguio, despite being formed 41 years earlier (in 1961). UP Diliman, the fourth CU which was established in 1949, is the flagship campus and seat of administration of the University of the Philippines.
Coordinates: 13°N 122°E / 13°N 122°E / 13; 122
The Philippines (i/ˈfɪlᵻpiːnz/; Filipino: Pilipinas [ˌpɪlɪˈpinɐs]), officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (Filipino: Republika ng Pilipinas), is a sovereign island country in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean. It consists of about 7,500 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City; both are part of Metro Manila.
To the north of the Philippines across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan; Vietnam sits west across the South China Sea; southwest lies Malaysia in the island of Borneo across the Sulu Sea, and to the south the Celebes Sea separates it from other islands of Indonesia; while to the east it is bounded by the Philippine Sea and the island-nation of Palau. Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons, but also endows it with abundant natural resources and some of the world's greatest biodiversity. At approximately 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 sq mi), the Philippines is the 72nd-largest country in the world.