Cultural Synopsis: Philippines The Republic of the Philippines is the only predominantly Christian nation in Asia and has a unique heritage of Malay, Spanish, and American cultures. Ruled by Spain for nearly 330 years until 1898, its cultural characteristics are today in some ways more like those of the nations of Latin America than those of Southeast Asia, the ten-nation geographic region to which it belongs. The Spanish language, however, is spoken by less than 1 percent of the population, in spite of Spain's long colonial rule. On the other hand, the Spanish heritage is visible in other features of national life. For example, about 85 percent of the populat