Pinoy colloquial masculine or neutral Pinay colloquial feminine. Situated in the western Pacific Ocean , it consists of about 7, islands that are broadly categorized under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon , Visayas , and Mindanao. The capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City , both within the urban area of Metro Manila. Bounded by the South China Sea to the west, the Philippine Sea to the east, and the Celebes Sea to the southwest, the Philippines shares maritime borders with Taiwan to the north, Japan to the northeast, Palau to the east, Indonesia to the south, Malaysia and Brunei to the southwest, Vietnam to the west, and China to the northwest. The Philippines' position as an island country on the Pacific Ring of Fire and close to the equator makes the country prone to earthquakes and typhoons.

Filipinos come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups. Currently, there are more than ethnolinguistic groups in the Philippines; each with its own language, identity, culture and history. The number of individual languages listed for Philippines is Of these, are living and 2 are extinct.

Many of the Filipina women we interviewed across Asia, Europe and the Middle East lost jobs or had salaries cut since the pandemic — others were subjected to physical abuse. This story is published in partnership between the Guardian and the Fuller Project. Listen to this story in our Today In Focus podcast.