The Philiphines is an archipelago of 7,107 island in the south China Sea situated between Taiwan to the nort and Borneo to the south. just 2,000 of its islands are inhabited and only 500 are larger than a kilometer square . The nine largest islands of Luzon, Mindanao, Palawan, Panay,Mindoro, Negros, Leyte andCebu make up 90% the nation"s land area.

The original people of the Philiphines were the ancestors of the people knwn today as Negritos or Aeta. They are an Australo-Melanesian people with dark skin and tight, curly brown hair. They are also destinctively smal and of short stature.As the Pygmies in the equatorial forest of africa, the Aeta are believe to have adapted localy to the tropical jungles of the Philiphines.

The Aeta are a nomadic hunting and gathering people who forage in a small family bands with informal organization and leadership. They were one widespread througuot the Philiphines but are now found only in the remote highland areas of Luzon, Palawan, Panay, Negros, and Mindanao.