Places & Legends · Documentary · every line sourced
The Philippines and its island groups
Where the country's name came from, and the three island groups it is made of.
4 films · 4 minutes
Every film, in order
The Philippines
The Philippines got its name from a starving fleet
In 1543 a hungry Spanish fleet named a few islands after a sixteen-year-old prince. Months earlier it had named Mindanao after his father. Only the son's name stayed.
Why It's Called That
Luzon
Is Luzon named after a rice mortar?
They say Luzon is named after the lusong, the wooden mortar for pounding rice. The oldest records, from Ming China to Pigafetta's word list, leave a strange clue, but no record of a naming.
Why It's Called That
The Visayas
Spain called the Visayans the painted ones
Before they were called Visayans, Spain called them Pintados, for tattoos earned by bravery. Where the word Bisaya comes from, nobody knows for sure; a Bornean legend has its own answer.
Why It's Called That
Mindanao
Before it was Mindanao, it had at least three other names
Cesarea Karoli, the Filipina Island, Bindanao: Europeans tried several names before the local one won. Magindanao, Saleeby wrote in 1905, is the place that floods.
Why It's Called That
