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Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: MAL-MAR |
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MANILA , the capital city and principal port of the Philip-pine Islands, situated on the W. coast of the island of Luzon, on the E. shore of Manila Bay, at the mouth of the Pasig river, in lat. 14 35' 31" N., and in long. 1200 58' 8" E. It is about 4890 m. W.S.W. of Honolulu, 6990 m. W.S.W. of San Francisco, 628 m. S.E. of Hong-Kong, and 1630 m. S. by W. of Yokohama. Pop. (1876), 93,595; (1887), 176,777; (1903), 219,928. Ofthe total population in 1903, 185,351 were of the brown race, 21,838 were of the yellow race, 7943 were of the white race, and 232 were of the black race (230 of those of this race were foreign-born), and 4564 were of mixed races; of the same total 131,659, or nearly 6o% were males. The foreign-born in 1903 numbered 29,491, comprising 21,083 natives of China, 4300 natives of the United States of America, 2065 natives of Spain, and 721 natives of Japan. Nearly all of the brown race were native-born, and 8o-6% of them were Tagalogs.The city covers an area of about 20 sq. m. of low ground, through which flow the Pasig river and several esteros, or tide-water creeks. To the west is the broad expanse of Manila Bay, beyond which are the rugged Mariveles Mountains; to the eastward the city extends about half-way to Laguna de Bay, a lake nearly as large as Manila Bay and surrounded on three sides by mountains. On the south bank of the Pasig and fronting the bay for nearly a mile is the " Ancient City," or Intramuros, enclosed by walls 22 m. long, with a maximum height of 25 ft., built about 1590. Formerly a moat flanked the city on the land sides, and a drawbridge at each. of six gates was raised every night. But this practice was discontinued in 1852 and the moat was filled with earth in 1905. In the north-west angle of the walled enclosure stands Fort Santiago, which was built at the same time as the walls to defend the entrance to the river; the remaining space is occupied largely by a fine cathedral, churches, convents, schools, and government buildings. Out-side the walls the modern city has been formed by the union of several towns whose names are still retained as the names of districts. The Pasig river is crossed by two modern steel cantilever bridges. Near the north-east angle of Intramuros is the Bridge of Spain, a stone structure across the Pasig, leading to Binondo, the principal shopping and financial district; here is the Escolta, the most busy thoroughfare of the city, and the Rosario, noted for its Chinese shops. Between Binondo and the bay is San Nicholas, with the United States custom-house and large shipping interests. North of San Nicholas is Tondo, the most densely populated district; in the suburbs, outside the fire limits, the greater part of the inhabitants live in native houses of bamboo frames roofed and sided with nipa palm, and the thoroughfares consist of narrow streets and navigable streams. Paco, south-west of Intramuros, has some large cigar factories, and a large cemetery where the dead are buried in niches in two concentric circular walls. Ermita and Malate along the bay in the south part of the city, San Miguel on the north bank of the river above Intramuros, and Sampaloc farther north, are the more attractive residential districts. Most of the white inhabitants live in Ermita and Malate, or is San Miguel, where there are several handsome villas along the river front, among them that of the governor-general of the Philippines. The better sort of houses in Manila have two storeys, the lower one built of brick or stone and the upper one of wood, roofed with red Spanish tile or with corrugated iron ; the upper storey contains the living-rooms, and the lower has servants' rooms, store-houses, stables, carriage-houses and poultry yards. On account of the warm climate the cornices are wide, the upper storey projects over the lower, and the outer walls are fitted with sliding frames. Translucent oyster
Many improvements have been made in and about the city since the American occupation in 1898. The small tram-cars drawn
is Fort William McKinley, a U.S. army post in the hills five miles away, quartering about 3000 men. The scheme for dredging some of the esteros in order to make them more navigable and for filling in others has been in part executed. But the greatest improvement affecting transportation is the construction of a safe and deep harbour. Although Manila Bay is nearly landlocked, it is so large that in times of strong winds it becomes nearly as turbulent as the open sea, and it was formerly so shallow that vessels drawing more than 16 ft. could approach no nearer than two miles to the shore, where typhoons of the south-west monsoon not infrequently obliged them to lie several days before they could be unloaded. Two long jetties or break-waters have now been constructed, about 350 acres of harbour area have been dredged to a depth of 30 ft., and two wharves of steel and concrete, one 600 ft. long and 70 ft. wide, and the other 65o ft. long and rro ft. wide, were in process of construction in 1909. The Pasig river has been dredged up to the Bridge of Spain to a depth of 18 ft. and from the Bridge of Spain to Laguna de Bay to a depth of 6 ft. The construction of the harbour was begun about 188o by the Spanish government, but the work was less than one-third completed when the Americans took possession. Among other American improvements were: an efficient fire department, a sewer system whereby the sewage by means of pumps is discharged into the bay more than a mile from the shore; a system of gravity waterworks (1908) whereby the city's water supply is taken from the Mariquina river about 23 M. from the city into a storage reservoir which has a capacity of 2,000,000,000 gallons and is 212 ft. above the sea; the extension of the Luneta, the principal pleasure-ground; a boulevard for several miles along the bay; a botanical garden; and new market buildings.Climate.Manila has a spring and summer hot season, an autumn and winter cooler season, a summer and autumn rainy
rainy
damp
Public Institutions.The public school system of Manila includes, besides the common schools and Manila high school, the American school, the Philippine normal school (1901), the Philippine school of arts and trades (1901), the Philippine medical school (1907) and the Philippine school of commerce (1908). The Philippine government also maintains here a bureau of science which publishes the monthly Philippine Journal of Science, and co-operates with the Jesuits in maintaining, in Ermita, the Manila observatory (meteorological, seismological and astronomical), which is one of the best equipped institutions of the kind in the East. The royal and pontifical university of St Thomas Aquinas (generally known as the university of Santo Tomas) was founded in 1857 with faculties of theology, law, philosophy, science, medicine and pharmacy, and grew out of a seminary, for the foundation of which Philip II. of Spain gave a grant in 1585, and which opened in 1601 ; and of the Dominican college of St Thomas, dating from 1611. Other educa-tional institutions are the (Dominican) San Jose medical and pharmaceutical college, San Juan de Letran (Dominican), which is a primary and secondary school, the ateneo municipal, a corresponding secondary and primary school under the charge of the Jesuits, and the college of St Isabel, a girls' school. In 1908 there were thirty-four newspapers and periodicals
Trade and Industry.Manila is important chiefly for its commerce, and to make it the chief distributing point for American goods con-signed to Eastern markets the American government undertook the harbour improvements, and abolished the tonnage dues levied under Spanish rule. Manila is the greatest hemp market in the world; 110,399 tons, valued at $19,444,769, were exported from the archipelago in 1906, almost all being shipped from Manila. Other Important exports are sugar, copra and tobacco. The imports represent a great variety of food stuffs and manufactured articles. In 1906 the the total value of the exports was $23,902,986 and the total value of the imports was $21,868,257. The coastwise trade is large. The principal manufactures are tobacco, cigars, cigarettes, malt liquors, distilled liquors, cotton
cotton
Administration.Manila is governed under a charter enacted in 1901 by the Philippine commission, and amended in 1903. This vests the legislative and administrative authority mainly in a municipal board of five members, of whom three are appointed by the governor of the Philippines by the advice and with the consent of the Philippine commission, and the others are the president of the advisory board and the city engineer. The administration is divided into eight departments: engineering and public works; sewer and waterworks construction; sanitation and transportation; assessments and collections; police, fire, law and schools. There are no elective offices, but there is an advisory board, appointed by the governor and consisting of one member from each of eleven districts; its recommendations the municipal board must seek on all important matters. The administration of justice is vested in a municipal court and in one court under justices of the peace and auxiliary
History.The Spanish city of Manila (named from " nilad," a weed or bush which grew in the locality) was founded by Legaspi in 1571. The site had been previously occupied by a town under a Mahommedan chieftain, but this town had been burned before Legaspi gained possession, although a native settlement still remained, within the present district of Tondo. In 1572, while its fortifications were still slight, the Spanish city was attacked and was nearly captured by a force of Chinese pirates who greatly outnumbered the Spaniards. About 1590 the construction of the present walls and other defences was begun. At the beginning of the 17th century Manila had become the commercial metropolis of the Far East. To it came fleets. from China, Japan, India, Malacca and other places in the Far East for an exchange of wares, and from it rich cargoes were sent by way of Mexico to the mother country in exchange for much cheaper goods. Before the close of the century, however, a decline began, from which there was but little recovery under Spanish rule. Several causes contributed to this, among them the waning of the power of Spain, an exclusive commercial policy, dishonest administration, hostilities with the Chinese, ravages of the Malay pirates, and the growth of Dutch commerce. On several occasions the city has been visited with destructive earthquakes; those of 1645 and 1863 were especially disastrous. In 1762, during war between England and Spain, an English force under Vice-Admiral Sir Samuel Cornish (d. 1770) and Lieut.-General Sir William Draper (1721-1787) breached the walls and captured the city, but by the Treaty of Paris (1763) it was returned to Spain. In 1837 the port of Manila was opened to foreign trade,, and there was a steady but slow increase in prosperity up to about 1890. During this period, however, progress was hampered by vested interests, and the spirit of rebellion among the natives became increasingly threatening. About 1892 a large number of Filipinos in and near Manila formed a secret association whose object was independence and separation from Spain. In August 1896 members of this association began an attack; and late in December the movement
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