The Phillippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands in the south
China sea situated between Taiwan to the north and Borneo to the south. Just 2,000 of its island are inhabited and only 500 are larger than a kilometer square. The nine largest island of Luzon, Mindanao, Palawan, Panay, Mindoro, Samar, Negros, Leyte, and Cebu make up 90% of the nation's land area.

The original people of the Phillippines were the ancestors of the people known known today as Negritos or Aeta. They are an Austrolo-Melanesian people with dark skin and tight, curly brown hair. They are also distinctively small and of short stature. As the Pygmies in the equitorial forest of Africa, the Aeta are believed to have adapted locally to the tropical jungles of the Phillippines.

The Aeta are a nomadic hunting and gathering people with forage in small family bands with an informal organization and leadership. They were once widespread throughout the Phillippines but are now found only in remote highlands areas of Luzon, Palawan, Negros and Mindanao.