FILIPINOS FILL A GAP
Off the southeastern coast of China lies a string of more than 7,000 islands. In the late 16th century, Spanish explorers claimed the islands and named them the Philippines, after their king, Philip II. In 1587, Spaniards brought the first Filipinos to the future United States mainland when their ship landed in present-day California. Nearly 200 years later, the first permanent Filipino settlements took root in southern Louisiana.
