Talim comes from the Philippines, an archipelago of over 7,000 islands in southeast Asia. The explorer Ferdinand Magellan claimed these lands for Spain in 1521, in the days of widespread Spanish colonization. The Philippines would be the death of Magellan-- of his five ships and 264 crew members, only one ship and eighteen men would return to Spain in 1522. In 1565, the Philippines became an official Spanish colony, and Manila was selected for its capital. Spain did not fully maximize the nation's potential for trade and resources, but it eventually became a hub for commerce, relying heavily on the galleon trade and Chinese junks bearing silks and porcelain from the East. As a result of over 500 years of Spanish influence, the Philippines became, and remains, the only Roman Catholic nation in Asia. Its foremost hero is the revolutionary Jose Rizal. The Philippines declined the opportunity to become a continuing American commonwealth and gained its independence in 1946.