The Philippines (Filipino: Pilipinas), officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (Filipino: Republika ng Pilipinas), is a sovereign nation in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. Its territories are composed of the former Spanish East Indies whom it succeeded after the Philippine Wars of Independence from 1896-1902 and of North Borneo after the Konfrontasi from 1962 to 1966 while Philippine occupation of the Kalayaan Islands has been ongoing ever since post-WW2.