Metropolitan Manila is the metropolitan area of the city of Manila, the national capital of the Philippines. Its residential population as of August 2007 is 11,553,427. Including suburbs in the adjacent provinces (Laguna, Cavite, Rizal, Bulacan) Greater Metro Manila, has a population of approximately 22 million people (August 2007 census). Metro Manila is one of the two defined metropolitan areas in the Philippines, the other being Metro Cebu. In 2005, it ranked as the 42nd richest urban agglomeration in the world with a GDP of $108 billion according to PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Metro Manila is expected to climb to the 30th spot by 2020 with a GDP of $257 billion and an annual growth rate of 5.9%. As proclaimed by Presidential Decree No. 940, Metro Manila as a whole is the Philippines' seat of government although only the City of Manila is the capital. The City of Manila (Filipino: Lungsod ng Maynila), or simply Manila, is the capital of the Philippines and one of the 17 cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila. Located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay just west of the National Capital Region in western side of Luzon, it is one of the central hubs of a thriving metropolitan area home to over 14 million people. Manila, occupying a total land area of 38.3 square kilometers, is the second most populous city in the Philippines, with more than 1.6 million inhabitants. Only nearby Quezon City, the country's former capital, is more populous. The metropolitan area is the second most populous in Southeast Asia.

Emeralds

Emeralds, like all colored gemstones, are graded using four basic parameters – the four Cs of Gemstones: Color, Cut, Clarity and Crystal. The last C, crystal is a synonym that begins with C for transparency or what gemologists call diaphaneity. Before the 20th century, jewelers used the term water as in a gem of the finest water to express the combination of two qualities, color and crystal. Normally, in the grading of colored gemstones, color is by far the most important criterion. However, in the grading of emerald, crystal considered a close second. Both are necessary conditions. A fine emerald must possess not only a pure verdant green hue as described below, but also a high degree of transparency considered a top gem. In the 1960s, the American jewelry industry changed the definition of emerald to include the green vanadium-bearing beryl as emerald. As a result, vanadium emeralds purchased as emeralds in the United States recognized as such in the UK and Europe. In America, the distinction between traditional emeralds and the new vanadium kind reflected in the use of terms such as Colombian Emerald. Scientifically speaking, color divided into three components: hue, saturation and tone. Yellow and blue, the hues found adjacent to green on the spectral color wheel, are the normal secondary hues found in emerald. Emeralds occur in hues ranging from yellow-green to blue-green. The primary hue must be green. Only gems that are medium to dark in tone considered emerald. Light-toned gems known by the species name, green beryl. In addition, the hue must be bright (vivid). Gray is the normal saturation modifier or mask found in emerald. A grayish green hue is a dull green. Emerald tends to have numerous inclusions and surface breaking fissures. Emerald graded by eye. Thus, if an emerald has no visible inclusions to the eye it considered flawless. Stones that lack surface breaking fissures are extremely rare and therefore almost all emeralds are treated, oiled, to enhance the apparent clarity. Eye-clean stones of a vivid primary green hue with no more than 15% of any secondary hue or combination of a medium-dark tone command the highest prices.6 This relative crystal non-uniformity makes emeralds more likely than other gemstones to be cut into cabochons, rather than faceted shapes.