Ever wondered why we call the Philippines "THE Philippines". I mean, what's with the "the"? We don't call other countries like "The Malaysia", "The Indonesia", "The Japan".
The only other country I know who does that is "The United states of America".
Mindanao: Probably because your ego is just as big.
EDIT:
OH MY GOD
*cries of laughter*
Mindanao: Even bigger. Like, it's so big that the English language had to make an exception.