You may not have heard of the Ifugao people of the Banaue area of the Phillipinnes, but you have quite likely seen their handiwork. For over a period spanning thousands of years, the Ifugao have labored to transform the precipitous mountain sides of their homeland into an amazing series of stepped rice terraces. In fact the rice terraces here are so plentiful that if they were placed end to end it has been estimated that they would stretch half way around the earth. Thousands of tourists come to visit rice terraces every year, yet few bother to learn about the Ifugao people who are responsible for their construction. These people occupy an area of about 900 square miles in the province of Ifugao. The Ifugao are part of a larger group that includes the Bontok and Kalinga peoples.