Philippines Location:
Physical. The Philippines is an archipelago located in Southeastern Asia between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea. It is slightly larger than Arizona. The country has a tropical marine climate with a northeast monsoon (November to April) and a southeast monsoon (May to October). Mountains make up a large part of Philippine terrain with some narrow to extensive coastal lowlands. Natural resources include timber, petroleum, nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, salt, and copper.
Philippines Geography:
Geography
Area: 300,000 sq km
Capital: Manila (1,581,000)
Environmental concerns: deforestation; soil erosion; air and water pollution; coral reef degradation; pollution of coastal mangrove swamps (important fish breeding grounds)
Geographical features: mostly mountains with narrow to extensive coastal lowlands
Climate: tropical marine with northeast monsoon (November to April) and southwest monsoon (May to October)
Philippines People:
People. Almost 89.5 million people live in the Philippines. Both Filipino and English are their official languages with eight major dialects in use. The ethnic groups are: Roman Catholic (81%), Evangelical (3%), Iglesia ni Kristo (2%), Aglipayan (2%), other Christian (5%), Muslim (5%) and other (2%) (2000 census).
89,469,000 (July 2006 est.) Tagalog (28%), Cebuano (13%), Ilocano (9%), Bisaya/Binisaya (8%), Hiligaynon Ilonggo (8%), Bikol (6%), Waray (3%) other (25%) (2000 census)
Annual growth rate: 1.8% (2006 est.)
There are two official languages: Filipino (based on Tagalog) and English along with eight major dialects - Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinan
Religions: Roman Catholic (81%), Evangelical (3%), Iglesia ni Kristo (2%), Aglipayan (2%), other Christian (5%), Muslim (5%), other (2%) (2000 census)
Philippines Government:
Government. The country is officially known as the Republic of the Philippines. Its capital, Manila, is located on the northernmost island, Luzon. The country won its independence from Spain on June 12, 1898, and from the U.S. on July 4, 1946. Its constitution was put into effect on February 11, 1987. The president and vice president are elected by popular vote to 6-year terms.
The Philippines is a republic. The chief of state and head of the government President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (since 20 January 2001).
Universal suffrage 18 years of age
Philippines Communication:
Communication and transportation
3,437,500 (2004) main telephone lines in use
7.82 million (2005) Internet users
200,037 km of roadways
897 km railroads
256 (2005) airports
2,050,000 motor vehicles (2004)
Philippines Economy:
Economy. Although the Philippines was one of the countries most affected by the 1997 Asian financial crisis, it has since recovered fairly well. The government has promised to continue reforms in hope that the country can match the pace of development in newly industrialized countries in East Asia. Current annual growth is 5.1%, while industrial production has picked up by six per cent after several years of decline. Foreign aid, including a $100 million subvention from the USA in 2002, has helped the country's finances, a blessing at a time when the budget deficit has been growing quickly. Its gross domestic product (GDP) is comprised of: agriculture (15%), industry (32%) and services (54%).
Currency: Philippine peso
Per capita GDP: $5,100 (2005 est.)
GDP: $451.3 billion (2005 est.)
GDP growth rate: 5.1% (2005 est.)
Inflation rate: 7.9% (2005 est.)
Labor force: agriculture (36%), industry (16%) and services (48%) (2004)
Philippines More Information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/philippines
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/phtoc.html | 
