The Philippines: Land and People

Location

 The Philippine archipelago is located in Southeast Asia, between 4°23' -21° 25' north latitude and
116° 117° east latitude
 With 7,641 islands and islets and a total area of about 300,000 sq. kms. (116,000 sq. mi.)
 Length measures 1,857 kms. Starting from the point near the southern tip of Taiwan and ending
close to Northern Borneo
 Breadth is about 965 kilometers
 Three permanent bodies of water that surround the archipelago are the Pacific Ocean in the
east, the South China sea in the west and north and the Celebes Sea on the South
 Only about 2,000 islands and islets are inhabited, with Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao having the
largest islands in population
 As an archipelago, Filipinos found it difficult to unite as a people.

Topography

 The Philippines consists of alluvial plains, narrow valleys, rolling hills and high mountains.
 High mountains are found in Mindanao and Luzon, with altitudes varying from 1,790 to 3,144
meters. Mount Apo being the highest
 Most of the smaller islands are mountainous in the interior, surrounded by narrow strips of
discontinuous flat lowlands, which consists of coastal rims
 The country's shorelines are irregular
 Mt. Pulag is the second highest peak in Luzon with 8.481 feet high.
 The Sierra Madre range, which is the largest and longest range in the country. faces the Pacific
Ocean in the eastern coast of Luzon.

Climate

 The Philippines has a tropical climate, normally warm with abundant rainfall
 The pronounced seasons are the dry seasons (March- June) and wet season (July-November).
 The cool months are December to February.
 April to May are the hottest months of the year. However, due to global warming, climate
changes from time to time
Territorial Areas

 The Philippines has 17 regions, 81 provinces, 145 cities, 1,489 municipalities and 42,045
barangays as of 2019
 The barangay is the smallest political unit headed by a barangay captain or barangay chairman