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Location
Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Philippine Sea and the
South China Sea, east of Vietnam. |
Population
68 million (growth rate 2.5 percent). |
Climate
Conditions vary. Basically, there is a three-season year: hot, wet
and cool. During the winter, November through February, it is usually
cold in the north and mild in the south. It begins to get hot around
mid-March and usually lasts till the monsoons begin in early July. |
Religion
The Philippines is the only Christian country in Asia. Over 90 percent
of the population claim to follow Christian faiths. The largest of
these groups is Roman Catholic with 83 percent. Protestants make up
only 9 percent. The largest of the minority religious groups are the
Muslims (5 percent), who live chiefly on Mindanao and in the Sulu
archipelago. There is also a Philippine Independence Church, some
Buddhists and a small number of animists (3 percent). |
Language
Pilipino (Tagalog) and English plus numerous widely spoken indigenous
languages and some Spanish. |
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| The
Philippines consists of 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean,
only 2,000 of which are inhabited. Luzon and Mindanao are by far the
largest, and comprise roughly 66% of the country's area. Only about
1,000 islands are larger than one sq km and 2,500 aren't even named.
The Philippines' nearest neighbors are Taiwan (north), Eastern Malaysia
and Brunei (southwest), and Indonesia (south). |
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The archipelago has a volcanic topography and experiences frequent
seismic activity. There are 37 volcanoes in the archipelago and the
highest peak is Mt Apo (2,954m) in Mindanao. About half the country
is under cultivation and about a third remains forested, despite tree-felling
and slash-and-burn agriculture. There are more than 1,000 species
of birds and animals, notably wild dwarf buffalo, mouse deer, crocodiles
and pythons. There are over 10,000 species of trees, shrubs and ferns,
the most common of which are palms and bamboos. |
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