Geography of the Philippines

Geography of the Philippines
ContinentAsia
RegionSoutheast Asia
Coordinates13°00'N 122°00'E
AreaRanked 72nd
 • Total300,000[1][2][3] km2 (120,000 sq mi)
 • Land99.38%
 • Water0.62%
Coastline36,289 km (22,549 mi)
BordersNone
Highest pointMount Apo
2,954 meters (9,692 ft)[4][5]
Lowest pointEmden Deep
10,540 meters (34,580 ft) (sea level)
Longest riverCagayan River
Largest lakeLaguna de Bay
Exclusive economic zone2,263,816 km2 (874,064 sq mi)

The Philippines is an archipelago that comprises 7,641 islands,[8] and with a total land area of 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 sq mi), it is the world's fifth largest island country.[2][3][9] The eleven largest islands contain 95% of the total land area. The largest of these islands is Luzon at about 105,000 square kilometers (40,541 sq mi). The next largest island is Mindanao at about 95,000 square kilometers (36,680 sq mi). The archipelago is around 800 kilometers (500 mi) from the Asian mainland and is located between Taiwan and Borneo.

The Philippine archipelago is divided into three Island groups: Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. The Luzon islands include Luzon itself, Palawan, Mindoro, Marinduque, Masbate, Romblon, Catanduanes, Batanes, and Polillo. The Visayas is a group of islands in the central Philippines, the largest of which are: Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, Samar, Siquijor, Biliran, and Guimaras. The Mindanao islands include Mindanao itself, Dinagat, Siargao, Camiguin, Samal, plus the Sulu Archipelago, composed primarily of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi.

The Philippines lies between 4°23' and 21° North (N) latitude and between 116° and 127° East (E) longitude.

  1. ^ Boquet, Yves (April 19, 2017). The Philippine Archipelago. Springer. p. 15. ISBN 9783319519265.
  2. ^ a b "Philippine Population Density (Based on the 2015 Census of Population)". September 1, 2016.[better source needed]
  3. ^ a b "World Development Indicators - DataBank". databank.worldbank.org.
  4. ^ "Philippines Mountain Ultra-Prominence". peaklist.org. Retrieved June 19, 2009.
  5. ^ (2011-04-06). "The World Factbook – Philippines". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved on March 14, 2011.
  6. ^ "More islands, more fun in PH". CNN Philippines. February 20, 2016. Archived from the original on June 20, 2018. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
  7. ^ "Namria discovers 400 to 500 new islands in PHL archipelago".
  8. ^ The count of islands was pegged at 7,107 in 1945, and was updated to 7,641 in 2017 after the Philippine National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) announced that it had identified 400 to 500 additional land features that might be considered islands.[6][7]
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference world-atlas was invoked but never defined (see the help page).