The
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
is an
archipelago
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...
that comprises 7,641 islands with a total land area of .
It is the world's fifth largest
island country
An island country, island state or an island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historically ...
.
The eleven largest islands contain 95% of the total land area. The largest of these islands is
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
at about . The next largest island is
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
at about . The archipelago is around from the Asian mainland and is located between
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
and
Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
.
The Philippine archipelago is divided into three
Island groups:
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
, the
Visayas
The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; tl, Kabisayaan ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao ...
, and
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
. The Luzon islands include Luzon itself,
Palawan
Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in ...
,
Mindoro
Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ) and has a population of 1,408,454 as of 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of Luz ...
,
Marinduque
Marinduque (; ), officially the Province of Marinduque, is an island province in the Philippines located in Southwestern Tagalog Region or Mimaropa, formerly designated as Region IV-B. Its capital is the municipality of Boac. Marinduque lies be ...
,
Masbate
Masbate, officially the Province of Masbate ( Masbateño: ''Probinsya san Masbate''; tl, Lalawigan ng Masbate), is an island province in the Philippines located near the midsection of the nation's archipelago. Its provincial capital is Masbate C ...
,
Romblon
Romblon ( , ), officially the Province of Romblon, is an archipelagic Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the Mimaropa Regions of the Philippines, region. Its main islands include Tablas Island, Tablas, the large ...
,
Catanduanes
Catanduanes (; ), officially the Province of Catanduanes, is an island province located in the Bicol Region of Luzon in the Philippines. It is the 12th-largest island in the Philippines, and lies to the east of Camarines Sur, across Maqueda Cha ...
,
Batanes
Batanes, officially the Province of Batanes ( ivv, Provinsiya nu Batanes; Ilocano: ''Probinsia ti Batanes''; fil, Lalawigan ng Batanes, ), is an archipelagic province in the Philippines, administratively part of the Cagayan Valley region. It i ...
, and
Polillo. The Visayas is the group of islands in the central Philippines, the largest of which are:
Panay
Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and has a total population of 4,542,926 as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City o ...
,
Negros
Negros is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . Negros is one of the many islands of the Visayas, in the central part of the country. The predominant inhabitants of the island region a ...
,
Cebu
Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...
,
Bohol
Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Bohol; tl, Lalawigan ng Bohol), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region, consisting of the island itself and 75 m ...
,
Leyte
Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census.
Since the accessibility of land has be ...
,
Samar
Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...
,
Siquijor
Siquijor ( , ), officially the Province of Siquijor ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Siquijor; tl, Lalawigan ng Siquijor), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region. Its capital is the municipality also named Siquijor ...
,
Biliran
Biliran, officially the Province of Biliran ( Waray-Waray: ''Probinsya han Biliran''; ceb, Lalawigan sa Biliran; tl, Lalawigan ng Biliran), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region (Region VIII). Biliran is ...
, and
Guimaras
Guimaras , officially the Province of Guimaras ( hil, Kapuoran sang Guimaras; tl, Lalawigan ng Guimaras), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is Jordan while its largest local government ...
. The Mindanao islands include Mindanao itself,
Dinagat,
Siargao
Siargao is a tear-drop shaped island in the Philippine Sea situated 196 kilometers southeast of Tacloban. It has a land area of approximately . The east coast is relatively straight with one deep inlet, Port Pilar. The coastline is marked by a s ...
,
Camiguin
Camiguin, officially the Province of Camiguin ( ceb, Probinsya sa Camiguin; tl, Lalawigan ng Camiguin; Kamigin: ''Probinsya ta Kamigin''), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Bohol Sea, about off the northern coast of Min ...
,
Samal, plus the
Sulu Archipelago, composed primarily of
Basilan
Basilan, officially the Province of Basilan ( cbk, Provincia de Basilan; yka, Wilayah Basilanin; tsg, Wilaya' sin Basilan; fil, Lalawigan ng Basilan), is an island province of the Philippines located primarily in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Re ...
,
Sulu
Sulu (), officially the Province of Sulu (Tausug language, Tausūg: ''Wilāya sin Lupa' Sūg''; tl, Lalawigan ng Sulu), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines in the Sulu Archipelago and part of the Bangsamoro, Bangsamor ...
, and
Tawi-Tawi
Tawi-Tawi, officially the Province of Tawi-Tawi ( tl, Lalawigan ng Tawi-Tawi; Tausug: ''Wilaya' sin Tawi-Tawi''; Sinama: ''Jawi Jawi/Jauih Jauih''), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim M ...
.
The Philippines lies between 4°23' and 21° North (N) latitude and between 116° and 127° East (E) longitude.
Physical geography
![Ph Territorial Map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Ph_Territorial_Map.png)
The Philippine archipelago lies in
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...
, and numbers some 7,641 islands.
The Philippines occupies an area that stretches for from about the fifth to the twentieth parallels north latitude. The total land area is ,
with cadastral survey data suggesting it may be larger. This makes it the fifth largest
island country
An island country, island state or an island nation is a country whose primary territory consists of one or more islands or parts of islands. Approximately 25% of all independent countries are island countries. Island countries are historically ...
in the world.
Only approximately 1,000 of its islands are populated, and fewer than one-half of these are larger than . Eleven islands make up 95 percent of the Philippine landmass, and two of these — Luzon and Mindanao — measure and , respectively. They, together with the cluster of islands in Visayas in between them, represent the three principal regions of the archipelago that are identified by the three stars on the
Philippine flag
The national flag of the Philippines ( tgl, Pambansang watawat ng Pilipinas; ilo, Nailian a bandera ti Filipinas; ceb, Nasudnong bandila ng Pilipinas; es, Bandera Nacional de Filipinas) is a horizontal List of flags by design#Bicolour, bicol ...
. The Philippines is broken up in many islands by the
sea
The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...
. This gives it the fifth
longest coastline of in the world.
[Central Intelligence Agency. (2009)]
"Field Listing :: Coastline"
Washington, D.C.: Author. Retrieved 2009-11-07. The
Exclusive economic zone of the Philippines
The Philippines has an exclusive economic zone that covers of sea. It claims an EEZ of from its shores. This is due to the 7,641 islands comprising the Philippine archipelago. The total land area, including inland bodies of water, of the Phi ...
covers , from its shores. It is located between 116° 40', and 126° 34' E longitude and 4° 40' and 21° 10' N latitude and is bordered by the
Philippine Sea
The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippine archipelago (hence the name), the largest in the world, occupying an estimated surface area of . The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the sea. Its ...
to the east, the
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
to the west, and the
Celebes Sea
The Celebes Sea, (; ms, Laut Sulawesi, id, Laut Sulawesi, fil, Dagat Selebes) or Sulawesi Sea, of the western Pacific Ocean is bordered on the north by the Sulu Archipelago and Sulu Sea and Mindanao Island of the Philippines, on the east by ...
to the south. The island of
Borneo
Borneo (; id, Kalimantan) is the third-largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, in relation to major Indonesian islands, it is located north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and eas ...
is located a few hundred kilometers southwest and Taiwan is located directly to the north. The
Moluccas
The Maluku Islands (; Indonesian: ''Kepulauan Maluku'') or the Moluccas () are an archipelago in the east of Indonesia. Tectonically they are located on the Halmahera Plate within the Molucca Sea Collision Zone. Geographically they are located eas ...
and
Sulawesi
Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu Ar ...
are located to the south-southwest and
Palau
Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...
is located to the east of the islands.
[. (older version – as it existed in 2009 – during the presidency of ]Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal Arroyo (, born April 5, 1947), often referred to by her initials GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician serving as one of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines, House Deputy Spe ...
),
The Official Government Portal of the Republic of the Philippines
''.
Off the coast of eastern Mindanao is the
Philippine Trench
The Philippine Trench (also Philippine Deep, Mindanao Trench, and Mindanao Deep) is a submarine trench to the east of the Philippines. The trench is located in the Philippine sea of the western North Pacific Ocean and continues NNW-SSE. It has a ...
, which descends to a depth of . The Philippines is part of a western Pacific arc system characterized by active volcanoes. Among the most notable peaks are
Mount Mayon
Mayon ( bcl, Bulkan Mayon; tl, Bulkang Mayon, ), also known as Mount Mayon and Mayon Volcano ( es, Monte Mayón, Volcán Mayón), is an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay in Bicol, Philippines. A popular tourist spot, it is renown ...
near
Legazpi City
Legazpi, officially the City of Legazpi ( bcl, Siyudad nin Legazpi; fil, Lungsod ng Legazpi), is a 1st class component city and capital of the province of Albay, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 209,533. Legazpi ...
,
Taal Volcano south of
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
, and
Mount Apo
Mount Apo, also known locally as Apo Sandawa, is a large solfataric, dormant stratovolcano on the island of Mindanao, Philippines. With an elevation of above sea level, it is the highest-mountain in the Philippine Archipelago, Mindanao and 2 ...
in Mindanao. All of the Philippine islands are prone to earthquakes. The northern Luzon highlands, or Cordillera Central, rise to between and , and, together with the
Sierra Madre
Sierra Madre (Spanish, 'mother mountain range') may refer to:
Places and mountains Mexico
*Sierra Madre Occidental, a mountain range in northwestern Mexico and southern Arizona
*Sierra Madre Oriental, a mountain range in northeastern Mexico
*S ...
in the northeastern portion of Luzon and the mountains of Mindanao, boast rain forests that provide refuge for numerous upland tribal groups. The rain forests also offer prime habitat for more than 500 species of birds, including the
Philippine eagle
The Philippine eagle (''Pithecophaga jefferyi''), also known as the monkey-eating eagle or great Philippine eagle, is a critically endangered species of eagle of the family Accipitridae which is endemic to forests in the Philippines. It has br ...
(or monkey-eating eagle), some 1,100 species of
orchids
Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant.
Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...
, and some 8,500 species of flowering plants.
The longest river is the
Cagayan River
The Cagayan River, also known as the Río Grande de Cagayán, is the longest river and the largest river by discharge volume of water in the Philippines. It has a total length of approximately and a drainage basin covering . It is located in t ...
in northern
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
, measuring about .
Manila Bay
Manila Bay ( fil, Look ng Maynila) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Phili ...
,
[Jacinto, G.S., Azanza, R.V., Velasquez, I.B. and Siringan, F.P.(2006)."Manila Bay:Environmental Challenges and Opportunities" in Wolanski, E.(ed.) The Environment in Asia Pacific Harbours. Springer: Dordrecht, Netherlands. p309-328.] upon the shore of which the capital city of Manila lies, is connected to
Laguna de Bay
Laguna de Bay (Spanish language, Spanish for "Lagoon/Lake of Bay, Laguna, Bay"; tl, Lawa ng Bay, ), also known as Laguna Lake, is the List of lakes of the Philippines, largest lake in the Philippines. It is located southeast of Metro Manila, b ...
, the largest lake in the Philippines, by the
Pasig River
The Pasig River ( fil, Ilog Pasig) is a water body in the Philippines that connects Laguna de Bay to Manila Bay. Stretching for , it bisects the Philippine capital of Manila and Metro Manila, its surrounding urban area into northern and souther ...
.
Subic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Subi ...
,
the
Davao Gulf
Davao Gulf is a gulf situated in the southeastern portion of Mindanao in the Philippines. It has an area of or about 520,000 hectares. Davao Gulf cuts into the island of Mindanao from the Philippine Sea. It is surrounded by all five provinces in ...
, and the
Moro Gulf
The Moro Gulf is the largest gulf in the Philippines. It is located off the coast of Mindanao Island, and is part of the Celebes Sea. The gulf is one of the country's tuna fishing grounds.
Geography
The gulf stretches between and is surrounde ...
are other important bays. The
San Juanico Strait
San Juanico Strait ( war, Sulang han San Juanico) is a narrow strait in the Eastern Visayan region in the Philippines. It separates the islands of Samar and Leyte and connects the Carigara Bay ( Samar Sea) with the San Pedro Bay (Leyte Gulf). ...
separates the islands of
Samar
Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...
and
Leyte
Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census.
Since the accessibility of land has be ...
but it is traversed by the
San Juanico Bridge
The San Juanico Bridge ( fil, Tulay ng San Juanico; war, Tulay han San Juanico) is part of the Pan-Philippine Highway and stretches from Samar to Leyte across the San Juanico Strait in the Philippines. Its longest length is a steel girder via ...
. The
Puerto Princesa Subterranean River
The Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park is a protected area in the Philippines.
The park is located in the Saint Paul Mountain Range on the western coast of the island of Palawan, about north of the city of Puerto Princesa, and ...
, which runs underground through a
karst
Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...
landscape before reaching the ocean, is a
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...
.
Other extensive river systems are the
Pulangi River
The Pulangi River ( Cebuano pronunciation IPA uˈlaŋi, also spelled Pulangui, is one of the major tributaries of the Rio Grande de Mindanao, an extensive river system in Mindanao, Philippines. With a length of , it is the longest river in Buk ...
, which flows into the
Mindanao River
The Rio Grande de Mindanao, also known as the Mindanao River, is the second-largest river system in the Philippines. Located on the southern island of Mindanao, with a total drainage area of , draining the majority of the central and eastern po ...
(Rio Grande de Mindanao); the
Agusan, in Mindanao which flows north into the
Mindanao Sea
The Bohol Sea, also called the Mindanao Sea, is a sea located between the Visayas and Mindanao islands in the Philippines. It lies south of Bohol and Leyte and north of Mindanao. Siquijor and Camiguin are its two major islands.
The major citi ...
; and the
Pampanga
Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga ( pam, Lalawigan ning Pampanga; tl, Lalawigan ng Pampanga ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac ...
, which flows south from east Central Luzon into
Manila Bay
Manila Bay ( fil, Look ng Maynila) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Phili ...
. Several rivers have been harnessed for hydroelectric power.
A global remote sensing analysis suggested in 2018 that there were of tidal flats in the Philippines and is therefore ranked as the 15th country in terms of how much tidal flat occurs there.
To protect the country's biological resources, the government has taken a first step of preparing a
Biodiversity Action Plan to address conservation of threatened
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
.
Most of the islands used to be covered by
tropical rainforests
Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equator ...
. However,
illegal logging
Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a pro ...
has reduced forest cover to less than 10% of the total land area.
Geology
The
Philippine Archipelago
The islands of the Philippines, also known as the Philippine Archipelago, comprises about 7,641 islands, of which only about 2,000 are inhabited.[Philippine Mobile Belt
In the geology of the Philippines, the Philippine Mobile Belt is a complex portion of the tectonic boundary between the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate, comprising most of the country of the Philippines. It includes two subduction z ...](_bla ...<br></span></div> is geologically part of the <div class=)
located between the
Philippine Sea Plate
The Philippine Sea Plate or the Philippine Plate is a tectonic plate comprising oceanic lithosphere that lies beneath the Philippine Sea, to the east of the Philippines. Most segments of the Philippines, including northern Luzon, are part of ...
, the South China Sea Basin of the
Eurasian Plate
The Eurasian Plate is a tectonic plate that includes most of the continent of Eurasia (a landmass consisting of the traditional continents of Europe and Asia), with the notable exceptions of the Indian subcontinent, the Arabian subcontinent and ...
, and the
Sunda Plate
The Sunda Plate is a minor tectonic plate straddling the Equator in the Eastern Hemisphere on which the majority of Southeast Asia is located.
The Sunda Plate was formerly considered a part of the Eurasian Plate, but the GPS measurements have ...
. The
Philippine Trench
The Philippine Trench (also Philippine Deep, Mindanao Trench, and Mindanao Deep) is a submarine trench to the east of the Philippines. The trench is located in the Philippine sea of the western North Pacific Ocean and continues NNW-SSE. It has a ...
(also called the Mindanao Trench) is a
submarine trench
Oceanic trenches are prominent long, narrow topographic depressions of the ocean floor. They are typically wide and below the level of the surrounding oceanic floor, but can be thousands of kilometers in length. There are about of oceanic tren ...
in length found directly east of the Philippine Mobile Belt and is the result of a collision of tectonic plates. The Philippine Sea Plate is
subducting
Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...
under the Philippine Mobile Belt at the rate of about per year. The
Philippine Fault System
The Philippine Fault System is a major inter-related system of geological faults throughout the whole of the Philippine Archipelago, primarily caused by tectonic forces compressing the Philippines into what geophysicists call the Philippine Mobil ...
consists of a series of seismic
faults that produce several
earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
s per year, most of which are not felt. The Galathea Depth in the
Philippine Trench
The Philippine Trench (also Philippine Deep, Mindanao Trench, and Mindanao Deep) is a submarine trench to the east of the Philippines. The trench is located in the Philippine sea of the western North Pacific Ocean and continues NNW-SSE. It has a ...
is the deepest point in the country and the
third deepest in the world. The trench is located in the Philippine Sea.
The islands are composed of volcanic, coral, principal rock formations. Eight major types of forests are distributed throughout the Philippines;
dipterocarp
Dipterocarpaceae is a family of 16 genera and about 695 known species of mainly tropical lowland rainforest trees. The family name, from the type genus ''Dipterocarpus'', is derived from Greek (''di'' = two, ''pteron'' = wing and ''karpos'' = fru ...
, beach forest,
pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accep ...
forest,
molave forest,
lower montane forest, upper montane or
mossy forest
A cloud forest, also called a water forest, primas forest, or tropical montane cloud forest (TMCF), is a generally tropical or subtropical, evergreen, montane, moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud c ...
,
mangrove
A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...
s, and ultrabasic forest. The highest mountain is
Mount Apo
Mount Apo, also known locally as Apo Sandawa, is a large solfataric, dormant stratovolcano on the island of Mindanao, Philippines. With an elevation of above sea level, it is the highest-mountain in the Philippine Archipelago, Mindanao and 2 ...
. It measures up to above sea level and is located on the island of
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
. The second highest point can be found on
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
at
Mount Pulag, a peak above sea level.
Situated on the western fringes of the Pacific
Ring of Fire
The Ring of Fire (also known as the Pacific Ring of Fire, the Rim of Fire, the Girdle of Fire or the Circum-Pacific belt) is a region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur. The Ring o ...
, the Philippines experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity. The
Benham Plateau to the east in the Philippine Sea is an undersea region active in
tectonic
Tectonics (; ) are the processes that control the structure and properties of the Earth's crust and its evolution through time. These include the processes of mountain building, the growth and behavior of the strong, old cores of continents k ...
subduction
Subduction is a geological process in which the oceanic lithosphere is recycled into the Earth's mantle at convergent boundaries. Where the oceanic lithosphere of a tectonic plate converges with the less dense lithosphere of a second plate, the ...
.
Around 20
earthquake
An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
s are registered daily, though most are too weak to be felt. The last major earthquake was the
1990 Luzon earthquake
The 1990 Luzon earthquake struck the island of Luzon in the Philippines at 4:26 p.m. on July 16 ( PDT) or 3:26 p.m. ( PST) with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.7 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (''Violent'') and produced a 1 ...
. There are
many active volcanoes such as the
Mayon Volcano
Mayon ( bcl, Bulkan Mayon; tl, Bulkang Mayon, ), also known as Mount Mayon and Mayon Volcano ( es, Monte Mayón, Volcán Mayón), is an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay in Bicol, Philippines. A popular tourist spot, it is renown ...
,
Mount Pinatubo
Mount Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano in the Zambales Mountains, located on the tripoint boundary of the Philippine provinces of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga, all in Central Luzon on the northern island of Luzon. Its eruptive history w ...
, and
Taal Volcano.
The eruption of Mount Pinatubo in June 1991 produced the second largest terrestrial eruption of the 20th century.
The Philippines is the world's second-biggest
geothermal energy
Geothermal energy is the thermal energy in the Earth's crust which originates from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay of materials in currently uncertain but possibly roughly equal proportions. The high temperature and pres ...
producer behind the United States, with 18% of
the country's electricity needs being met by geothermal power.
Mount Pinatubo
Mount Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano in the Zambales Mountains, located on the tripoint boundary of the Philippine provinces of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga, all in Central Luzon on the northern island of Luzon. Its eruptive history w ...
is notorious for its destructive eruption on June 15, 1991.
Taal Volcano, one of the
Decade Volcanoes
The Decade Volcanoes are 16 volcanoes identified by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI) as being worthy of particular study in light of their history of large, destructive volcanic eruption, ...
, had a eruption on January 12, 2020.
Mount Mayon
Mayon ( bcl, Bulkan Mayon; tl, Bulkang Mayon, ), also known as Mount Mayon and Mayon Volcano ( es, Monte Mayón, Volcán Mayón), is an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay in Bicol, Philippines. A popular tourist spot, it is renown ...
is renowned for having an almost perfect cone, but has a violent history of 47 eruptions since 1616 and its eruption on June 23, 1897, rained fire for seven days.
Significant mineral deposits exist as a result of the country's complex geologic structure and high level of seismic activity. These deposites are considered highly valuable.
The country is thought to have the second-largest gold deposits after South Africa, along with a large amount of copper deposits.
Palladium
Palladium is a chemical element with the symbol Pd and atomic number 46. It is a rare and lustrous silvery-white metal discovered in 1803 by the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston. He named it after the asteroid Pallas, which was itself na ...
, originally discovered in South America, was found to have the world's largest deposits in the Philippines too.
Romblon
Romblon ( , ), officially the Province of Romblon, is an archipelagic Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the Mimaropa Regions of the Philippines, region. Its main islands include Tablas Island, Tablas, the large ...
island is a source of high-quality marble. Other minerals include chromite, nickel, and zinc. Despite this, a lack of law enforcement, poor management, opposition due to the presence of indigenous communities, and past instances of environmental damages and disasters, have resulted in these mineral resources remaining largely untapped.
Topography
Luzon
The Batanes and Babuyan islands
The
Batanes
Batanes, officially the Province of Batanes ( ivv, Provinsiya nu Batanes; Ilocano: ''Probinsia ti Batanes''; fil, Lalawigan ng Batanes, ), is an archipelagic province in the Philippines, administratively part of the Cagayan Valley region. It i ...
and
Babuyan Islands
The Babuyan Islands ( ), also known as the Babuyan Group of Islands, is an archipelago in the Philippines, located in the Luzon Strait north of the main island of Luzon and south of Taiwan via Bashi Channel to Luzon Strait. The archipelago consi ...
are situated on the northernmost extremity of the Philippines at
Luzon Strait
The Luzon Strait (Tagalog: ''Kipot ng Luzon'', ) is the strait between Taiwan and Luzon island of the Philippines. The strait thereby connects the Philippine Sea to the South China Sea in the western Pacific Ocean.
This body of water is an im ...
facing Taiwan. It contains the northernmost point of land, the islet of Y'Ami in the Batanes Islands, separated from Taiwan by the
Bashi Channel
The Bashi Channel is a waterway between Y'Ami Island of the Philippines and Orchid Island of Taiwan. It is a part of the Luzon Strait in the Pacific Ocean. It is characterized by windy storms during the rainy period, June to December.
The Bash ...
(c. wide).
Western Luzon
This region stretches from
Mairaira Point in
Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte
Pagudpud, officially the Municipality of Pagudpud ( ilo, Ili ti Pagudpud; fil, Bayan ng Pagudpud), is a 4th class municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines. According to the 20 ...
in the north to
Cochinos Point in
Mariveles, Bataan
Mariveles, officially the Municipality of Mariveles ( tl, Bayan ng Mariveles), is a first class municipality in the province of Bataan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 149,879 people.
History
Founded as a ''p ...
in the south. The terrain ranges from coastal plains to rugged mountains bordered by the
South China Sea
The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Phil ...
in the west and the
Cordillera Central and
Zambales mountain range
The Zambales Mountains is a mountain range on western Luzon island in the Philippines. The mountains separate Luzon's central plain from the South China Sea. Its most prominent section is known as the Cabusilan Mountain Range composed of Mount ...
s in the east. Western Luzon is known for its beaches, surf spots and historic towns.
Cagayan Valley
Nestled between the Cordilleras in the east and the
Sierra Madre
Sierra Madre (Spanish, 'mother mountain range') may refer to:
Places and mountains Mexico
*Sierra Madre Occidental, a mountain range in northwestern Mexico and southern Arizona
*Sierra Madre Oriental, a mountain range in northeastern Mexico
*S ...
mountain ranges in the west is the Cagayan Valley, also the name of
the administrative region which it covers. Through its center runs the country's longest river, the
Cagayan
Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan ( ilo, Probinsia ti Cagayan; ibg, Provinsiya na Cagayan; itv, Provinsiya ya Cagayan; fil, Lalawigan ng Cagayan), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the C ...
, flowing in a northward direction before emptying its waters in the
Luzon Strait
The Luzon Strait (Tagalog: ''Kipot ng Luzon'', ) is the strait between Taiwan and Luzon island of the Philippines. The strait thereby connects the Philippine Sea to the South China Sea in the western Pacific Ocean.
This body of water is an im ...
at the town of
Aparri
Aparri ( ilo, Ili ti Aparri; tl, Bayan ng Aparri), officially the Municipality of Aparri, is a 1st class municipality in the province of , Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 68,839 people.
It sits at the mouth of ...
.
Cordilleras and Caraballos
The Cordilleras and
Caraballos, together with the Sierra Madre Range, form the main mountain system in Northern Luzon.
The Cordilleras consists of two, sometimes three, mountain ranges that are found in northwestern central Luzon. The first, called ''Caraballo del Sur'', forms the nucleus of the system and has its highest peaks in the border between the provinces of
Abra,
Ilocos Norte
Ilocos Norte, officially the Province of Ilocos Norte ( ilo, Probinsia ti Ilocos Norte; tl, Lalawigan ng Ilocos Norte), is a province of the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region. Its capital is Laoag City, located in the northwest corner of ...
and
Cagayan
Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan ( ilo, Probinsia ti Cagayan; ibg, Provinsiya na Cagayan; itv, Provinsiya ya Cagayan; fil, Lalawigan ng Cagayan), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the C ...
. ''Caraballo Occidentalles'', is further divided into two ranges, the Cordillera Norte and Cordillera Central. They line the central portions of the
Cordillera Administrative Region
The Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR; ilo, Rehion/Deppaar Administratibo ti Kordiliera; fil, Rehiyong Pampangasiwaan ng Cordillera), also known as the Cordillera Region and Cordillera (), is an administrative region in the Philippines, ...
.
The Caraballos (''Caraballo de Baler'') start where the Sierra Madre and the Cordilleras meet. They are found south of Cagayan Valley, northeast of the Central Luzon Plains.
Sierra Madre Mountains
Lying in the eastern portion of Luzon is the longest mountain range in the Philippines, the
Sierra Madre
Sierra Madre (Spanish, 'mother mountain range') may refer to:
Places and mountains Mexico
*Sierra Madre Occidental, a mountain range in northwestern Mexico and southern Arizona
*Sierra Madre Oriental, a mountain range in northeastern Mexico
*S ...
, stretching from
Quezon
Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon ( tl, Lalawigan ng Quezon), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon Regions of the Philippines, region on Luzon. Kalilayan was the first known name of th ...
province in the south to
Cagayan
Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan ( ilo, Probinsia ti Cagayan; ibg, Provinsiya na Cagayan; itv, Provinsiya ya Cagayan; fil, Lalawigan ng Cagayan), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the C ...
in the north. 80 percent of the mountain range is
tropical rainforest
Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equatori ...
, which is diminishing from rampant illegal logging activity. The range serves as the eastern wall of Luzon Island that protects inhabitants from
tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
s usually coming from the Pacific Ocean.
Central Luzon Plains
The largest plain of the nation is situated in the
Central Luzon
Central Luzon ( pam, (Reyun ning) Kalibudtarang Luzon, pag, (Rehiyon na) Pegley na Luzon, tgl, (Rehiyon ng) Gitnang Luzon, ilo, (Rehion/Deppaar ti) Tengnga ti Luzon), designated as Region III, is an administrative region in the Philippines, ...
region and produces most of the national rice supply, earning itself the nickname "''Rice Bowl of the Philippines''". The plains encompass the provinces of
Bulacan
Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan ( tl, Lalawigan ng Bulacan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on August 15, 1578, and part of the Metr ...
,
Nueva Ecija
Nueva Ecija, officially the Province of Nueva Ecija ( tgl, Lalawigan ng Nueva Ecija , also ; ilo, Probinsia ti Nueva Ecija; pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Nueva Ecija; Kapampangan: ''Lalawigan/Probinsia ning Nueva Ecija''), is a landlocked province i ...
,
Pampanga
Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga ( pam, Lalawigan ning Pampanga; tl, Lalawigan ng Pampanga ), is a province in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac ...
,
Tarlac
Tarlac, officially the Province of Tarlac ( pam, Lalawigan ning Tarlac; pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Tarlac; ilo, Probinsia ti Tarlac; tgl, Lalawigan ng Tarlac; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. It ...
and
Pangasinan
Pangasinan, officially the Province of Pangasinan ( pag, Luyag/Probinsia na Pangasinan, ; ilo, Probinsia ti Pangasinan; tl, Lalawigan ng Pangasinan), is a coastal province in the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region of Luzon. Its capit ...
.
Manila-Katagalugan plains
South of the Central Luzon plains lies the largest inland freshwater lake in Southeast Asia, the
Laguna de Bay
Laguna de Bay (Spanish language, Spanish for "Lagoon/Lake of Bay, Laguna, Bay"; tl, Lawa ng Bay, ), also known as Laguna Lake, is the List of lakes of the Philippines, largest lake in the Philippines. It is located southeast of Metro Manila, b ...
. To the east of the lake is a plain that stretches westward to the
Manila Bay
Manila Bay ( fil, Look ng Maynila) is a natural harbor that serves the Port of Manila (on Luzon), in the Philippines. Strategically located around the capital city of the Philippines, Manila Bay facilitated commerce and trade between the Phili ...
. Large rivers from bays and mountain springs traverse the plain. In the northern part of the region, that is,
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
and
Rizal
Rizal, officially the Province of Rizal ( fil, Lalawigan ng Rizal), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Its capital is the city of Antipolo. It is about east of Manila. The p ...
, most of the plain had been converted into cities and towns, and are thus industrialized. Lying east of the lake is the southern terminus of the Sierra Madre mountain range at northern
Quezon
Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon ( tl, Lalawigan ng Quezon), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon Regions of the Philippines, region on Luzon. Kalilayan was the first known name of th ...
province.
To the southwest of the Laguna de Bay is the nation's third largest lake, the
Taal, bordered to the north by the
Tagaytay Ridge
Mount Sungay, also known as Mount Gonzales, is a mountain in the province of Cavite in the Philippines. Located in eastern Tagaytay, the inactive stratovolcano is the highest point in the province of Cavite, at .[ridge
A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...]
stretching from southern
Cavite
Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite ( tl, Lalawigan ng Kabite; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Located on the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest ...
to northern
Batangas
Batangas, officially the Province of Batangas ( tl, Lalawigan ng Batangas ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Its capital is the city of Batangas, and is bordered by the provinces of Cavite and La ...
provinces.
Bondoc Peninsula
The Bondoc Peninsula is located in the southeastern part of Quezon Province.
Bicol Peninsula
Southeast of Laguna de Bay lies the
Bicol Peninsula
Bicol, known formally as the Bicol Region or colloquially as Bicolandia ( bcl, Rehiyon kan Bikol; Rinconada Bikol: ''Rehiyon ka Bikol''; Waray Sorsogon, Masbateño: ''Rehiyon san Bikol''; tl, Rehiyon ng Bikol), is an administrative region of ...
, connected to
mainland
Mainland is defined as "relating to or forming the main part of a country or continent, not including the islands around it egardless of status under territorial jurisdiction by an entity" The term is often politically, economically and/or dem ...
Luzon by the
isthmus of Tayabas. The predominantly flat landscape features several solitary peaks, usually
active volcanoes
An active volcano is a volcano which is either erupting or is likely to erupt in the future. An active volcano which is not currently erupting is known as a dormant volcano.
Overview
Tlocene Epoch. Most volcanoes are situated on the Pacific Ri ...
, which include
Iriga
Iriga, officially the City of Iriga (Rinconada Bikol: ''Syudad ka Iriga''; bcl, Siyudad nin Iriga; fil, Lungsod ng Iriga), is component city in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 11 ...
,
Mayon
Mayon ( bcl, Bulkan Mayon; tl, Bulkang Mayon, ), also known as Mount Mayon and Mayon Volcano ( es, Monte Mayón, Volcán Mayón), is an active stratovolcano in the province of Albay in Bicol, Philippines. A popular tourist spot, it is renown ...
and
Bulusan.
The peninsula has an irregular
coastline
The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...
that features large bays and gulfs, which include the
Lamon Bay
Lamon Bay is a large bay in the southern part of Luzon island in the Philippines. It is a body of water connecting the southern part of Quezon province to the Philippine Sea, a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It borders on the coastal towns o ...
,
San Miguel Bay
In the Murillo Velarde Map of 1734 this 'ensenada' 'inlet' was called 'Ensenada de Naga' 'Naga Bay'. In a latter Velarde/Bagay Map 1744-49, it was simply attached to name of the town at mouth of the bay, Siruma. San Miguel Bay is a large bay in t ...
,
Lagonoy Gulf
Lagonoy Gulf is a large gulf in the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon island in the Philippines. It is separated from the Philippine Sea by the Caramoan Peninsula in the north; and is separated from Albay Gulf in the south by a chain of islands including B ...
, and
Albay Gulf
Albay Gulf is a large gulf in the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon island in the Philippines.
Whale shark sightings
The place has been one of the tourist spots in the province because of the frequent sightings of whale sharks (known as ''butanding'' in t ...
to the north, and the
Tayabas Bay
Tayabas Bay is a large bay in the southern part of Luzon island in the Philippines. Several islands are located in the bay, largest of which is Marinduque. It has a total surface area of .
The bay is bordered on the north and east side by Quezon ...
,
Ragay Gulf
Ragay Gulf is a large gulf in the Bicol Peninsula of Luzon island in the Philippines, part of the Sibuyan Sea. It is separated from Tayabas Bay by the Bondoc Peninsula in the west. The gulf covers the provinces of Quezon and Camarines Sur
Camar ...
and
Sorsogon Bay
Sorsogon Bay is a bay in the Bicol Peninsula , located on Luzon island in the Philippines. It is completely surrounded by the province of Sorsogon. The municipalities of Pilar, Juban, Casiguran, Sorsogon City
Sorsogon City, officially the ...
to the south.
Mindoro Island
Mindoro coastal plains
Mindoro's coastal plains are characterized by rice and corn fields, rivers, beaches, and extensive open space areas. Most of the population is concentrated on the northern and eastern coast of this island where the city of
Calapan
Calapan, officially the City of Calapan ( fil, Lungsod ng Calapan), is a 3rd class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. Accor ...
and
Puerto Galera
Puerto Galera, officially the Municipality of Puerto Galera ( tgl, Bayan ng Puerto Galera), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 41,961 people.
It is ...
are located.
Mindoro highlands
The Mindoro mountain range begins with
Mount Halcon
Mount Halcon ( fil, Bundok Halcon) and ( es, Monte Halcón) is the highest mountain in the island of Mindoro in the Philippines, according to the new data release by ''Oriental Mindoro peakvisor'' as of 2022, it has an elevation of above sea lev ...
and is further divided into three. The northwest ends at
Calavite Point and is a landmark for ships. The east originates from
Lake Naujan and the west follows the
Mindoro Strait
The Mindoro Strait ( tgl, Kipot ng Mindoro) is one of the straits connecting the South China Sea with the Sulu Sea in the Philippines. It separates Mindoro Island from Busuanga Island (one of the Calamian Islands of Palawan Province). Located ...
.
Palawan
Kalayaan islands (Spratly Islands)
The
Kalayaan Islands
Kalayaan, officially the Municipality of Kalayaan ( tgl, Bayan ng Kalayaan), is a 6th class municipality in the South China Sea under the jurisdiction of the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 1 ...
are located to the west of
Palawan
Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in ...
. ''Kalayaan'' is a Filipino word meaning "freedom".
Visayas
Panay-Negros-Cebu Area
Panay is the third largest island in the Philippines, behind Mindanao and Luzon. Negros is home to the Canlaon Volcano, one of the active volcanoes in the Philippines. Cebu is a long and narrow island and is the 126th largest island in the world. Other islands nearby are: Guimaras, Boracay, Camotes Islands, Bantayan Island, Mactan and Olangapo Islands and Bohol.
Mindanao
Eastern Pacific Cordillera
The eastern coast of Mindanao features a long mountain range, the
Eastern Pacific Cordillera, which stretches from
Bilar Point at Surigao in the north to
Cape San Agustin
A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck.
History
Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...
at Davao in the south. Forming its northern portion are the
Diwata Mountains (also spelled ''Diuata''), separated from the south by low
passes situated at the middle. To the east of the range are narrow strips of lowland that feature several inlets and bays, the most prominent of which include the
Lianga
Lianga, officially the Municipality of Lianga ( Surigaonon: ''Lungsod nan Lianga''; tl, Bayan ng Lianga), is a 4th class municipality in the province of Surigao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 33,869 p ...
and
Bislig
Bislig, officially the City of Bislig ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Bislig; fil, Lungsod ng Bislig), is a 3rd class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city in the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Surigao del Sur, Philippines ...
bays.
Davao-Agusan Trough
To the west of the Pacific Cordillera lies an extensive lowland, the
Davao-Agusan Trough. Its northern portion includes the
Agusan Valley which forms the lower
river basin
A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the ...
of the
Agusan River
The Agusan River is third longest river in the Philippines, located in the north-eastern part of Mindanao island, draining majority of the Caraga region and some parts of Davao de Oro. It is the country's third largest river (after the Cagayan ...
. The river flows in a northward direction and empties into the
Butuan Bay. Draining the southern portion of the lowland are several other rivers, which include the
Tagum
Tagum, officially the City of Tagum ( ceb, Dakbayan sa Tagum; fil, Lungsod ng Tagum), is a 1st class component city and capital of the Davao del Norte, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 296,202 people making it th ...
, flowing southward to the
Davao Gulf
Davao Gulf is a gulf situated in the southeastern portion of Mindanao in the Philippines. It has an area of or about 520,000 hectares. Davao Gulf cuts into the island of Mindanao from the Philippine Sea. It is surrounded by all five provinces in ...
.
Central Mindanao highlands
Situated west of the Davao-Agusan Trough is a complex series of mountain ranges called the
Central Mindanao Highlands (also known as the ''Central Cordillera''). From these mountains form the
headwaters
The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source.
Definition
The ...
of several rivers which include the
Rio Grande de Mindanao
The Rio Grande de Mindanao, also known as the Mindanao River, is the second-largest river system in the Philippines. Located on the southern island of Mindanao, with a total drainage area of , draining the majority of the central and eastern po ...
,
Pulangi,
Maridagao and
Tagoloan rivers. Several tall mountains, such as
Mount Apo
Mount Apo, also known locally as Apo Sandawa, is a large solfataric, dormant stratovolcano on the island of Mindanao, Philippines. With an elevation of above sea level, it is the highest-mountain in the Philippine Archipelago, Mindanao and 2 ...
, the country's highest are found within the range.
Bukidnon-Lanao plateaus
The north-central portion of Mindanao is dominated by an extensive highland region, the
Bukidnon-Lanao Plateau
The Philippines is an archipelago that comprises 7,641 islands with a total land area of . It is the world's fifth largest island country. The eleven largest islands contain 95% of the total land area. The largest of these islands is Luzon at a ...
, which includes the
Kitanglad and
Kalatungan
Mount Kalatungan, also known as Catatungan, is a volcanic mountain located in the province of Bukidnon in the southern Philippines. It is a stratovolcano with no known historical eruptions and classified by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology ...
mountain ranges. Within the plateau lies the country's second largest lake,
Lake Lanao situated at an elevation of 2,296 feet, drained by the
Agus River
The Agus River is a river that flows for from Lanao Lake to Iligan Bay, Philippines. It cuts through the provinces of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte. Settlements along the banks of the river include the City of Marawi, the Municipality of ...
flowing northward to its
river mouth
A river mouth is where a river flows into a larger body of water, such as another river, a lake/reservoir, a bay/gulf, a sea, or an ocean. At the river mouth, sediments are often deposited due to the slowing of the current reducing the carrying ...
at
Iligan Bay
Iligan Bay is a bay in Mindanao Island in the Philippines. The bay is part of the Bohol Sea, and curves into the northern coast of Mindanao Island.
A branch of the bay, Panguil Bay, forms a natural isthmus with Illana Bay and geographic bound ...
.
Cotabato Basin
South of the Bukidnon-Lanao Plateau lies a large
depression, the Cotabato Basin, which forms the lower river basin of the country's second largest river system, the
Rio Grande de Cagayan
The Cagayan River, also known as the Río Grande de Cagayán, is the longest river and the largest river by discharge volume of water in the Philippines. It has a total length of approximately and a drainage basin covering . It is located in t ...
(also known as the ''Mindanao River''). Surrounded by three mountain ranges, the basin's only opening to the sea is to the northwest at
Illana Bay
Illana Bay, also known as the Iranun Bay, is a large bay of the Moro Gulf, off the southwestern coast of Mindanao island in the Philippines.
Illana Bay and Moro Gulf form part of the Celebes Sea.
See also
*Sibuguey Bay
Sibuguey Bay is a larg ...
, where the Mindanao River empties into the ocean.
To the southeast of the main basin are two large valleys, the
Koronadal
Koronadal, officially the City of Koronadal ( hil, Dakbanwa sang Koronadal; ceb, Dakbayan sa Koronadal; Maguindanaon: ''Kuta nu Koronadal'', Jawi: كوتا نو كورونادال; fil, Lungsod ng Koronadal), also known as Marbel, is a 3rd cl ...
and
Allah
Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", an ...
valleys.
Tiruray highlands
Situated south and west of the Cotabato Basin are a moderately high mountain range, the
Tiruray Highlands, which block off the Basin from the southern coastline.
South of the highlands are narrow strips of coastlines.
Zamboanga peninsula
At the northwestern tip of Mindanao is the generally mountainous
Zamboanga Peninsula
Zamboanga Peninsula ( tl, Tangway ng Zamboanga; cbk, Peninsula de Zamboanga; ceb, Lawis sa Zamboanga) is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region IX. It consists of three provinces (Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibu ...
. The chain of mountain ranges in this region is called ''
Zamboanga Cordilleras'', with the highest elevation at
Mount Dapi, which is high.
The southern coastline is irregular, featuring two smaller peninsulas, the
Sibuguey
Sibuguey is a dialect of Pangutaran Sama, a language spoken in the Philippines. It has 500 speakers.
It is spoken in Kulasihan River on the eastern side of Sibuguey Bay between Olutanga
Olutanga is a Philippine island in the Moro Gulf, part ...
and
Baganian, extending southward to the
Moro Gulf
The Moro Gulf is the largest gulf in the Philippines. It is located off the coast of Mindanao Island, and is part of the Celebes Sea. The gulf is one of the country's tuna fishing grounds.
Geography
The gulf stretches between and is surrounde ...
.
Outlying islands of Mindanao
Dinagat and Siargao Islands
To the north of the
Diwata Mountains at northeast Mindanao lie
Siargao
Siargao is a tear-drop shaped island in the Philippine Sea situated 196 kilometers southeast of Tacloban. It has a land area of approximately . The east coast is relatively straight with one deep inlet, Port Pilar. The coastline is marked by a s ...
island and the
Dinagat group of islands.
Sulu Archipelago
Southwest of the Zamboanga Peninsula is the
Sulu Archipelago, a chain of islands which comprise the smaller archipelago provinces of
Basilan
Basilan, officially the Province of Basilan ( cbk, Provincia de Basilan; yka, Wilayah Basilanin; tsg, Wilaya' sin Basilan; fil, Lalawigan ng Basilan), is an island province of the Philippines located primarily in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Re ...
,
Sulu
Sulu (), officially the Province of Sulu (Tausug language, Tausūg: ''Wilāya sin Lupa' Sūg''; tl, Lalawigan ng Sulu), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines in the Sulu Archipelago and part of the Bangsamoro, Bangsamor ...
, and
Tawi-Tawi
Tawi-Tawi, officially the Province of Tawi-Tawi ( tl, Lalawigan ng Tawi-Tawi; Tausug: ''Wilaya' sin Tawi-Tawi''; Sinama: ''Jawi Jawi/Jauih Jauih''), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim M ...
.
Administrative geography
The Philippines is divided into a hierarchy of local government units (LGUs) with the 81
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
and 38
independent cities as the primary unit. Provinces are further subdivided into
component cities and
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
, both of which consist of
barangay
A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...
s, the smallest local government unit.
Regions
There are 17
regions
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
comprising the Philippines. Each region, with the exception of the
National Capital Region
A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...
, is further subdivided into component
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
. The
National Capital Region
A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...
is divided into four
special districts.
Most government offices establish regional offices in a city to serve the constituent provinces. Such cities are designated as "regional centers". The regions themselves do not possess a separate local government, with the exception of the
Bangsamoro Autonomous Region.
Provinces
Forming the regions, with the exception of the
National Capital
A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the g ...
, are the 81
provinces
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...
. Each province has a
capital city or municipality.
Landlocked and island provinces
Of the 82 provinces of the Philippines, 16 are ''
landlocked
A landlocked country is a country that does not have territory connected to an ocean or whose coastlines lie on endorheic basins. There are currently 44 landlocked countries and 4 landlocked de facto states. Kazakhstan is the world's largest ...
'', and 16 are ''island provinces''.
Climate
![Koppen-Geiger Map PHL present](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Koppen-Geiger_Map_PHL_present.svg)
The Philippines has a tropical maritime climate that is usually hot and humid. There are three seasons: ''tag-init'' or ''tag-araw'', the hot dry season or summer from March to May; ''tag-ulan'', the rainy season from June to November; and ''tag-lamig'', the cool dry season from December to February. The southwest
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...
(from May to October) is known as the Habagat, and the dry winds of the northeast monsoon (from November to April), the Amihan. Temperatures usually range from to although it can get cooler or hotter depending on the season. The coolest month is January; the warmest is May.
Some locations have no dry season (meaning, all months have an average rainfall of above ) and certain higher-altitude areas can have a
subtropical climate
The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical and climate zones to the north and south of the tropics. Geographically part of the temperate zones of both hemispheres, they cover the middle latitudes from to approximately 35° north and ...
. Manila and most of the lowland areas are hot and dusty from March to May. Even at this time, however, temperatures rarely rise above . Mean annual sea-level temperatures rarely fall below . Annual rainfall measures as much as in the mountainous east coast section of the country, but less than in some of the sheltered valleys.
The average yearly temperature is around . In considering temperature, location in terms of latitude and longitude is not a significant factor. Whether in the extreme north, south, east, or west of the country, temperatures at sea level tend to be in the same range. Altitude usually has more of an impact. The average annual temperature of
Baguio
Baguio ( ,
), officially the City of Baguio ( ilo, Siudad ti Baguio; fil, Lungsod ng Baguio), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...
at an elevation of above sea level is , making it a popular destination during hot summers.
Annual rainfall measures as much as in the mountainous east coast section but less than in some of the sheltered valleys.
Monsoon rains, although hard and drenching, are not normally associated with high winds and waves. But the Philippines sit astride the typhoon belt, and it suffers an annual onslaught of dangerous storms from July through October. These are especially hazardous for northern and eastern Luzon and the
Bicol and
Eastern Visayas
Eastern Visayas ( war, Sinirangan Kabisay-an; ceb, Sidlakang Kabisay-an; tl, Silangang Kabisayaan or ''Silangang Visayas'') is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region VIII. It consists of three main islands, Samar, ...
regions, but Manila gets devastated periodically as well.
In the last decade, the Philippines has been hit severely by natural disasters. In 2005 alone, Central Luzon was hit by both a drought, which sharply curtailed hydroelectric power, and by a typhoon that flooded practically all of low-lying Manila's streets. Still more damaging was the 1990 earthquake that devastated a wide area in Luzon, including Baguio and other northern areas. The city of Cebu and nearby areas were struck by a typhoon that killed more than a hundred people, sank vessels, destroyed part of the sugar crop, and cut off water and electricity for several days. The Philippines is prone to about six to nine storms which make landfall each year, on average. The 1991
Mount Pinatubo
Mount Pinatubo is an active stratovolcano in the Zambales Mountains, located on the tripoint boundary of the Philippine provinces of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga, all in Central Luzon on the northern island of Luzon. Its eruptive history w ...
eruption also damaged much of Central Luzon, the
lahar
A lahar (, from jv, ꦮ꧀ꦭꦲꦂ) is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley.
Lahars are extreme ...
burying towns and farmland, and the ashes affecting global temperatures.
Sitting astride the
typhoon belt, the islands experience 15-20 typhoons annually from July to October,
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
– Federal Research Division
The Federal Research Division (FRD) is the research and analysis unit of the United States Library of Congress.
The Federal Research Division provides directed research and analysis on domestic and international subjects to agencies of the Unite ...
. (March 2006)
''Country Profile: Philippines''
Retrieved July 30, 2020. with around nineteen typhoons entering the Philippine area of responsibility in a typical year and eight or nine making landfall.
[''Monthly Typhoon Tracking Charts'']
(2010). Retrieved April 24, 2010, from the National Institute of Informatics
The is a Japanese research institute located in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. NII was established in April 2000 for the purpose of advancing the study of informatics. This institute also works on creating systems to facilitate the spread of scienti ...
, Kitamoto Laboratory, Digital Typhoon Website. Historically typhoons were sometimes referred to as ''baguios''. The wettest recorded typhoon to hit the Philippines dropped in Baguio from July 14 to 18, 1911. The Philippines is highly
exposed to climate change and is among the world's ten countries that are most
vulnerable to climate change risks.
Building construction is undertaken with natural disasters in mind. Most rural housing has consisted of nipa huts that are easily damaged but are inexpensive and easy to replace. Most urban buildings are steel and concrete structures designed (not always successfully) to resist both typhoons and earthquakes. Damage is still significant, however, and many people are displaced each year by typhoons, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. In 1987 alone the Department of Social Welfare and Development helped 2.4 million victims of natural disasters.
Statistics
CIA Statistics
Unless otherwise indicated, the information below is taken from CIA Factbook information for the Philippines.
Area
* Total:
** Land:
** Water:
Coastline
*
Maritime claims
(measured from claimed
archipelagic baselines)
* Continental shelf: to depth of exploitation
*
Exclusive economic zone: with
* Territorial sea: irregular polygon extending up to from the coastline as defined by 1898 treaty; since the late 1970s has also claimed the polygonal-shaped area in the South China Sea up to in breadth.
Natural resources
*
Timber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
,
petroleum
Petroleum, also known as crude oil, or simply oil, is a naturally occurring yellowish-black liquid mixture of mainly hydrocarbons, and is found in geological formations. The name ''petroleum'' covers both naturally occurring unprocessed crud ...
,
nickel
Nickel is a chemical element with symbol Ni and atomic number 28. It is a silvery-white lustrous metal with a slight golden tinge. Nickel is a hard and ductile transition metal. Pure nickel is chemically reactive but large pieces are slow to ...
,
cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with the symbol Co and atomic number 27. As with nickel, cobalt is found in the Earth's crust only in a chemically combined form, save for small deposits found in alloys of natural meteoric iron. The free element, pr ...
,
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
,
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
,
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
, and
copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
.
Land use
* Arable land: 20%
* Permanent crops: 16.67%
* Other: 64.33% (2005)
Irrigated land
* (2003)
Natural hazards
The Philippines sit astride
typhoon
A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...
belt and are usually affected by 15 and struck by five to six cyclonic storms per year; landslides; active volcanoes; destructive earthquakes;
tsunami
A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...
s.
Environment - current issues
*Uncontrolled deforestation in watershed areas; soil erosion; air and water pollution in Manila; increasing pollution of coastal mangrove swamps which are important fish breeding grounds; severe water pollution that caused the death of one of the country's major rivers, though there are ongoing efforts at resuscitation.
Typhoon Haiyan
Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, was one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. On making landfall, Haiyan devastated portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines. It is one of the ...
in November 2013 caused major problems.
Environment - international agreements
*Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
*Signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification
Subnational enclaves and exclaves
In
political geography
Political geography is concerned with the study of both the spatially uneven outcomes of political processes and the ways in which political processes are themselves affected by spatial structures. Conventionally, for the purposes of analysis, po ...
, an
enclave
An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
is a territory or part of a territory lying wholly within the boundaries of another, and an
exclave
An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
is one which is politically attached to a larger piece but not actually contiguous with it. Many entities are both enclaves and exclaves, but the two are not synonymous.
Exclaves and enclaves
*
Caloocan
Caloocan, officially the City of Caloocan ( fil, Lungsod ng Caloocan; ), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in Metropolitan Manila, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 1,661,584 people making it the fourth-most ...
is divided in two by
Valenzuela City
Valenzuela (, Tagalog: ), officially the City of Valenzuela ( fil, Lungsod ng Valenzuela), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 714,978 peopl ...
and
Quezon City
Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...
.
* In
Cotabato
Cotabato or North Cotabato ( hil, Aminhan Cotabato; ceb, Amihanang Cotabato; Maguindanaon: ''Pangutaran Kutawatu'', Jawi: ڤڠوترن كوتاواتو; fil, Hilagang Cotabato), officially the Province of Cotabato, is a landlocked province in ...
province, the municipality of
President Roxas is divided in two by
Antipas municipality.
*
Manila South Cemetery
The Manila South Cemetery is a cemetery in Metro Manila. It is an exclave of San Andres, Manila surrounded by land under the jurisdiction of the city of Makati.
History
The land which the cemetery occupies was previously part of the Haciend ...
is an exclave of the district of
San Andres, located in the capital city of
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
. It is divided and surrounded by
Makati
Makati ( ), officially the City of Makati ( fil, Lungsod ng Makati), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines.
Makati is the financial center of the Philippines; it has the highest concentration ...
.
Pene-enclaves/exclaves and inaccessible districts
* In
Soccsksargen
Soccsksargen (officially stylized in all caps; ), formerly known as Central Mindanao, is an administrative region of the Philippines, designated as Region XII. Located in south-central Mindanao, its name is an acronym that stands for the regio ...
:
**
Sarangani
Sarangani, officially the Province of Sarangani ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sarangani; hil, Kapuoran sang Sarangani; Maguindanaon: ''Dairat nu Sarangani'', Jawi: دايرت نو سارڠني; fil, Lalawigan ng Sarangani), is a province in the Philipp ...
province is separated into two sections by
General Santos City
General Santos, officially the City of General Santos,; hil, Dakbanwa sang Heneral Santos; Maguindanao: ''Ingud nu Heneral Santos''; Blaan: ''Banwe Dadiangas''; Tboli: ''Benwu Dadiangas''; Filipino: ''Lungsod ng Heneral Santos'' and abbrev ...
and
Sarangani Bay
Sarangani Bay is a bay located on the southern tip of Mindanao in the Philippines. It opens up to the Celebes Sea on the Pacific Ocean. General Santos City
General Santos, officially the City of General Santos,; hil, Dakbanwa sang Heneral S ...
.
* In the
Zamboanga Peninsula
Zamboanga Peninsula ( tl, Tangway ng Zamboanga; cbk, Peninsula de Zamboanga; ceb, Lawis sa Zamboanga) is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region IX. It consists of three provinces (Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibu ...
:
**
Isabela City
Isabela, officially the City of Isabela (Chavacano: ''Ciudad de Isabela''; Tausūg: ''Dāira sin Isabela''; Yakan: ''Suidad Isabelahin''; fil, Lungsod ng Isabela), is a 4th class component city and ''de facto'' capital of the province of Bas ...
, the provincial capital of Basilan province (part of the
Bangsamoro Autonomous Region) is part of Zamboanga Peninsula despite it being separated from it by the
Basilan Strait
The Basilan Strait is a strait of water separating the islands of Mindanao and Basilan in the Philippines.
It was above sea level
Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's co ...
.
**
Zamboanga City
Zamboanga City, officially the City of Zamboanga (Chavacano and es, Ciudad de Zamboanga, Tausug language, Tausūg: ''Dāira sin Sambuangan'', fil, Lungsod ng Zamboanga, ceb, Dakbayan sa Zamboanga), is a city in the Zamboanga Peninsula region ...
, a highly urbanized independent city, is statistically part of
Zamboanga del Sur
Zamboanga del Sur ( Cebuano: ''Habagatang Zamboanga;'' Subanen: ''S'helatan Sembwangan/Sembwangan dapit Shelatan''; Chavacano: ''Zamboanga del Sur''; tl, Timog Zamboanga; mdh, Pagabatan Sambuanga), officially the Province of Zamboanga del Sur, ...
province, but is separated from it by
Zamboanga Sibugay
Zamboanga Sibugay, officially the Province of Zamboanga Sibugay ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Zamboanga Sibugay; tl, Lalawigan ng Zamboanga Sibugay; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Zamboanga Sibugay''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Zamboanga ...
province.
Subnational quadripoint
A
quadripoint
A quadripoint is a point on Earth where four distinct territories meet. The territories can be of different types, such as national and provincial. In North America, several such places are commonly known as Four Corners. Several examples exist ...
is a point on the Earth that touches four distinct regions. Such points are often called "four corners", from the corners of the four regions meeting there.
* Four provinces in Mindanao meet at a point at the summit of
Mount Apo
Mount Apo, also known locally as Apo Sandawa, is a large solfataric, dormant stratovolcano on the island of Mindanao, Philippines. With an elevation of above sea level, it is the highest-mountain in the Philippine Archipelago, Mindanao and 2 ...
:
Bukidnon
Bukidnon(), officially the Province of Bukidnon ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Bukidnon; fil, Lalawigan ng Bukidnon; hil, Kapuroan sang Bukidnon; Binukid and Higaonon: ''Probinsya ta Bukidnon''), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the ...
of Northern Mindanao Region,
Davao del Norte
Davao del Norte ( ceb, Amihanang Dabaw; tl, Hilagang Davao), officially the Province of Davao del Norte, is a province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital and largest city is Tagum. The province also includes ...
and
Davao del Sur
Davao del Sur ( ceb, Habagatang Dabaw; ), officially the Province of Davao del Sur, is a province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital is Digos City. Davao City is the largest city in terms of area and populat ...
of Davao Region, and
Cotabato Province
Cotabato or North Cotabato ( hil, Aminhan Cotabato; ceb, Amihanang Cotabato; Maguindanaon: ''Pangutaran Kutawatu'', Jawi: ڤڠوترن كوتاواتو; fil, Hilagang Cotabato), officially the Province of Cotabato, is a landlocked province in ...
of
Soccsksargen
Soccsksargen (officially stylized in all caps; ), formerly known as Central Mindanao, is an administrative region of the Philippines, designated as Region XII. Located in south-central Mindanao, its name is an acronym that stands for the regio ...
More than four
Four distinct geographic divisions converging at a single point is not uncommon in the Philippines, and there are other points of convergence between five or more divisions that can be found.
Geographic center
The island province of
Marinduque
Marinduque (; ), officially the Province of Marinduque, is an island province in the Philippines located in Southwestern Tagalog Region or Mimaropa, formerly designated as Region IV-B. Its capital is the municipality of Boac. Marinduque lies be ...
prides itself as being the geographic center of the Philippines. The Marinduque governor has stated that their claim to be the Geographical Center of the Philippines has received notice and support from the
National Mapping and Resource Information Authority
The Philippines' National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (Filipino: ''Pambansang Pangasiwaan sa Pagmamapa at Dulugang Kaalaman''), abbreviated as NAMRIA, is an agency of the Philippine government under the Department of Environment ...
(NAMRIA). The Luzon Datum of 1911 in Marinduque is used as point number one for all map makers in the country.
The boundaries of the
Philippine archipelago
The islands of the Philippines, also known as the Philippine Archipelago, comprises about 7,641 islands, of which only about 2,000 are inhabited.[Treaty of Paris (1898)
The Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain, commonly known as the Treaty of Paris of 1898 ( fil, Kasunduan sa Paris ng 1898; es, Tratado de París de 1898), was a treaty signed by Spain and the United Stat ...](_bla ...<br></span></div> are described in Article III of the <div class=)
, as comprising an
irregular polygon
In geometry, a polygon () is a plane (mathematics), plane Shape, figure that is described by a finite number of straight line segments connected to form a closed ''polygonal chain'' (or ''polygonal circuit''). The bounded plane region (mathemati ...
. A box enclosing that polygon would have corners at 20°N 116°E, 20°N 127°E, 4.75°N 127°E, 4.75°N 116°E. The center of this box would lie at 121.5 E, 12.375 N. That point lies roughly in the center of the
Tablas Strait
Tablas Strait ( fil, Kipot ng Tablas), also Tabuas Strait, is a strait in the Philippines separating Mindoro Island from Panay and Romblon islands. The approximate depth of the strait is .
The strait is known for being the place where the S ...
between the islands of
Tablas and
Mindoro
Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km2 ( 4,082 sq.mi ) and has a population of 1,408,454 as of 2020 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of Luz ...
.
''Republic Act No. 9522'', "An Act to Define the Baselines of the Territorial Sea of the Philippines",
Republic Act No. 9522
''An Act to Define the Baselines of the Territorial Sea of the Philippines'', as amended by Section 1 of Republic Act No. 5446
The LawPhil project
describes an irregular polygon which fits within a box with its center at 121°44'47.45"E 12°46'6.1252"N, a point also roughly in the center of the Tablas Strait.
The ''CIA Factbook'' locates the Philippines at 13°N 122°E.[Philippines : Geography]
CIA World Factbook.
The extreme points under Philippine control are:
The center of a box enclosing these points would be located at 12°46’6.13"N, 120°26’36.46"E. That point is located in the Mindoro Strait
The Mindoro Strait ( tgl, Kipot ng Mindoro) is one of the straits connecting the South China Sea with the Sulu Sea in the Philippines. It separates Mindoro Island from Busuanga Island (one of the Calamian Islands of Palawan Province). Located ...
, about NNE
The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east ...
of Apo Island, in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro
Sablayan (), officially the Municipality of Sablayan ( tgl, Bayan ng Sablayan), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Occidental Mindoro, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 92,598 people.
It has a total l ...
.
See also
* Island groups of the Philippines
The Philippines is divided into three (3) major island groups of Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. Luzon and Mindanao are both named after the largest island in their respective groups, while the Visayas (also referred to as the Visayan Islands) ...
** List of islands of the Philippines
The islands of the Philippines, also known as the Philippine Archipelago, comprises about 7,641 islands, of which only about 2,000 are inhabited.[List of headlands of the Philippines
A headland is a point of land extending into the sea. The Philippines, being an archipelagic country of 7,107 islands, is surrounded by several bodies of water and has many headlands. Headlands around the Philippine coast are most commonly name ...](_bla ...<br></span></div>
* <div class=)
* List of mountains in the Philippines
** List of Ultras of the Philippines
This is a list of all the Ultra prominent peaks (with topographic prominence greater than 1,500 meters) in the Philippines.
See also
* List of mountains in the Philippines
Sources
ListMap
{{Geography of the Philippines, state=expanded
*Ultra ...
* List of volcanoes in the Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
** List of active volcanoes in the Philippines
This is a list of active volcanoes in the Philippines, as categorized by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS). Volcanoes in the country have erupted within the last 600 years, with accounts of these eruptions document ...
** List of potentially active volcanoes in the Philippines
This is a list of potentially active volcanoes in the Philippines, as classified by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
List
See also
* List of active volcanoes in the Philippines
* List of inactive volcanoes in th ...
** List of inactive volcanoes in the Philippines
This is a list of inactive volcanoes in the Philippines. Volcanoes with no record of eruptions are considered as extinct or inactive. Their physical form since their last activity has been altered by agents of weathering and erosion with the for ...
* List of bays of the Philippines
The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands with a land area of 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 square miles). Owing to its numerous islands, the country has an irregular coastline that stretches 334,539 kilometers (207,873 miles). It i ...
* List of lakes of the Philippines
* List of rivers of the Philippines
This is a list of rivers of the Philippines.
The country's longest river is the Cagayan River, with a length of , followed by the Mindanao River and Agusan River, with respective lengths of and . With an area of , the Cagayan River has the lar ...
* Extreme points of the Philippines
This is a list of points in the Philippines that are farther north, south, east, or west than any other location in the country. Also included are extreme points in elevation, extreme distances, and other points of geographic interest.
Republic ...
* Territories claimed by the Philippines
The Philippines has claimed many territories throughout its history. These territories include the Spratly Islands, portions of North Borneo, and the Scarborough Shoal.
Main territories claimed South China Sea islands
The Philippine governmen ...
* Borders of the Philippines
As an archipelago, the Philippines shares no land borders with any country, although the country claims a land border with Malaysia as a consequence of its territorial claims over the eastern portion of the Malaysian state of Sabah.
The maritime ...
* Subduction tectonics of the Philippines
References
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External links
Government Portal of the Republic of the Philippines
Further reading
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