tal lowlands

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Philippine Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Apo 2,954 m

Natural resources:
timber, petroleum, nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, salt, copper

Land use:
arable land: 18.95%
permanent crops: 16.77%
other: 64.28% (2001)

Irrigated land:
15,500 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards:
astride typhoon belt, usually affected by 15 and struck by five to
six cyclonic storms per year; landslides; active volcanoes;
destructive earthquakes; tsunamis

Environment - current issues:
uncontrolled deforestation especially in watershed areas; soil
erosion; air and water pollution in major urban centers; coral reef
degradation; increasing pollution of coastal mangrove swamps that
are important fish breeding grounds

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law
of the Sea, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution,
Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Air Pollution-Persistent Organic Pollutants

Geography - note:
the Philippine archipelago is made up of 7,107 islands; favorably
located in relation to many of Southeast Asia's main water bodies:
the South China Sea, Philippine Sea, Sulu Sea, Celebes Sea, and
Luzon Strait

People Philippines

Population:
86,241,697 (July 2004 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 35.8% (male 15,758,255; female 15,152,291)
15-64 years: 60.2% (male 25,847,345; female 26,096,211)
65 years and over: 3.9% (male 1,473,873; female 1,913,722) (2004
est.)

Median age:
total: 22.1 years
male: 21.6 years
female: 22.6 years (2004 est.)

Population growth rate:
1.88% (2004 est.)

Birth rate:
25.8 births/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Death rate:
5.53 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Net migration rate:
-1.5 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.99 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.77 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2004 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 24.24 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 21.22 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.)
male: 27.11 deaths/1,000 live births

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 69.6 years
male: 66.74 years
female: