reaty; since late 1970s has also
claimed polygonal-shaped area in South China Sea up to 285 nm in
breadth
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: to depth of exploitation

Climate:
tropical marine; northeast monsoon (November to April); southwest
monsoon (May to October)

Terrain:
mostly mountains with narrow to extensive coastal 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: 19%
permanent crops: 16.67%
other: 64.33% (2005)

Irrigated land:
15,500 sq km (2003)

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:
89,468,677 (July 2006 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 35% (male 15,961,365/female 15,340,065)
15-64 years: 61% (male 27,173,919/female 27,362,736)
65 years and over: 4.1% (male 1,576,089/female 2,054,503) (2006 est.)

Median age:
total: 22.5 years
male: 22 years
female: 23 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate:
1.8% (2006 est.)

Birth rate:
24.89 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate:
5.41 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate:
-1.48 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 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