d polygonal-shaped area in South China Sea up to 285 nm in
breadth

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: 12%
permanent pastures: 4%
forests and woodland: 46%
other: 19% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 15,800 sq km (1993 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 in
watershed areas; soil erosion; air and water pollution in Manila;
increasing pollution of coastal mangrove swamps which are important
fish breeding grounds

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

People

Population: 79,345,812 (July 1999 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 37% (male 15,057,698; female 14,555,430)
15-64 years: 59% (male 23,168,043; female 23,715,877)
65 years and over: 4% (male 1,269,522; female 1,579,242) (1999 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.04% (1999 est.)

Birth rate: 27.88 births/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Death rate: 6.45 deaths/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Net migration rate: -1.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1999 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.98 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.8 male(s)/female
total population: 0.99 male(s)/female (1999 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 33.89 deaths/1,000 live births (1999 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 66.58 years
male: 63.79 years
female: 69.5 years (1999 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.46 children born/woman (1999 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Filipino(s)
adjective: Philippine

Ethnic groups: Christian Malay 91.5%, Muslim Malay 4%, Chinese
1.5%, other 3%

Religions: Roman Catholic