Country Name:
conventional long form: Republic of the Philippines
conventional short form: Philippines

Government type: republic

Capital: Manila

Location:
Southeast Asia, achipelago between the Philippine Sea, and the South China Sea and east of Vietnam. The Philippine archipelago is comprises of 7,107 islands; located in relation to many of Southeast Asia's main water bodies: the Philippine Sea, South China Sea, Celebes Sea, Sulu Sea and Luzon Strait.

Currency: Philippine Peso (Code: PHP)

International Country Code: 63

National Holidays:
12 June (1898) Independence Day (The declaration of Independence from Spain; 4 July 1946 was date of Independence from United States

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

Geographic coordinates:
13 00 N, 122 00 E

Area
total: 300,000 sq km
land: 298,179 sq km
water: 1,830 sq km

Coastline:
36,289 km

Terrain:
Islands, 65% mountainous with narrow coastal lowlands

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: to depth of exploitation
territorial sea: irregular polygon extending up to 100 nm from coastline and defined by 1898 treaty; since late 1970s has also claimed polygonal-shaped area in South China Sea up tp 285 nm in breadth; exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

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)

Irigated land:
15,500 sq km (2003)

Environment - current issues:
Uncontrolled deforestation especially in watershed areas; soil erosion, air and water pollution in major urban centres; coral reef degradation; increasing pollution of coastal mangroves 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

Population:
91,077,287 (2007 est.)

Age Structure:
0-14 years: 34.5% (male: 16,043,257; female: 15,415,334)
15-64 years: 61.3% (male: 27,849,584; female: 28,008,293)
65 years and over: 4% (male: 1,631,866; female: 2,128,953) (2007 est.)

Median age:
total : 22.7 years
male : 22.2 years
female:23.3 years (2007 est.)

Population growth rate:
1.764% (2007 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.041 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 0.994 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.767 male(s)/female
total population: 0.999male(s)/female

Infant mortality rate:
total: 22.12 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 24.85 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 19.25 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 70.51 years
male: 67.61 years
female: 73.55 years (2007 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Filipino(s)
adjective: Philippine

Ethnic groups:
Tagalog 28.1%; Cebuano 13.1%; Ilocano 9%; Bisaya 7.6%; Ilonggo 7.5%; Bikolano 6%; Waray 3.4%; others 25.3% (2000 est.)

Languages:
official languages: Filipino (based on Tagalog) and English
major dialects: Tagalog, Cebuanon, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Kapampangan and Pangasinan

Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 92.6%
male: 92. 5%
female: 92.7%

Constitution:
2 February 1987, effective 11 February 1987

Suffrage:
18 years of age, universal

Administrative divisions:
The Philippines is divided into three island groups: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. Divided into 17 regions, 81 provinces, 136 cities, 1494 municipalities and 41,995 barangays.

Executive branch:
- Chief of state; President Gloria Macapagal- Arroyo (since 20 January 2001); note -president is both the chief of state and head of government.
- Vice President Manuel de Castro
- Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president with the consent of Commission of Appointments

Legislative branch:
Bicameral Congress consists of the Senate (24 seats: one half elected every three years; members elected at large by popular vote to serve six-year term0 and the House of Representatives (as of May 2007 election it has 237 members representing districts and 19 sectoral party-list members representingspecial minorities.

Judicial branch:
- Supreme Court (15 justices are appointed by the president on the recommendation of the Judicial and Bar Council and serve until 70 years of age).
- Court of Appeals; Sandigan-bayan (special court for hearing corruption cases of government officials)

International Organization Participation:
APEC, APT, ARF, AsDB, ASEAN, BIS, CP, EAS, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINUSTAH, NAM, OAS (observer), ONUB, OPCW, PIF (partner), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

Flag:
Two equal horizontal bands of blue (top; representing peace and justice) and red (representing courage); a white equilateral triangle based on the hoist side represents equality; the center of the triangle displays a yellow sun with eight primary rays, each representing one of the first eight provinces that sought independence from Spain; each corner of the triangle contains a small, yellow, five-pointed star representing the three major geographical divisions of the country: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

GDP (purchasing power parity):
$298.9 billion (2007 est.)

GDP (official exchange rate):
$142.3 billion (2007 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:
6.3% (2007 est.)

GDP - per capita (PPP):
$3,300 (2007 est.)

Labor force:
36.31 million (2007 est.)

Labor force by occupation:
agriculture: 36%
industry: 15%
services: 49% (2004 est)

Unemployment rate:
7.9% (2007 est.)

Population below poverty line:
40% (2001 est.)

Public debt:
62.3% of GDP (2007 est.)

External debt:
$62.84 billion (31 December 2007 est.)

Exchange rates:
Philippine pesos per US dollar - 46.634 (2007), 51.246 (2006), 55.086 (2005), 56.04 (2004), 54.203 (2003)

Exports:
$48.38 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Export partners:
US 18.3%, Japan 16.5%, Netherlands 10.1%, China 9.8%, Hong Kong 7.8%, Singapore 7.3%, Malaysia 5.6%, Taiwan 4.3% (2006)

Imports:
$53.96 billion f.o.b. (2007 est.)

Imports partners:
US 16.3%, Japan 13.6%, Singapore 8.5%, Taiwan 8%, China 7.1%, South Korea 6.2%, Saudi Arabia 5.8%, Malaysia 4.1%, Thailand 4.1%, Hong Kong 4% (2006)

Agricultural products:
sugarcane, coconuts, rice, corn, bananas, cassavas, pineapples, mangoes; pork, eggs, beef; fish

Industrial products:
electronics assembly, garments, footwear, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, wood products, food processing, petroleum refining, fishing

Telephones main line in use:
3.6633 million (2006)

Telephones mobile cellular:
42.869 million (2006)

Telephone system:
Good international radiotelephone and submarine cable services; domestic and inter-island service adequate; a series of submarine cables together provide connectivity to Asia, US, the Middle East, and Europe; multiple international gateways (2006). Domestic satellite system with 11 earth stations; cellular communications now dominate the industry; combined fixed-line and mobile-cellular telephone density exceeds 50 telephones per 100 persons with more than 10 mobile cellular subscribers for every fixed-line subscriber

Television broadcast stations:
233 (plus 1,480 CATV networks)(2006)

Radio broadcast stations:
AM 375, FM 596, shortwave 4 as of 2006

Internet country code: ph

Internet hosts: 271,609 (2007)

Internet users: 4.615 million (2005)

Airports:
255 (2007)

Railways:
total: 897 km
narrow gauge: 897 km 1.067-m gauge (492 km are in operation) (2006)

Roadways:
total: 200,037 km
paved: 19,804 km
unpaved: 180,233 km (2003)

Waterways:
3,219 km (limited to vessels with draft less than 1.5 m) (2007)

Merchant marine:
total: 383 ships (1000 GRT or over) 4,542,681 GRT/6,164,312 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 75, cargo 120, chemical tanker 16, container 5, liquefied gas 5, livestock carrier 16, passenger 7, passenger/cargo 66, petroleum tanker 34, refrigerated cargo 14, roll on/roll off 13, vehicle carrier 12 foreign-owned: 135 (Bermuda 31, China 2, Greece 3, Hong Kong 2, Japan 69, Malaysia 2, Netherlands 22, Norway 2, Singapore 1, UAE 1)
registered in other countries: 34 (2007)

Ports and terminals:
Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Liman, Manila, Nasipit Harbor

Military branches:
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP): Army, Navy (includes Marine Corps), Philippine Air Force (Hukbomg Himpapawid ng Pilipinas)

Military service age and obligation:
18-25 years of age (officers 21-29) for compulsory and voluntary military service; applicants must be single male or female Philippine citizens (2007)

Manpower available for military service:
males age: 18-49: 20,131,179
females age: 18-49: 20,009,526 (2005 est.)

Dispute-international:
Philippines claims sovereignty over certain of the Spratly Islands, known locally as the Kalayaan (Freedom) Islands, also claimed by China, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam; the 2002 "Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the South China Sea," has eased tensions in the Spratly Islands but falls short of a legally binding "code of conduct" desired by several of the disputants; in March 2005, the national oil companies of China, the Philippines, and Vietnam signed a joint accord to conduct marine seismic activities in the Spratly Islands; Philippines retains a dormant claim to Malaysia's Sabah State in northern Borneo based on the Sultanate of Sulu's granting the Philippines Government power of attorney to pursue a sovereignty claim on his behalf; maritime delimitation negotiations continue with Palau.

Illicit drugs:
Domestic methamphetamine production has been a growing problem in recent years despite government crackdowns. Longstanding marijuana producer mainly in rural areas where Manila's control is limited