Country and People
Geography
The Philippine archipelago consists of 7,107 islands with a total land area of 296,912 square kilometers. Among the islands, more than half are unnamed; only about 1,000 are inhabited;and only 462 are a square mile or larger. The islands are loosely divided into three island groups: Luzon,in the north; Visayas; and Mindanao, in the south. Other major islands include Mindoro, Palawan, and those forming the heart of the Visayan Islands – Masbate, Samar, Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, and Leyte. The islands of the Philippines lie along a zone of violent earthquakes and volcanic activity, and many of the islands are mainly tops of huge undersea mountains formed by volcanic flows thrust up from the floor of the Pacific. Some of the small, low islands, however, are the results of coral growth. The larger islands of the country have rugged, mountainous interiors. Its large interior plains in the central plains of Luzon, Cagayan Valley, Agusan and Cotabato Valley contrast sharply with the high mountain areas of Central and Eastern Cordillera and Zambales.
The country, bounded on the west by the China Sea, on the east by the Pacific Ocean, and on the south by the Celebes Sea, lies a little above the equator and is 965 kilometers off the southeast coast of the Asian mainland. It is about 160 kilometers below Taiwan, and 24 kilometers above Borneo. The Philippine Islands extend 1,152 miles from north to south and 688 miles from east to west.

Climate
Situated between the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator, the Philippines has a tropical to subtropical climate, having two pronounced seasons: the dry months from November to June, and the rainy months from July to October. During the hottest months, temperatures may reach 38°C. During the rainy season ,temperature would fall below 21°C.
Rainfall in the Philippines averages 100 inches a year, with some areas receiving up to 180 inches. The lowlands have less rain than the uplands because the mountains block winds that carry rain-bearing clouds from the ocean.
Just being above the equator, the Philippines lies in the typhoon belt. An average of 20 typhoons hit across the Philippines yearly.

Population and People
Total population, as of July 2003 has been estimated to reach 82.7 million in 2004, source: BOI with 1.12 percent annual population growth rate. Around 30 per cent of the populace live in urban communities. More than half of the population, including approximately 9.9 million in the Metropolitan Manila area, live in Luzon. The population of the country is rather unevenly distributed, with major concentrations on the Central Plain and Ilocos coast of Luzon and on Cebu, Negros, Panay, and Bohol.
Nearly the entire Philippine population is of Malayan descent. Chinese make up the second largest group in the Philippines, and smaller numbers of Americans, Europeans, Indians, and Japanese also live on the islands. All of them have contributed to the Philippine culture, a blend of Asian and Western traditions.
The Tagalog and the Cebuano, each with about one quarter of the population, are the largest groups in the Philippines.
Ninety-three percent of the population are Christians making the Philippines the fifth largest Christian country. Most Filipinos are Catholics. Other Christian domination accounts for only eight percent of the population although they are growing at a faster.