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Location:
Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Philippine Sea and the South
China Sea, east of Vietnam
Geographic coordinates:
13 00 N, 122 00 E
Map references: Southeast Asia
Area:
Total Area: 300,000 sq km
Land Area: 298,170 sq km
Comparative Area: slightly larger than Arizona
Land boundaries: 0 km
Coastline: 36,289 km
Maritime Claims: measured from claimed archipelagic baselines
Dontinental Shelf: to depth of exploitation
Exclusive Economic Zone: 200 nm
Territorial Sea: irregular polygon extending up to 100 nm from coastline
as defined by 1898 treaty; since late 1970s has also claimed polygonal-shaped
area in South China Sea up to 285 nm in breadth
International Disputes: involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly
Islands with China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei;
claims Malaysian state of Sabah
Climate: tropical marine; northeast monsoon (November to April); southwest
monsoon (May to October)
Terrain: mostly mountains with narrow to extensive coastal lowlands
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: 26%
Permanent Crops: 11%
Meadows and Pastures: 4%
Forest and Woodland: 40%
Other: 19%
Irrigated Land: 16,200 sq km (1989 est.)
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
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
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, Wetlands; signed, but
not ratified - Desertification, Tropical Timber 94
Travel Quotes:
Traveling, you realize that differences are lost: each city takes to resembling all cities, places exchange their form, order, distances, a shapeless dust cloud invades the continents. Italo Calvino
To travel is to discover that everyone is wrong about other countries. Aldous Huxley
Philippine Cuisine Island Philippines
Puchero (beef in bananas and tomato sauce), afritada (chicken and/or pork simmered in a peanut sauce with vegetables), kare-kare (oxtail and vegetables cooked in peanut sauce), pinakbet (kabocha squash, eggplant, beans, okra, and tomato stew flavored with shrimp paste) crispy pata (deep-fried pigs leg), hamonado (pork sweetened in pineapple sauce), sinigang (meat or seafood in sour broth), pancit (noodles), and lumpia (fresh or fried spring rolls).
More details at
Philippine Cuisine Island Philippines Travel and sleep in the 5 biggest hotels in the world
Does size really matter? For food, it really does. The bulky it looks, the fuller you may become. Well, not at all times, right? There are these small yet heavy-for-the-stomach foods. For things, size is not really a big deal. Nowadays, the smaller your gadgets are, the hippest they may be. For people, the smaller you are, the more adorable you can be. For hotels? IT DOES. Travel and sleep in the 5 biggest hotels in the world
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