Concept

Geography of the Philippines

Summary
The Philippines is an archipelago that comprises 7,641 islands with a total land area of . It is the world's fifth largest island country. The eleven largest islands contain 95% of the total land area. The largest of these islands is Luzon at about . The next largest island is Mindanao at about . The archipelago is around from the Asian mainland and is located between Taiwan and Borneo. The Philippine archipelago is divided into three Island groups: Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. The Luzon islands include Luzon itself, Palawan, Mindoro, Marinduque, Masbate, Romblon, Catanduanes, Batanes, and Polillo. The Visayas is a group of islands in the central Philippines, the largest of which are: Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, Samar, Siquijor, Biliran, and Guimaras. The Mindanao islands include Mindanao itself, Dinagat, Siargao, Camiguin, Samal, plus the Sulu Archipelago, composed primarily of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. The Philippines lies between 4°23' and 21° North (N) latitude and between 116° and 127° East (E) longitude. The Philippine archipelago lies in Southeast Asia, and numbers some 7,641 islands. The Philippines occupies an area that stretches for from about the fifth to the twentieth parallels north latitude. The total land area is , with cadastral survey data suggesting it may be larger. This makes it the fifth largest island country in the world. Only approximately 1,000 of its islands are populated, and fewer than one-half of these are larger than . Eleven islands make up 95 percent of the Philippine landmass, and two of these — Luzon and Mindanao — measure and , respectively. They, together with the cluster of islands in Visayas in between them, represent the three principal regions of the archipelago that are identified by the three stars on the Philippine flag. The Philippines is broken up in many islands by the sea. This gives it the fifth longest coastline of in the world. The Exclusive economic zone of the Philippines covers , from its shores.
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