Geography   Total area 300,000 km2 land area: 298,170 km2 Comparative area: slightly larger than Arizona Land boundaries: none Coastline: 36,289 km Maritime claims: @m5Continental shelf: @m5Extended economic zone: @m5Territorial sea: (measured from claimed archipelagic baselines) to depth of exploitation 200 nm 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 Disputes: involved in a complex dispute over the Spratly Islands with China, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Vietnam; 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 Natural resources: timber, crude oil, nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, salt, copper Land use:  26% arable land; 11% permanent crops; 4% meadows and pastures; 40% forest and woodland; 19% other; includes 5% irrigated Environment: astride typhoon belt, usually affected by 15 and struck by five to six cyclonic storms per year; subject to landslides, active volcanoes, destructive earthquakes, tsunami; deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution People Population: 64,906,990 (July 1989), growth rate 2.7% (1989) Birth rate: 34 births/1,000 population (1989) Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1989) Net migration rate: - 1 migrant/1,000 population (1989) Infant mortality rate: 48 deaths/1,000 live births (1989) Life expectancy at birth:  63 years male, 69 years female (1989) Total fertility rate:  4.6 children born/woman (1989) Nationality:  noun--Filipino (s); adjective--Philippine Ethnic divisions:  91.5% Christian Malay, 4% Muslim Malay, 1.5% Chinese, 3% other Religion:  83% Roman Catholic, 9% Protestant, 5% Muslim, 3% Buddhist and other Language: Pilipino (based on Tagalog) and English; both official Literacy: 88% (est.) Labor force: 22,889,000; 47% agriculture, 20% industry and commerce, 13.5% services, 10% government, 9.5% other (1987) Organized labor: 2,064 registered unions; total membership 4.8 million (includes 2.7 million members of the National Congress of Farmers Organizations) Government Long-form name:  Republic of the Philippines Type:  republic Capital:  Manila Administrative divisions: 73 provinces and 61 chartered cities*; Abra, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Aklan, Albay, Angeles*, Antique, Aurora, Bacolod*, Bago*, Baguio*, Bais*, Basilan, Basilan City*, Bataan, Batanes, Batangas, Batangas City*, Benguet, Bohol, Bukidnon, Bulacan, Butuan*, Cabanatuan*, Cadiz*, Cagayan, Cagayan de Oro*, Calbayog*, Caloocan*, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Camiguin, Canlaon*, Capiz, Catanduanes, Cavite, Cavite City*, Cebu, Cebu City*, Cotabato*, Dagupan*, Danao*, Dapitan*, Davao City* Davao, Davao del Sur, Davao Oriental, Dipolog*, Dumaguete*, Eastern Samar, General Santos*, Gingoog*, Ifugao, Iligan*, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Iloilo, Iloilo City*, Iriga*, Isabela, Kalinga-Apayao, La Carlota*, Laguna, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Laoag*, Lapu-Lapu*, La Union, Legaspi*, Leyte, Lipa*, Lucena*, Maguindanao, Mandaue*, Manila*, Marawi*, Marinduque, Masbate, Mindoro Occidental, Mindoro Oriental, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Mountain, Naga*, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, North Cotabato, Northern Samar, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Olongapo*, Ormoc*, Oroquieta*, Ozamiz*, Pagadian*, Palawan, Palayan*, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Pasay*, Puerto Princesa*, Quezon, Quezon City*, Quirino, Rizal, Romblon, Roxas*, Samar, San Carlos* (in Negros Occidental), San Carlos* (in Pangasinan), San Jose*, San Pablo*, Silay*, Siquijor, Sorsogon, South Cotabato, Southern Leyte, Sultan Kudarat, Sulu, Surigao*, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Tacloban*, Tagaytay*, Tagbilaran*, Tangub*, Tarlac, Tawitawi, Toledo*, Trece Martires*, Zambales, Zamboanga*, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur Independence: 4 July 1946 (from US) Constitution: 2 February 1987, effective 11 February 1987 Legal system:  based on Spanish and Anglo-American law; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations National holiday: Independence Day (from Spain), 12 June (1898) Branches: Constitution provides for a US-style bicameral legislature (24-seat Senate and 200-member House of Representatives) and a presidential form of government with a directly elected president and vice president; judicial branch headed by Supreme Court with descending authority in a three-tiered system of local, regional trial, and intermediate appellate courts Leaders: Corazon C. AQUINO, President (since February 1986); Salvador LAUREL, Vice President (since February 1986) Suffrage: universal Elections: presidential election held on 7 February 1986; Ferdinand Marcos initially declared winner; following civil unrest and military rebellion, he left office and Aquino assumed presidency; congressional election held in May 1987, with those elected to serve until 1992 Political parties and leaders:  PDP-Laban, Aquilino Pimentel; Struggle for a Democratic Philippines (LDP), Ramon Mitra, Peping Cojuangco; Union for National Action (UNA), Salvador Laurel, Juan Enrile; Democratic Socialist Coalition, Noberto Gonzalez; Liberal Party, Jovito Salonga Communists:  the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) controls about 25,000 full-time insurgents and is not recognized as a legal party; a second Communist party, the pro-Soviet Philippine Communist Party (PKP), has quasi-legal status Member of: ADB, ASEAN, ASPAC, CCC, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ISO, ITU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Emmanuel PELAEZ; Chancery at 1617 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone (202) 483-1414; there are Philippine Consulates General in Agana (Guam), Chicago, Honolulu, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle; US--Ambassador Nicholas PLATT; Embassy at 1201 Roxas Boulevard, Manila (mailing address is APO San Francisco 96528); telephone Õ63å (2) 521-7116; there is a US Consulate in Cebu Flag: two equal horizontal bands of blue (top) and red with a white equilateral triangle based on the hoist side; in the center of the triangle is a yellow sun with eight primary rays (each containing three individual rays) and in each corner of the triangle is a small yellow five-pointed star Economy    Overview: The economy continues to recover from the political turmoil following the ouster of former President Marcos. After two consecutive years of economic contraction (1984 and 1985), the economy once more had positive growth during 1986-87. The agricultural sector, together with forestry and fishing, plays an important role in the economy, employing about 50% of the work force and providing almost 30% of GDP. The Philippines is the world's largest exporter of coconuts and coconut products. Manufacturing contributed about 25% of GDP. Major industries include food processing, chemicals, and textiles. GNP:  $33.6 billion, per capita $546; real growth rate 5.0% (1987) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 3.8% (1987) Unemployment rate: 11.3% (1987) Budget:  revenues $5.72 billion; expenditures $7.04 billion, including capital expenditures of $1.04 billion (1988) Exports: $5.6 billion (f.o.b., 1987); @m5commodities--electrical equipment 19%, textiles 16%, minerals and ores 11%, farm products 10%, coconut 10%, chemicals 5%, fish 5%, forest products 4%; @m5partners--US 36%, EC 19%, Japan 18%, ESCAP 9%, ASEAN 7% Imports: $7.1 billion (c.i.f., 1987); @m5commodities--raw materials 53%, capital goods 17%, petroleum products 17%; @m5partners--US 25%, Japan 17%, ESCAP 13%, EC 11%, ASEAN 10%, Middle East 10% External debt:  $27.8 billion (1988) Industrial production:  growth rate 8.0% (1987) Electricity:  6,600,000 kW capacity; 25,000 million kWh produced, 400 kWh per capita (1988) Industries: textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, wood products, food processing, electronics assembly, petroleum refining, fishing Agriculture: rice, corn, coconut, sugarcane, bananas, abaca, tobacco; illegal producer of cannabis for the international drug trade Aid: NA Currency: Philippine peso (plural--pesos); 1 Philippine peso (P) = 100 centavos Exchange rates: Philippine pesos (P) per US$1--21.342 (January 1989), 21.095 (1988), 20.568 (1987), 20.386 (1986), 18.607 (1985) Fiscal year: calendar year Communications    Railroads: 378 km operable on Luzon, 34% government owned (1982) Highways: 156,000 km total (1984); 29,000 km paved; 77,000 km gravel, crushed-stone, or stabilized-soil surface; 50,000 km unimproved earth Inland waterways: 3,219 km; limited to shallow-draft (less than 1.5 m) vessels Pipelines:  refined products, 357 km Ports: Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, Davao, Guimaras, Iloilo, Legaspi, Manila, Subic Bay Merchant marine: 585 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 8,998,752 GRT/14,963,208 DWT; includes 2 passenger, 8 short-sea passenger, 16 passenger-cargo, 181 cargo, 13 refrigerated cargo, 23 vehicle carrier, 8 livestock carrier, 10 roll-on/roll-off cargo, 6 container, 36 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 2 chemical tanker, 5 liquefied gas, 2 combination, 1 barge, 268 bulk, 4 combination bulk Civil air: 53 major transport aircraft Airports: 311 total, 258 usable; 71 with permanent-surface runways; 9 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 49 with runways 1,220-2,439 m Telecommunications: good international radio and submarine cable services; domestic and interisland service adequate; 872,900 telephones; stations--267 AM (including 6 US), 55 FM, 33 TV (including 4 US); submarine cables extended to Hong Kong, Guam, Singapore, Taiwan, and Japan; 1 international satellite ground station; 11 domestic satellite stations Military   Branches: Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Constabulary--Integrated National Police Military manpower: males 15-49, 15,755,105; 11,136,367 fit for military service; 674,321 reach military age (20) annually Military budget: $1.4 billion, 13.3% of central government budget (1989)