Geography

The Philippine archipelago lies off the southeastern coast of the Asia mainland.

It consists of 7,107 islands and islets, making it one of the largest archipelagos in the world.

The islands are grouped into three sections: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

There are eleven main islands: Luzon, Mindanao, Samar, Negros, Palawan, Panay, Mindoro, Leyte, Cebu, Bohol and Masbate.

For administrative purposes, the country is divided into 15 regions (listed below).

The regions are further divided into provinces, the provinces into cities and municipalities, and these into barangays (the smallest political unit).

REGION
I – Ilocos
II – Cagayan Valley
III – Central Luzon
IV – Southern Tagolog
V – Bicol
VI – Western Visayas
VII – Central Visayas
VIII – Eastern Visayas
IX – Western Mindanao
X – Northern Mindanao
XI – Southern Mindanao
XII – Central Mindanao
National Capital Region (NCR)
Cordillera Administrative Region
Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

The Philippines has a varied topography.

It has a coastline of 18,411 kilometers.

Many islands have extensive coral reefs that attract tourists from everywhere.

The larger islands have rugged, mountainous interiors, mostly ranges running north to south.

Its four major lowland areas – central plain of Luzon, Cagayan valley, Agusan and Cotabato river valley – contrast sharply with the high mountain areas of Central and Eastern Cordillera and Zambales.

Three major mountain ranges traverse the country to form natural barriers: the Sierra Madre, the Cordillera, and Caraballo ranges.

There are about 221 volcanoes, 21 of which are active.

The Philippines lies on the volatile Pacific “Ring of Fire,” and most of the highest mountains are volcanic in origin.

It had its share of natural disasters in recent years, but two major eruptions Mt. Pinatubo and Mayon Volcano caught the attention of sightseers.

Mt. Pinatubo in the central plain of Northern Luzon erupted on June 12, 1991, after 600 years of silence, rendering almost 50,000 people homeless.

The great rivers of volcanic lava devastated the once fertile central plains of Luzon.

Mayon Volcano, called “the perfect cone,” almost lost its mystique when it erupted on February 2, 1993, spewing volcanic debris several miles into the air and destroying fertile farmlands around the city of Legaspi.

The Philippines is no stranger to earthquakes.

The worst earthquake in the recent past occurred in 1990.

With an intensity of 7.7 on the Richter scale, it damaged thousands of buildings and resulted in widespread casualties.

Fortunately, the damaged areas of Baguio, Cabanatuan and Pangasinan have recovered.

Manila had minimal damage, making it the refuge of those who were left homeless by the earthquake.