PHILIPPINE ISLANDS
Named in honour of PHILIP II, King of Spain
The Philippine Islands have been picturesquely described as 'a magnificent rosary of glowing islands that nature has hung about the heaving bosom of the warm Pacific. The archipelago is bounded on the north and west by the China Sea, on the east by the Pacific Ocean, and on the south by the Celebes and Sulu Seas. The land area is 115.000 square miles, while the land and sea area embraced within the treaty boundaries is 833,000 square miles, which is greater than the land and water area of Great Britain and Ireland. The Philippines extend from North to South between 5 and 22 North Latitude, and from East to West between 117 and 127 East Longitude, or approximately 1200 miles from North to South, and 700 miles from East to West.
AREA AND POPULATION
The total area of the Philippine Islands is 114,400 square miles. This is larger than the states of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware put together
The Philippine Archipelago is composed of 7,083 islands, of which 2,441 are named and 4,642 are not. There are 11 important islands, each of which has an area of more than 1,000 square miles. Luzon has an area of 40,814 square miles; Mindanao 38,012; Samar, 5,124; Negros, 4,903; Palawan, 4,500; Panay, 4,448; Mindoro, 3,794; Leyte 2,799; Cebu, 1,695; Bohol, 1,534; and Masbate, 1,255.
The Archipelago is divided into three great groups of islands designated as Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. Luzon includes the provinces of Abra, Albay, Bataan, Batangas, Bulacan, Cagayan, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Cavite, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Isabela, Laguna, La Union, Mountain Province, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, Pampanga, Pangasinan, Rizal, Sorsogon, Tarlac, Tayabas and Zambales, and the island-provinces of Batanes, Marinduque, Masbate and Mindoro. The second group, the Visayas, is made up of the provinces of Antique, Capiz and Iloilo, on the island of Panay: Occidental Negros and Oriental Negros, on the island of Negros; and the individual island-provinces of Bohol, Cebu, Leyte, Romblon, Samar and Palawan. The third group, Mindanao, is made up of the provinces of Agusan, Bukidnon, Cotabato, Davao, Lanao, Misamis, Surigao, Zamboanga, and a cluster of islands forming the province of Sulu.
According to the Philippine Census of 1918, the total population was 10,314,310 chiefly of the Malay race, 91 per cent. of whom were Christians receiving the benefits of the blending of the Oriental, the Spanish, and the American civilizations. This part of the population included 9,428,291 Filipinos; 43,802 Chinese; 5,774 Americans; 7,806 Japanese; 3,945 Spaniards; 1,140 English; 286 Germans; 182 French; 125 Swiss; and 977 of other nationalities. Only 932,953, or 9.4 per cent., were non-Christians and pagans, but even these are now fast taking advantage of the all pervading systein of public schools.
PHYSICAL FEATURES AND CLIMATE
}
The coastline includes many fertile coastal plains. Added to these are the Central Plain, the Cagayan and Bicol Valleys of Luzon; the Central Plain of Panay; and the Agusan and Cotabato Valleys of Mindanao. Most of the large islands are crossed by well-defined ranges, running, as a rule, in a north and south direction; Mount Apo, in south-eastern Mindanao, is the highest peak, with an altitude of 9,610 feet.
The greater part of the archipelago comes within the typhoon area and violent storms are of frequent occurrence during the rainy season July to September inclusive.
The climate in the lowlands is tropical, but compared with most other tropical countries it is neither unhealthful nor unpleasantly hot, even to people born in the temperate climes. At certain seasons of the year humidity in the atmosphere makes the heat trying, but the thermometer seldom registers the temperatures not uncom-
DI