Directory_and_Chronicle_1922 — Page 1544

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS

Named in honour of PHILIP II, King of Spain.

LOCATION

Lying to the southeast of the great continent of Asia and occupying much the same position as the West Indies in North America, the Philippine Islands, a vast archipelago, extend between the meridians of 116° 40′ and 126° 34′ East Longitude, and between the parallels of 4° 40′ and 21° 10′ North Latitude. They are bounded on the north and west by the China Sea, on the east by the Pacific Ocean, and on the south by the Celebes Sea. They lie about six hundred miles off the coast of China. The northernmost group is but a short distance south of the Japanese island of Formosa, while the southernmost extremities reach close to Borneo and the Celebes.

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 eleven 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, 36,906; 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 Philippine 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, Tayabis 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 is 10,350,730, chiefly of the Malay race, ninety-one and one-half per cent. of whom are Christians receiving the benefits of the blending of the Oriental, the Spanish, and the American civilization. This part of the population includes 9,400,283 Filipinos; 43,212 Chinese; 6,731 Americans; 6,636 Japanese; 4,071 Spaniards; 993 English; 304 Germans; 207 French; 138 Swiss; and 1,156 of other nationalities. Only 886,999, or eight and one-half per cent., are Moros and pagans, but even these are fast taking advantage of the all- pervading system of public schools.

PHYSICAL FEATURES

The Philippines is a group of islands varying in size from Luzon, which is practically as large as Belgiuin, the Netherlands and Denmark combined, to the nameless islets rising just a few feet above the water. 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 9,450 feet.