General Topography

The Philippines is a rugged land traverse by many mountain ranges, extensive but narrow coastal plains, navigable rivers, fertile valleys and deltas and beautiful lakes and waterfalls.

Most of the islands in the Philippine archipelago are characterized by irregular sea costs, fertile plains, and wooded uplands in the interiors. The two largest islands-Luzon in the North, 104,688 square kilometres (40, 420 mi2) in area, and Mindanao in the South,94,630 square kilometres(36,537 mi2)-comprise67.1 percent of the total land area of the country .The other major islands, from the largest to the smallest, are Samar, Negros, Palawan, Panay, Mindoro, Leyte, Cebu, Bohol,and Masbate. About 800 of the islands in the archipelago are inhabited, while the rest are islands, islets, or rocks too small to be populated.

The Philippines has an irregular coastline totaling 17,468.5 kilometres(10,850Statute miles) long or about twice as long as the coastline of the United States. Our coastline is considered the longest discontinuous coastline in the world. This has resulted in a great many fine harbors and landlocked straits. Located between Samar, and Leyte is what has been called '' the narrowest strait in the world'',-the San Juanico strait. Manila Bay, with a circumference of about 193.2 kilometres (120 miles) is one of the world's finest natural harbors.The fourth lowest spot in in the world is the Philippine Deep, situated off norhteastern Mindanao. It is only a little less deep than the Marianas Deep, just east of Luzon, and is about 10,539 metres (34578 feet) deep. Mount Everest, the worlds highest mountain, can easily be submerged in it, with 1.6 kilometres of space to spare.

The Philippines has four major plains. The Central Luzon Plain is the largest lowland area in the country. It is known as the rice granary of the Philippines.
The Cagayan Valley, in Northeastern Luzon, is is the leading tobacco- producing region in Asia Mindanao has two large fertile plains--the Agusan Davao plain and the Cotabato Valley. It also has two principal plateaus --the Lanao Bukidnon Plateau and the Tiruray Tableland in Maguindanao..