GEOGRAPHICAL FOUNDATIONS AND NATURAL WEALTH

The Philippines is an archipelago of about 7,100 islands located just southeast of the Asian continent. Its total land area is 3000, 242.943 square kilometres (115,830 square miles). Compared to other small countries of the world, the Philippines is larger than Great Britain, Yugoslavia, or Ecuador; a little smaller than Spain or Poland; twice larger than Cuba or Greece; and about as large as Italy. Of about 35 countries in Asia, the Philippines is the thirteenth largest, its land area being 1.1 percent of the continent. Thailand and Japan are larger than the Philippines, but our country is larger than either of two Vietnam's, Malaysia, Cambodia, Sri-Lanka, Laos, and Singapore.

The Philippines archipelago lies between 4 degree 30' N and 21 degree 20' north latitude and between 116 degree 55' E and 126 degree 36' east longitude. It is bounded on the north and the west by the South China Sea, on east by the Pacific Ocean, and the south by the Celebes Sea and the Sulu Sea. In length, it stretches about 185.15 kilometres (1,150 miles) between the southern tip of Taiwan and the northern tip of Borneo and Indonesia. At is broadest point, it extends about 966 kilometres (600 miles) from east to west. The northernmost island in the country, Y'ami, is 104.65 kilometres (65 miles) southeast of Taiwan, while the southernmost island it, Sluag, is 48.3 kilometres(30 miles) east Borneo.