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An Earth-Shattering Experience

Basic Geography of the Philippines

There are over 7000 islands making up the Philippines! Less than half of them have names, and only 2000 are large enough to be inhabited.

The Philippine islands spread out over almost 1000 miles of the Southeast Asia region, near Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia. If you were to clump the islands into one mass, the country would be about the size of Italy.

Each island is considered part of the Luzon, Visayas or Mindanao group. Nearly all of the islands were formed by volcanoes that originated deep beneath the ocean’s floor, and have many mountain ranges, fertile plains, rivers and lakes.

Because the Philippines is just north of the equator its climate is warm and humid most of the year. Being a tropical country, the Philippines has just two seasons--dry and wet! November to May is the dry season, when warm winds called amihan travel in a northeast direction. During the wet season cool moist winds called habagat move across the islands in a southwest direction, bringing rains. The habagat and amihan are monsoon winds that affect the weather patterns every year. At least twenty powerful storms called typhoons form in the Pacific Ocean and pass through the Luzon and Visayas regions. We name our typhoons the same way you name hurricanes in your country.

The dry season—November to May

The wet season—June to October

Let’s go island hopping!

1.	Rio Grande de Cagayan is the longest river in the Philippines.
2.	The 2000 year old Banaue Rice Terraces were carved into the mountains of Ifugao by the ancestors of the indigenous people.
3.	“Rice Bowl of the Philippines” is a nickname given to Nueva Ecija for producing most of the country’s rice supply.
4.	Mary lives near Fort Santiago, built by the Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi in the 1590s.
5.	The Pacific War Memorial on Corregidor Island was a gift from the United States to honor the Philippine soldiers of World War II, and houses many battle relics.
6.	Mayon Volcano in Albay on the island of Luzon is famous for its nearly perfect cone shape.
7.	Guitar crafting is a major art form and industry on Jaime’s home island of Cebu.
8.	The underground river of Puerto Princesa was chosen as one of the New Wonders of Nature.
9.	The tiny primate the Philippine Tarsier is often called “the world’s smallest monkey” but is actually from a different primate family.
10.	The beautiful Maria Cristina Falls generate most of the energy on the island of Mindanao.
11.	The Philippine Eagle is one of the world’s largest eagle species.
12.	The Vinta is the traditional boat of the Zamboanga Peninsula of Mindanao, where Ari lives.
13.	World-famous boxer Manny Pacquiao was born and raised in Saranggani .