1988 Edition

Boundary disputes

none; involved in complex dispute over Spratley Islands with China, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, and possibly Brunei

Budget

revenues, $154 million; expenditures and net lending, $169 million (1982)

Climate

tropical marine; northeast monsoon (December to May); southwest monsoon (July to October)

Coastline

36,289 km

Comparative area

slightly larger than Nevada

about the size of New

Continental shelf

to depth of exploitation

Environment

astride typhoon belt, affected by 15 and struck by five to six cyclonic storms per year; subject to landslides, active volcanoes, destructive earthquakes; deforestation; soil erosion; water pollution

Ethnic divisions

91.5% Christian Malay, 4% Muslim Malay, 1.5% Chinese, 3% other

Extended economic zone

200 nm

Fiscal year

calendar year

Infant mortality rate

59/1,000 (1982)

Labor force

21,643 million (1985); 47.0% agriculture, 20% industry and commerce, 13.5% services, 10.0% government, 9.5% other; 6.1% official unemployment rate (1985); much underemployment

Land use

26% arable land; 11% permanent crops; 4% meadows and pastures; 40% forest and woodland; 19% other; includes 5% irrigated

Language

Filipino (based on Tagalog) and English (both official)

Life expectancy

64

Literacy

about 88%

Maritime claims

(measured from claimed archipelagic baselines)

Monetary conversion rate

331.24 Communaute Financiere Africaine (CFA) francs=US$l (November 1986)

Nationality

noun — Filipino(s); adjective — Philippine

Organized labor

2,064 registered unions; total membership 4.8 million (includes 2.7 million members of the National Congress of Farmers Organizations)

Population

61,524,761 (July 1987), average annual growth rate 2.70%

Religion

83% Roman Catholic, 9% Protestant, 5% Muslim, 3% Buddhist and other

Special notes

none

Terrain

mostly mountains with narrow to extensive coastal lowlands

Territorial sea

irregular polygon up to 285 nm in breadth

Total area

300,000 km2; land area: 298,170 km2

329,560 km2; land area: 325,360

Administrative divisions

73 provinces and 61 chartered cities

Branches

constitution provides for a bicameral legislature and a presidential form of government with a directly elected President and Vice President; judicial branch headed by Supreme Court with descending authority in a three-tiered system of local, regional trial, and intermediate appellate courts

Capital

Manila (de facto), Quezon City (designated)

Communists

the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) controls about 23,200 full-time insurgents; not recognized as legal party; a second Communist party, the pro-Soviet Philippine Communist Party (PKP), has quasi-legal status

Elections

presidential election held on 7 February 1986; Ferdinand Marcos initially declared winner; following civil unrest and military rebellion, he left office and Aquino assumed presidency; legislative elections scheduled for May 1987, with local elections to follow in August

Government leaders

Corazon AQUINO, President (since February 1986); Salvador LAUREL, Vice President and Foreign Minister (since February 1986)

Legal system

based on Spanish, Islamic, and Anglo-American law; new constitution passed 1987; accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction, with reservations

Member of

ADB, ASEAN, ASPAC, Colombo Plan, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, GATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, IRC, ISO, ITU, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

National holiday

Independence Day

Official name

Republic of the Philippines

Political parties

national parties are PDP-Laban; United Nationalist Democratic Organization (UNIDO), Liberals, Nacionalistas; Partido Ng Bayan (PNB)

Suffrage

universal and compulsory

Type

republic

Agriculture

rice, corn, coconut, sugarcane, bananas, abaca, tobacco; illegal producer of cannabis for the international drug trade

Electric power

6,350,000 kW capacity; 22,000 million kWh produced, 370 kWh per capita (1986)

Exports

$4.6 billion (f.o.b., 1986 est.); coconut products, sugar, logs and lumber, copper concentrates, bananas, garments, nickel, electrical components, gold

Fishing

catch 1.8 million metric tons (1983)

GNP

$34.5 billion, $580 per capita; 1% real growth, (1986 est.)

Imports

$5.2 billion (f.o.b., 1986 est.); petroleum, industrial equipment, wheat

Major industries

textiles, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, wood products, food processing, electronics assembly

Major trade partners

(1983) exports — 36% US, 20% Japan; imports— 23% US, 17% Japan

Natural resources

timber, petroleum, nickel, iron, cobalt, silver, gold

Airfields

38 total, 30 usable; 8 with permanent-surface runways; 7 with runways 2,440-3,659 m, 8 with runways 1,220-2,439 m

Branches

Army, Air Force; paramilitary, Gendarmerie, Republican Guard, National Guard

Civil air

5 major transport aircraft

Highways

about 15,700 km total; 1,670 km bituminous, 3,670 km gravel and improved earth, 10,360 km unimproved earth

Inland waterways

1,815 km navigable

Military budget

for fiscal year ending 31 December 1985, $26.7 million; about 21.9% of central government budget

Military manpower

males 15-49, 1,416,000; 798,000 fit for military service; no conscription

Railroads

642 km 1.000-meter gauge

Telecommunications

domestic system poor and provides only minimal service; radio-relay, wire, and radio communications stations in use; expansion of radiorelay in progress; 9,500 telephones (0. 1 per 100 popl.); 2 AM, 2 FM, 2 TV stations; 1 Atlantic and 1 Indian Ocean satellite ground stations Defense Forces