PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, a group of islands, a possession of the United States, forming a part of the Eastern Archipelago. They extend between lat. 21° 10' and 4° 40' north, 116° 40' and 126° 34' east. The total length is about 1150 statute miles, and the width about 650 miles.
There are over 3,100 islands, of which 1,473 are without names. The largest islands are Luzon, 40,969 square miles; Mindanao, 36,292 square miles; Samar, 5,031 square miles; Negros, 4,881 square miles; Panay, 4,611 square miles; Pala wan, 4,027 square miles; and Mindoro, 3,8151 square miles.
Topography.—The topography of the islands is varied. Nearly all are heavily wooded and most of them are traversed by mountain ranges. The two largest is lands, Luzon and Mindanao, have broad plains and level valleys. The east coast of Luzon is bordered for 350 miles by a high mountain range, the Sierra Madre. West of this is the fertile valley of Cagayan river, where the largest•part of the tobacco is grown.
Climate.—The climate of the archi pelago is warm, as it lies entirely within the tropics. Northeast trade winds pre vail from November to June, and the east coasts have a heavy rainfall. The temperature does not vary greatly dur ing the day. There are frequent cyclonic storms of wind and rain which are known as typhoons. These frequently do great damage.
Agriculture.—There are great possibil ities for agriculture and these have been greatly developed during the American occupation. The chief products are rice, abaca, sugar, coconuts, corn, and tobacco. The year 1918 was the best yet experi enced in the agricultural industry. The total value of the leading crops was about 350,000,000 pesos (a peso equals $.50).
Commerce.—The commerce of the isl ands has greatly increased in recent years. The trade for 1919 exceeded that of any other year. Imports were valued at $107,774,263, which was about 30 per cent. more than in 1918, and about double the average before the World War. The chief imports were of machinery, cotton, textiles, and rice. The exports for 1919 were valued at $122,729,238, an increase of about $6,000,000 over the value of the exports for 1918. The remarkable de velopment of the coconut oil manufactur ing industry was the chief feature of trade in 1918. The sugar trade of the
island was benefited greatly by post-war conditions. The average figure received per pound was 4.3 cents. Of the total foreign trade, imports from the United States were valued at $64,645,144, and the exports to the United States at $79, 333,548.
Mineral Resources.—The islands are rich in minerals, but so far the product has not been greatly developed. Over one hundred mineral species and varieties have been classified. Coal and gold have been found in nearly every island so far investigated. The total gold production is valued at over $1,000,000 yearly. Great quantities of coal are known to exist, but its deposits have not yet been exploited. Iron is produced to a small extent. Other minerals which occur are Portland cement, asbestos, gypsum, pe troleum, salt, stone, sulphur, asphalt and gravel.
Education.—Under American rule edu cation has been fostered and there has been great improvement in the conditions. There were in 1918, 4,747 schools in the islands. There was an annual enroll ment of 671,398, an average monthly en rollment of 569,475 and an average daily attendance of 521,377.
Special attention has been given to vocational education and nearly every community of any size is provided with facilities for teaching useful trades to the natives.
Health and Sanitation.—Prior to American occupation sanitary conditions were extremely bad. Vigorous steps were taken at once to remedy these and the results have been marked. In spite of the improved condition there are fre quent epidemics which kill large numbers of people. In 1919 there were an es pecially large number of these. Over 13,000 deaths occurred from small-pox, which was brought from Manila in De cember, 1917, by sailors. During the same year there were two epidemics of influenza which resulted in the deaths of many people. Cholera also appeared in several provinces during the year, but it was confined to a comparatively small area. Six provinces have been organized into sanitary divisions and only seven provinces remain to be organized. Spe cial attention is given to the health of children. Dispensaries and nurses are maintained to instruct mothers in the care of their children.