PHILIPPINES, THE, constitute the most northern group of the islands that compose the extensive archipelago known under the name of the Indian Archipelago ; and they lie between 5° and 20' N. 1st., 119' and 127° E. long. The Strait of Balingtang, or Great Passage, separates them from the 13atanos and Bashers Islands, which lie farther north. On the east extends the Pacific), and ou the south the Celebes Sea, with the Sooloo Islands, only divided from Magindanao by the Strait of Basilan, which is frequently navigated by vessels sailing to China. The Mindoro Sea and the Chinese Sea wash the western shores of this group.
The l'hilippince consist of ten larger and a multitude of smaller islands. The larger islands have altogether an area of more than 120,000 square miles, according to the estimate of Berghaus, in which the surface of Magindanao is estimated at 36,140 square miles. The smaller islands comprehend, according to the same authority, 6230 square miles; several of the larger Wands are to some extent subject to the Spaniards, who have also settlements on the northern and south-western coast of Magiudanao. The total territory however iu pos session of the Spaniard. amounts to only 53,271 square miles, including their settlements in Magindanao, upon which there was a total popu lation in 1849 of 2,679,500 persons, under the government of the captain-general of the Philippines, while the entire population of the group is estimated at 5,000,000. The greater proportion of the popu lation (about 3,500,000) are of the Malayan race, about 1,000,000 it is estimated of the Papuan negro race, and the remainder are Chinese, half-castes, and Europeans.
1. Luton, which is by far the largest of these islands, has, according to Berghaus, an area of 57,405 square miles. The form of the island, which is extremely irregular, may be compared to a bent arm. Its length measured along the bend is more than 550 miles. The width varies between 10 and 136 miles. Where the bend occurs, which is near 14° N. hat., a deep bay enters the land from the north, and divides the island into two peninsulas. The isthmus which connects the two peninsulaa is only from 10 to 12 miles wide, and nearly 50 miles long. The rocky coast of the island is indented by a great
number of larger and smaller bays, among which the most extensive on the larger peninsula are the Bahia de Manila and the Golfo do Lingayen, both on the western side; and on the smaller peninsula the Bahia do San Miguel and the Seno de Albay on the northern coast, and the Seno de Ragay ou the southern.
The island is extremely mountainous; the principal ranges are the Mentes Caravallos, which extend from Cape Engano in 18° N. lat., to Cape St. Ilfonso in 15° 5' N. hat., the more southern part being known as the Sierra Madre, and other ranges occupy other portions of the island. In the northern peninsula there are two extensive plains, one ou the western side of the Caravallos range, called Liana del Dijun, watered through its whole length by the river Tajo, which runs from south to north, and falls into the sea west of Cape Engem, at a town called Apari. The other lying at the south-western base of the Sierra Madre, and the western base of the Caravallos, is a level plain of great extent and fertility, called the Plain of Pampauga, extending from the innermost recess of the Gulf of Lingayeu (16° N. hat.), on the north, to the Bahia de Manila (14° 45' N. lat.), on the south. It is about 90 miles in length, with an average width of about 30 miles, so that it covers a surface of 2700 square miles. The whole plain is very little elevated above the sea-level, full of lakes, and traversed by rivers, whose course is nearly imperceptible except in the rainy season. In the northern districts there is a large lake, the Laguna de Cauarim, ou the most elevated part of the plain ; two rivers issue from it, one towards the north, which falls into the Gulf of Lingayen, and the other towards the south, which enters the Bahia do Manila. These rivers, of which the first is called Rio Grande, and the second Rio de I'ampanga, are of great importance, as the produce of this rich and well cultivated tract, which is mostly covered with plantations of sugar, can be brought by water to Manila during the rainy months.