PHILIPPINE ISLANDS. An archipelago forming the most northern group of isl ands in the Malayan or Eastern Archipelago.
It lies wholly within the tropics. The land sur face extends between latitudes 21° 10' and 4' 40' N., 1150 statute miles; the east and west limits are longitude 116° 40' and 126° 34' E., making about 650 miles. The most northern land in the Philippines isY'Aini Island,of the Batanes group; the most southern is Bahl', Island, of the Saran gani Islands, south of ,Nlindanao; the most west ern is Balabae Island, north of Borneo; and the most eastern is Sancti Point, on the east coast of .lindanao. The archipelago is bounded on the north and west by the China Sea, on the east by the Pacific. Ocean, and on the south by the Sea of Celebes and the coastal waters of Borneo.
It is 93 miles distant from foreigm territory on the north (Formosa) ; 31 miles from Balamban gan, an island near Borneo, on the south; 510 miles from the Pelew group (German) on the east, and 515 miles from Cochin-China (French) on the west.
The archipelago numbers about 1600 islands, most of them vely small, and having altogether about 11,500 miles of coast line. Two of
them, Mindanao and Luzon, are, however, classed among the larger islands of the world, and eleven islands, Luzon, Mindanao, Samar, Pa nay, Negros, Palawan (Paragua), Mindoro, Leyte. Cebu, Masbate, and Bohol, are of primary geographical importance. The others are mainly dependent islands or islets along the coast of the large islands or subordinate archipelagoes like the Sulu Islands. The area of the total land surface is computed at 127,853 square Miles, or a little larger than the New- England States, New York, and New Jersey 'Mindanao (45,559 square miles) and Luzon (43,075 square miles) comprise about seven-tenths of the total land surface, the area of the other leading, isl ands being: Samar. 5198 square miles; Negros, 4839; Panay. 4752; Palawan. 4368; Mindoro, 4050; Leyte. 3S72: Celni. 1668; Bohol, 1400; awl :\lashatc. 1230. The total water surface within the limits oemmied by the archipelago is 705,115 square miles.