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Philippines
General information
• GNI per capita PPP$, 2000: 4,220
• Internal renewable water resources: 323 km 3
• Incoming water flow: 0 km 3
• Main food consumed: rice, sugar, honey,
wheat, roots and tubers, oil and fat
• Rice consumption, 1999: 99.7 kg milled rice
per person per year
Production season
Planting Harvesting
Wet season, north May-Jul Oct-Dec
Dry season, north Jan-Mar May-Jun
Wet season, south Oct-Dec Mar-May
Dry season, south May-Jun Nov-Dec
The Philippines is an archipelago of some
7,100 islands located between 4° and 21°
N latitude and 116° and 127° E longitude.
The country is bounded by the South China Sea
to the west, the Pacific Ocean to the east, the Sulu
and Celebes Seas to the south, and the Bashi
Channel to the north.
It is in AEZ 3, characterized as the warm
humid tropics. The climate is tropical marine, that
is, mainly moderated by the surrounding seas,
with a November to April northeast monsoon and
a May to October southwest monsoon. Climate
varies within the country because of a mountainous
topography. There are four general climatic
types: (1) two pronounced seasons, dry from
November to April and wet the rest of the year
(Central Luzon, western Visayas), (2) absence of
a dry period, but with maximum rains from
November to January (eastern Luzon, eastern
Visayas, and northeastern Mindanao), (3) dry
from November to February and wet the rest of
the year (central Visayas, western Bicol, northern
Mindanao), and (4) more or less even rainfall
distribution thoughout the year (central
Mindanao).
The population reached 75 million in 1999.
The Philippines (1985-95) has one of the highest
population growth rates in Asia at 2.4% per year.
However, this growth rate is declining compared
with the average of 2.8%/yr in 1975-85.
Urbanization has been rapid in recent years and
57% of the population lives in urban areas.
Employment in the agricultural sector accounts
for 40% of the 31 million-person labor force.
Arable land per capita is one of the lowest in
developing Asia at just 0.075 ha per capita. The
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