Physical Features

        The Philippines is a rugged land of mountains and plains, bays and lakes, rivers and waterfalls, valleys and volcanoes. Its irregular coastline stretches 10,850 statute miles, twice as long as the coastline of the United States. The highest mountain is Mount Apo (9,600 feet high) in Mindanao. The lowest spot in the world is the "Philippine Deep", situated off the Pacific coast of the archipelago. It is 37,782 feet deep, or 2,142 feel lower than the "Marianas Deep" (35,640 feet deep). Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world, can easily be submerged in the "Philippine Deep", with 8,754 feet of space to spare.

          Between Samar and Leyte is the picturesque San Juanico Strait, "the narrowest strait in the world". Manila Bay, with the historic Corregidor Island standing guard at its entrance, is one of the finest harbors in the Asian world.

          The largest plain is the Central Plain in Luzon. It is famously known as the "Rice Granary of the Philippines". The Cagayan Valley, also in Luzon, is Asia's greatest tobacco-producing region. It is drained by the Cagayan River, longest river in the Philippines. Near Manila is the picturesque Laguna de Bay, the largest lake in the country.