PHILIPPINES
October 2008: Some facts sourced from Wikipedia
THE Philippines, officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is an archipelagic country located in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city.
The Philippine archipelago comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean, sharing maritime borders with Indonesia, Malaysia, Palau, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
Its national economy is the 46th largest in the world with an estimated 2008 gross domestic product of more than US$154.073 billion.
The Philippines is a multi-ethnic country and the world’s 12th most populous with about 90 million people. There are also more than 11 million Filipinos living overseas worldwide.
Geography
The Philippines are commonly divided into three island groups: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The busy port of Manila, on Luzon, is the national capital and second largest city after its suburb Quezon City.
Most of the mountainous islands used to be covered in tropical rainforest, but much of it is gone now as a result of logging and deforestation.
Ecologically, the Philippines is considered to be among 17 of the most mega-diverse countries in the world.
Corruption
The Philippines is one of the most corrupt countries in the world. According to Transparency International its global ranking
is 131 out of 150 countries surveyed in 2007.
Climate Change
The Philippines was one of the first countries in Asia to register an interest in climate change in 1998 and ratified the Kyoto Protocol in November 2003.
The country’s intentions appear to be good, but poor enforcement of well-intentioned law means that the country is being rapidly deforested with very little interference from authorities, including the country’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources which appears to be somewhat helpless.