Philippines

The Philippines consists of over 7,000 islands in southeast Asia, surrounded by the South China Sea, the Philippine Sea, and the Sulu Sea. The total land area is 186,411 square miles and the population in 2011 was 101,833,938, the 12th-largest in the world. The country was a Spanish colony from the 16th century, was ceded to the United States in 1898, became self-governing in 1935, and independent in 1946. The United States maintained military bases in the Philippines until 1992. The islands are volcanic and the terrain is mountainous, with some coastal lowlands. Almost half (49 percent) of the population lives in urban areas; major cities include the capital, Manila (11.4 million est. population in 2009 in the metropolitan area), Davao (1.5 million), Cebu City (845,000), and Zamboanga (827,000).

Per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010 was $3,500 (ranking 161st in the world) but with a relatively high growth rate of 7.3 percent (21st in the world) and an industrial production growth rate of 12.1 percent (13th in the world). The primary GDP sectors are services (54.8 percent), industry (31.3 percent), and agriculture (13.9 percent). In 2006, 32.9 percent of the population lived below the poverty line and the Gini index was 45.8, 36th highest in the world. Over 20 percent (22.6 percent) of the population live on less than $1.25 per day (an improvement from 1991, when 30.7 percent of the population met this standard) and about 15 percent of the population are undernourished (also an improvement from 21 percent in 1990–92). Major exports include semiconductors and electronic products, transportation equipment, clothing, copper products, petroleum products, coconut oil, and fruits. Remittances from migrant workers constituted over 10 percent of GDP in both 2008 and 2009. Transparency International gave the Philippines a Corruption Index score of 2.4 in 2010, on a scale from 0 (highly corrupt) to 10 (very clean).