Philippines’ Islands

There are 7,107 islands in the Philippines*, though I don’t know if that number includes the disputed Spratly Islands by neighboring countries like China, Malaysia, and even Vietnam.

The largest island is Luzon where the national capital is found. The next biggest one is down south, Mindanao.

The archipelago is divided into three groups: Luzon where its predominantly Tagalog speaking, Visayas where Cebuano Visaya is the prominent dialect, and Mindanao still has Visaya as widely used dialect.

Islands are usually broken up into several provinces, and if the island has the appropriate size, would comprise only of a single province. A province is somewhat similar to a state in the US, as far as administrative politics is concerned. A province also belongs to a specific region, I don’t know of its American equivalent.

These islands make up over 35,000 kilometers of coastline. No wonder you could find beaches anywhere in the country.

(more…)