The Philippines is an archipelago that comprises 7,641 islands with a total land area of 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 sq mi). It is the world's 5th largest island country. The eleven largest islands contain 95% of the total land area. The largest of these islands is Luzon at about 105,000 square kilometers (40,541 sq mi). The next largest island is Mindanao at about 95,000 square kilometers (36,680 sq mi). The archipelago is around 800 kilometers (500 mi) from the Asian mainland and is located between Taiwan and Borneo.
The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean east of the Philippine archipelago, occupying an estimated surface area of 5 million square kilometers. The Philippine Sea Plate forms the floor of the sea. Its western border is the first island chain to the west, comprising the Ryukyu Islands in the northwest and Taiwan in the west. Its southwestern border comprises the Philippine islands of Luzon, Catanduanes, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao. Its northern border comprises the Japanese islands of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyūshū. Its eastern border is the second island chain to the west, comprising the Bonin Islands and Iwo Jima in the northeast, the Mariana Islands in the due east, and Halmahera, Palau, Yap and Ulithi in the southeast. Its southern border is Indonesia's Morotai Island.
The Sulu Sea is a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, separated from the South China Sea in the northwest by Palawan and from the Celebes Sea in the southeast by the Sulu Archipelago. Borneo is found to the southwest and Visayas to the northeast.
Sulu is a province of the Philippines in the Sulu Archipelago and part of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
Tawi-Tawi is an island province in the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). The capital of Tawi-Tawi is Bongao.
The Celebes Sea of the western Pacific Ocean is bordered on the north by the Sulu Archipelago and Sulu Sea and Mindanao Island of the Philippines, on the east by the Sangihe Islands chain, on the south by Sulawesi's Minahasa Peninsula, and on the west by northern Kalimantan in Indonesia. It extends 420 miles (675 km) north-south by 520 mi (840 km) east-west and has a total surface area of 110,000 square miles (280,000 km2), to a maximum depth of 20,300 feet (6,200 m). South of the Cape Mangkalihat, the sea opens southwest through the Makassar Strait into the Java Sea.
Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. Maritime Southeast Asia is sometimes also referred to as Island Southeast Asia, Insular Southeast Asia or Oceanic Southeast Asia. The 16th-century term "East Indies" and the later 19th-century term "Malay Archipelago" are also used to refer to maritime Southeast Asia.
The Philippine archipelago is one of the world's great reservoirs of biodiversity and endemism. The archipelago includes over 7000 islands, and a total land area of 300,780 km².
Sitangkai, officially the Municipality of Sitangkai, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Tawi-Tawi, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 33,334 people.
The Mindoro Strait is one of the straits connecting the South China Sea with the Sulu Sea in the Philippines. It separates Mindoro Island from Busuanga Island. Located between the two islands is the Apo Reef, the largest coral reef system in the Philippines. The reef divides the strait into the Apo East Pass and the Apo West Pass.
Sibutu, officially the Municipality of Sibutu, is a municipality in the province of Tawi-Tawi, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 30,387 people.
This is a list of points in the Philippines that are farther north, south, east, or west than any other location in the country. Also included are extreme points in elevation, extreme distances, and other points of geographic interest.
Sibutu Passage is a deep channel some 18 miles (29 km) wide that separates Borneo from the Sulu Archipelago. It has a deep sill allowing entry of deep water into the Sulu basin while connecting the Sulu Sea with the Sulawesi Sea that feeds from the Pacific Ocean by the Mindanao Current.
Drupadia hayashii is a butterfly of the family Lycaenidae. It is found in the Philippines. Forewing length:11-15mm. It is rare and very localized Drupadia so far found only on Sibutu Island in small clearings in secondary forest. Normally they are seldom seen in flight and it is necessary to create movement amongst the bushes and lowest branches of trees in such a clearing in order to disturb these butterflies. Both the male and female are very small and have a weak flight, so it is no surprising that they seldom fly more than 3 to 5 meters before they settle on a leaf and then often crawl under it. Since most of the secondary forest on this island has either been cut down or burnt, it is possible that this species is either close to extinction or perhaps already extinct.
The Treaty of Washington of 1900 was signed on November 7, 1900, and came into effect on March 23, 1901, when the ratifications were exchanged. The treaty sought to remove any ground of misunderstanding growing out of the interpretation of Article III of the 1898 Treaty of Paris by clarifying specifics of territories relinquished to the United States by Spain. It explicitly provided:
Spain relinquishes to the United States all title and claim of title, which she may have had at the time of the conclusion of the Treaty of Peace of Paris, to any and all islands belonging to the Philippine Archipelago, lying outside the lines described in Article III of that Treaty and particularly to the islands of Cagayan [Mapun], Sulu and Sibutu and their dependencies, and agrees that all such islands shall be comprehended in the cession of the Archipelago as fully as if they had been expressly included within those lines.
The Sama language, Sinama, is the language of Sama-Bajau people of the Sulu Archipelago, Philippines; Sabah, Malaysia and parts of Indonesia. The Sama are one of the most widely dispersed peoples in Southeast Asia.
Mount Bongao is a mountain located on Bongao Island in the province of Tawi-Tawi. It is a mountain formed with six limestone pillars that serves as its six peaks. It is the Philippines' southernmost peak.
Oligodon meyerinkii is a species of snake of the family Colubridae. It is commonly known as the Sulu short-headed snake and Meyerink's kukri snake.
The Sulu Archipelago rain forests ecoregion covers the Sulu Archipelago, excepting Basilan Island at the northern end, in the southwest of the Philippines. The islands are separated enough from Borneo to the south and Mindanao to the north that they have developed their own distinctive floral and faunal communities. Most of the original rainforest has been removed or disturbed for agriculture, and political instability in the islands has hampered conservation efforts.
