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Philippines Fact Sheet
The biggest islands are Luzon and Mindanao which cover roughly 66% of the country's total land area of 307, 055 sq. km.2 The Philippine population is growing at the rate of 2.36 percent a year, which is faster than its Southeast Asian neighbours.3 The poverty rate in the Philippines is roughly 40 percent, worsened by the countries ever increasing population, estimated to be at 93 million by 2010.4 Only six cities in the Philippines have sewerage systems. The World Bank estimates that roughly 35 percent of Filipinos have no access to clean drinking water and 65 percent lack water for sanitation.5 Water-borne diseases accounted for about 31 percent of reported illness from 1996-2000.6 Usually as a result of abject poverty, roughly 3 and a half million children all around the Philippines are compelled into labour, such as working on crop plantations, mining caves, rock quarries and working in factories.7 Philippine communities are constantly threatened by all kinds of natural hazards, including volcanoes, earthquakes, typhoons, floods and landslides.8 In 1990 alone, Central Luzon was hit by both a drought, which sharply curtailed hydroelectric power, and by a typhoon that flooded practically all of Manila's streets.9 Furthermore, Luzon suffered an earthquake that devastated a wide area including Baguio and other northern areas. The city of Cebu and nearby areas were struck by a typhoon that killed more than a hundred people, sank vessels, destroyed part of the sugar crop, and cut off water and electricity for several days.10 In the Philippines, about 5 percent of the gross national product is spent on hurricane recovery.11 |
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Machu Picchu