Philippines Philippines The Philippines ( ; or ' ), officially the Republic of the Philippines (), is an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Situated in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of about 7,641 islands that are categorized broadly under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The capital city of the Philippines is Manila and the most populous city is Quezon City, both part of Metro Manila. Bounded by the South China Sea on the west, the Philippine Sea on the east and the Celebes Sea on the southwest, the Philippines shares maritime borders with
Geography of the Philippines of mountain ranges in this region is called "Zamboanga Cordilleras", with the highest elevation at Mount Dapi, which is high. The southern coastline is irregular, featuring two smaller peninsulas, the Sibuguey and Baganian, extending southward to the Moro Gulf. To the north of the Diwata Mountains at northeast Mindanao lie Siargao island and the Dinagat group of islands. Southwest of the Zamboanga Peninsula is the Sulu Archipelago, a chain of islands which comprise the smaller archipelago provinces of Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi. The Philippines is divided into a hierarchy of local government units (LGUs) with the 81 provinces and 38