The Philippines is an archipelago comprising 7,107 islands with a total land area of 300,000 km2. The 11 largest islands contain 94% of the total land area. The largest of these islands is Luzon at about 105,000 km2. The next largest island is Mindanao at about 95,000 km2. The archipelago is around 800 km from the Asian mainland and is located between Taiwan and Borneo.
   
 Many of the Asia and Pacific developing countries are situated in the world’s hazard belts and are subject to floods, droughts, cyclones, earthquakes, windstorms, tidal waves and land slides, etc. The fmajor natural disasters that occur periodically in this region are largely due to climatic and seismic factors. In the philippines experiences 4 common phenomenon in asia:
1. earthquakes - because the philippines is located in the pacific ring of fire, it is most likely to experience earthquakes
2. Landslides - usually is the result of  flooding and earthquakes
3. Typhoons - are given local names by PAGASA are classified into 4. Storm signal 1 (30 km/h - 60 km/h), storm signal 2 (60 km/h - 100 km/h), storm signal 3 (100 km/h - 185 km/h) and storm signal 4 (storm cyclone winds greater than 185 km/h)
4. Volcanic eruptions - There are 37 active ones in which 18 of them are active.The Mayon volcano is the most active volcano
   
Geography affects the lives of the Filipino's in many ways such as their climate varrying on where they are located, their culture, natural resources, and most especially their activities.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_the_Philippines
http://www.philippines.hvu.nl/volcanoes1.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoons_in_the_Philippines
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_does_geography_affect_the_way_we_live



Bea Ylen

Geography of the Philippines

The Philippines is an archipelago that consists of 7,107 islands in the South China, Philippine, Sulu, and Celebes Seas and the Luzon Strait and it is located in southeast Asia. These islands are divided into three parts: Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The archipelago is located between Taiwan and Borneo 
The Philippines is divided into 17 regions with all the provinces grouped into one of 16 regions. Provinces are sub divided into cities and municipalities that consists of barangays. 
The Philippines has a tropical-wet climate with a wet and a dry season. Monsoon rains usually come to most of the archipelago from May through October. But it sits astride the typhoon belt and it suffers from typhoons from July through October. 
The islands are volcanic in origin, being part of the Pacific Ring of Fire and are mostly mountainous. The highest point in the country is mount Apo in Mindanao which is 2,954 meters above sea level. Many volcanoes in the country are active. The worst eruption happened in 1991 which was that of mount Pinatubo in Pampanga. Taal volcano is the smallest volcano in the world. 


Natural Phenomena the Philippines experiences
The Philippines experiences many natural disasters like earthquakes, flash floods, landslides, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis. Storms, landslides or earthquakes and sometimes a combination of all three at once are an almost monthly event that affects nearly 8 million people every year. Landslides are usually the outcome of excessive mining activities and deforestation. 

The effect of geography on the way of life of the people
Filipinos adapt to their surroundings and the temperature of where they live. It can affect what or how they do it. People have different ways of living depending on what their surroundings are.


Sources:  http://www.mb.com.ph/node/349474/philippine          http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_of_the_Philippines 


Aaron Enriquez


Philippine Exposure to Natural Disasters
The Pacific Rim is not only a community of the fastest growing and most dynamic nations in the world. It is also the area exposed to a wide range of natural disaster. The Philippines archipelago, located near the western edge of the Pacific Ocean, is in the direct path of seasonal typhoons and monsoon rains which bring floods, storms, storm surges, and their attendant landslides and other forms of devastation. The Philippines also sits on the "ring of fire" where the continental plates collide and thus experience periodic earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The Philippine exposure to natural disasters may be characterized as frequent, varied, and severe; a combination which has made the country particularly attentive to disaster reduction.

　
Data shows an upturned of disasters as the decade of the 90's loomed. Impact of which exact tremendous toll on lives and properties, notwithstanding rollback gains in the economy out of proportion. Coinciding with the inception year of the IDNDR, the Philippines was hit by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake on July 15, 1990 killing 1,283 people and leaving three (3) cities in Luzon: Cabanatuan City, Dagupan City and Baguio City devastated at about P12.2 Billion estimated damages. In the same year, eight (8) strong typhoons hit the county, claiming 670 lives but registered at P12.8 Billion high in damages.
Source:http://www.adrc.asia/countryreport/PHL/PHLeng98/index.html

How geography affect the people
Geography affects the conditions people have to live under in that area. Because of those different conditions, settlers have to adapt to the environment and change/create a culture. For example, those who live in places like Russia must learn how to built houses and weave clothing that can keep out the cold. Their religion may be affected by this, and the same with their culture. On the other hand, if one lives in India, then he or she would have to learn how to protect themselves from the summer monsoons, and, in some cases, the annual floods. As you can see, geography affects culture and daily practices.
Source:http://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100428192414AAX3i16



Iñigo Lapuz

The Philippines comprises an archipelago of some  7,107 islands located off Southeast Asia, between the South  China Sea on the west and the Philippine Sea on the east.  The major islands are Luzon in the north, the Visayan Islands  in the middle, and Mindanao in the south. 
            Pacific Ring of Fire, the region in the Earth most prone to natural disasters such as typhoons, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, tornadoes, and earthquakes.  About  80% of the world’s largest earthquakes occur in the ring of fire. The Pacific Ring of Fire, sometimes referred to as the circum-Pacific Belt, is comprised of a lot of tectonic plates under the sea. These tectonic plates tend to move a lot which causes drastic changes in land portions above the sea. The movements and collisions in the tectonic plates directly result  to the tsunamis or volcanic eruptions. The Pacific Ring of Fire includes a lot of small islands which stretches from New Zealand, the Fiji Islands, Indonesia, the northern Philippines, Japan, Alaska, western Americas, South Americas.

Geography affects people’s activities depending on where they are situated. It affects their activities because they have a limit in doing something depending on where they are and what resources are available in that particular area.



Sources:
 http://tagaloglang.com/The-Philippines/Geography/location-size-and-boundaries.html
                http://www.geosocphil.org.ph/natural-disasters-in-the-pacific-ring-of-fire.html