The Philippines is located in south-east Asia and is one of the largest archipelagos in the world.  It is made of over 7,100 islands, 11 of them account for more than 95% of the country's total land area of 300,400 square kilometers (115,984 square miles). 

The islands are grouped into three geographic regions: Luzon in the north, Visayas in the middle and Mindanao in the south.  The regions are further divided into provinces, the provinces into cities and municipalities, and the cities and municipalities into barangays.  The barangays are the smallest political units. 

Climate

The Philippines has a tropical climate and has two distinct seasons: the dry season from November to April and the wet season from May to October.  Various parts of the country, however, experience different weather conditions each year because of air streams, trade winds and monsoons.