Approved For Release 200
                                               UNGAYEN GULF
                                               7he An_ L~'Avj-
                          HILIPPINES           '9.5"
                                               
                                               )-Y
                                               

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                                               dAy' a b-I
                                               C
                                               "
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                                               1
                                               

                          ORE THAN 7,000 ISLANDS-.1, ho
                          and islets rise      -'I th.I
                                               9
                                               

                          M                    ~--4.d-paign,
                          from a pardv submergedvi~
                          mountain             I
                                               of World
                                               W. 11. N_
                                               

                          chain to form the    
                          Philippines. Largelv .' P
                          trOp-                f~7
                                               '
                                               

                          ical wilderness, 90  .
                          percent of the islands1 14,"
                          are                  
                                               

                          uninhabited, 60 percentTIM
                          unnamed. Two-        S-n P
                                               ~'
                                               

                          thirds of the population"'
                          lives on the two     
                                               

                          largest islands, Luzon
                          and Mindanao.        
                                               

                                               BofinaO.
                          Predominantly of Malav
                          origin, Filipinos    Bl
                                               i-
                                               

                          trace their origins  u
                          as far back as 3000  
                          B.C.,                
                                               

                                               
                          the first immigrants 
                          from Indonesia and   
                          to                   
                                               

                                               S-t. Cruz
                                               Malaya- Hillsides
                                               terraced
                                               with rice
                                               fields
                                               

                                                 
                                                 

                                                 CIA,
                          bear witness to ancient  
                          engineering skills.    ~
                                                 

                                                 
                          In the h century Arab  711--r-
                          missionaries           I
                          ]4t                    
                                                 

                                                 H_
                          brought Islam to the   M0,C
                                                 

                          s and                  
                          Sulu other             01
                                                 

                          southern islands-      II.W. 3-7-Aprjq,,"~
                                                 

                          The Christian influ-   
                                                 

                          enCedatesfrom 1521,    
                                                 

                          when Magellanland-     
                                                 

                          ed on Cebu, opening    
                          the waN for Spanish    
                                                 

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                          colonization in 1.565-5.'L-r`q1           P-YM..B.hi i-
                          Spain's rule lasted                      ps"
                          333                                      
                                                                   

                          vears, ending with   C~IapwY.            '_
                          the Spanish-American                     'C'u
                                               Lbu r. Io           qC -- VW~-
                                               Nauj                Li
                                                                   

                                               4.                  gad Leg-p,
                          War. The United States                    
                          guided the Philip-                       
                                                                   

                          pines during the next                    'r Buri'As D..,d*M
                          48 years, leaving    '                   la
                          a                    MINDORO             B
                          The nation           S.bl.ya.-           
                          heritage of language B-                  
                          and liberty          6                   
                                               7~                  
                                                                   

                                                                   .
                          .                                9.      u
                                                           "       
                          became fullv independent            Rox     1.
                          on july 4, 1946.                 =       M-6.
                                                           San j   
                                                           0-brik- 
                                                                   

                                                           ifin    
                                               susuang.            
                                                                   

                          GOVERNMENT: RepubliC.CALAMLAN    D.. 15. 
                          LAND AREA: 115,830   GROUP       194C    
                                                           S_      
                                                                   

                          square miles, about                      
                          the size of Arizona, 4 cuji_     Cup-    Ibajay
                          extending            4           PA-&    CCatbalo,
                          the sweep of Wash-                       
                          150 rrrfl~ north and                     
                          south                                    
                          1                                        
                                                                   

                          ,                    ~           " 1,    PAud.. ~Jib~
                          ,                                        V-r'-
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                          orn                              D-0     Leyte
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                          ngton,                                   
                          regon, an                                
                                                                   

                          LATION:32,600.(W,    Afw A61",   .t      - 'Y
                          mainivof -Malaystock.aAd         ,       Na Sara 0
                          LAN-                 '           A       "4
                          GUAGE: Officialk.    A                   t20m 2 t04
                          Pilipino ffagalog)~                      
                          Fnglish                                  
                                                                   

                                                                   1
                          (spoken by 40%), Spanish,'           .       -
                          80-odd native dialects.il Kido     y       y
                                               'z ",e -,   q       000,-C
                                                                   

                          RELIGION;            T           Cy. hi-d,Jniuay ot-
                          83% Roman Catholic;              rl-0-   diz Lf
                          Aglipayan (an                    *       
                                                                   

                          independen Christian I           C.Y.    
                          sect), Moslem' Protestantyt.y        S_      gayb
                          ,                    H-y         A-      
                          l                                li      
                                                                   

                          um-                  A           o       6ui-ras
                          itie,. ECON01MY: Copra,D           o--.    10 t..
                          sugar, abaca,                            b
                          ZI a                                     
                                                                   

                          shing, gold, lead,   t~, Ro,rAs          u
                          manganese. iron,                         LaCarlot-do
                          copper,                                  e
                          indu                                     M.br,
                          trial center                             
                          Manila                                   
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                          CITIES                                   
                                                                   

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                          , por                                    
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                          ,                                        
                          Quezon Citv (Manila                      
                          suburb),                                 
                                                                   

                          capital: Baguio.      
                          summer capitaL P~Lsay;  
                          Cebu,                 
                                                

                          rainfall.             
                          CLIMATE; Hot, humid,  
                          heax~                 
                                                

                          0 1 so I              
                          go                    
                                                

                          STATUTE MILES         
                                                

                          Devations in Feet     
                          Soundings in Fathoms  
                                                

                                                
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                          Places with Scheduled  
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                          ~-IONALGEOc.AP..SOCIETY  
                                                

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                          ARCHIPELAGO
                          Approved For Release 2000/08/11 CIA-RDP96-00792ROO0700270001-1

                          
still keep that idealism from flowering full%.
Far more than wars and occupation, geogra-
ph-x has fragmented the Republic ofthe Philip-
pines. Its .32.600,000 people live on a galaxy
of islands strung out north and south for 1,150
miles between the Pacific Ocean and the South
China Sea (maps, pages 3 12-13)~
                           No one knows how many islands there are:
the republic itselfsays simply "more than 7,100,"
New islands appear from time to time as Vol-
canoes thrust their smoking cones above the sea.
And,after a few years of pounding by the waves,
some of these new islands vanish.
                           The eruption of Taal Volcano oil September
28, 11016, emphasized again the influence of
(itanicrnatural forces on life in the Philippincs~
The -grano, rising as an island in Lake Taal.
40 miM south of Manila, roared for three
days fV bla. ted out untold tons of mud and
glo-iKD pumice (pages 306-7). Field, and
                           r
bouseL=4, ~re buried under siltlike ash. Two
hundr'e3 people lost their lives, and thousands
of hOnMe-ss or. the island and around Elie lake
%vvre en to relief centers.
                           C14
,wool My wife wanted to get away, ~lui I
wante§0 Watch a little longer. The eruptions
I
Wi very strong at first,
                           '.Abfflt half an hour later, a deafening blast
shook & island. It was time to leave,"
Corl3do Andal jammed 20 women and
chjldrta~ into the same small boat we were
usin& ystarled north-m ai from the vol
cano'Acption center, Thev' had traveled
                           U
about Qo and a half miles when'tEnother ex-
plosion'gplit the nighl:
                           "Thp was a big volume of vws and steam,"
Mr. Aggal said. "That was when the storm
and el ical display started. It was just like
Romai8anciles--flashes of red and yellow."
                           The Ouption, possibly triggered by seepage
of watRfrom the lake info the dept'lls of the
earth, Wated its own thunderstorm. Billion,
of gallq*s of water, steam, gas, and mud
churneqPinto the air.
                           X1r_ Xclal remembered shooting to boat
load- olfugees from the island to head north.
"I w f aid of the big waves that i%ould




                      me "Vl
k) old us. His warnings could not lie
c
heard hLthe noisy night. AlanN of the volca
'-tbn,; drowned when seismic waves en
                     nos vic
golfed *~ir overloaded boats.
                           On S6)tember 30, !965, Taal spewed up a
bl ac k ctnder colic 1,000 feet ill diamettor. It
fornieclCorseshoe islet (viiblc in inlet at
                         , h
                           4 t. 1~agc 307). Wisps o1 steam still
e,cap,ed from the cone near the. )A aier line a~
we climbed its gently sloping side and had a
picnic lunch on the rim.
Crater-pocked time bomb, Taal Volcano rises
from Lake T", 40 miles south of Manila, Dor-
mant for half a century, the volcanic island sud-
denly erupted in September, 1965, blasting out the
inlet at upper right and spewing ash and pumice
from the new crater in the inlet. Steam shot a thou-
sand feet aloft, spreading debris so thick that it
buried scores of the cataclysm's 200 victims and
their flourishing stands of coconut and banana.
Two days later the volcano still belched (iDset).
Nearly 3,000 people lived on the five-mile-long
by th'
                           ree-mile-wide island before the eruption;
many have since returned to their homes. Water-
filled crater at center of the large picture formed
in a 1911 eruption that claimed 1,335 lives.