Demographic trends

The population density of the Philippines is

high, but the distribution of the population is
uneven. Parts of Metro Manila have a
population density that is more than 100 times
that of some outlying areas such as the
mountainous area of northern Luzon. The
country’s birth rate remains significantly higher
than the world average, as well as the average
for the Southeast Asian region. Efforts since
the mid-20th century to slow the overall growth
rate have had limited success, in part because
reductions in the birth rate have been offset to
some degree by reductions in the death rate.
 Philippines: Age breakdownEncyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Especially since World War II, population has

tended to move from rural areas to towns and
cities. At the beginning of the 20th century
more than four-fifths of the population was
rural, but by the early 21st century that
proportion had dropped to roughly two-fifths.
There is a considerable amount of Filipino
emigration, particularly of manual labourers
and professionals. Many emigrants have gone
to the United States, Okinawa, Guam,
and Canada; in addition, a large number of
skilled and semiskilled workers have taken
temporary overseas assignments, mainly in
the Middle East and, increasingly, in East
and Southeast Asia.

Economy
The Philippines is largely an agricultural
country. Its economy is based on free
enterprise; individuals and nongovernmental
entities are free to participate in its
development and management, sometimes
with the aid of government credit.

Agriculture, forestry, and fishing

The agricultural sector is a major component

of the Philippine economy, although it
contributes only about one-seventh of gross
domestic product (GDP). Crops can be grown
throughout the year in the country’s rich and
fertile soils, and the sector employs nearly
one-third of the total workforce. The principal
farm products are sugarcane, rice, coconuts,
bananas, corn (maize), and pineapples.
Additional products include mangoes, citrus,
papayas, and other tropical fruits; coffee and
tobacco; and various fibres such
as abaca (Manila hemp) and maguey, which
are used mainly to make rope. A wide variety
of vegetables are raised for
domestic consumption.
Rice, the principal staple crop, is grown
especially in central and north-central Luzon,
south-central Mindanao, western Negros, and
eastern and central Panay. About one-fourth of
the total farmland is used for rice growing.
Since the early 1970s rice production in the
Philippines has improved considerably, and in
some years there has been enough of a
surplus that rice can be exported. Factors
contributing to this increase in output include
the development and use of higher-yielding
strains of rice, the construction of feeder roads
and irrigation canals, and the use of chemical
fertilizers and insecticides. Use of scientific
farming techniques in the Philippines has had
its drawbacks, however. The newer strains of
rice have required the application of expensive
chemicals that generally must be imported,
and improper application of those substances
has caused serious soil degradation in some
areas.
 Farmers planting rice in an irrigated field in the Philippines.©
Daniel76/iStock.com

The Philippines is one of the world’s largest

producers of coconuts and coconut products,
and these are important export commodities.
The area devoted to coconut production rivals
that used for rice and
corn. Sugarcane is cultivatedwidely in central
and north-central Luzon, western Negros, and
on Panay. Abaca is grown extensively in
eastern Mindanao, southeastern Luzon, and
on Leyte and Samar. Both sugarcane and
abaca are important agricultural exports.
Fish provides a significant proportion of the
protein in the Filipino diet, and fisheries have
been growing slowly but steadily since the
early 1990s. Canned tuna is the principal fish
exported. Commercial fishing is carried on
primarily off Palawan, Negros, Mindanao, and
Panay. Among the most important commercial
fishes are milkfish (a herringlike
fish), sardines, anchovies, tuna, scad,
and mackerel. Fish are raised in ponds in
some provinces of Luzon, the Visayas, and
Mindanao. The Sulu Archipelago is known for
its pearl farms.
At one time about half of the Philippines’ total
land area was covered with forests. Of this
area, a large part abounded with trees of
commercial value, especially lauan, narra (a
species of Pterocarpus used in
cabinetmaking), and other tropical hardwoods
and pines. Heavy logging and inadequate
reforestation measures, however, have
reduced considerably the amount of forested
land. A ban on the export of hardwoods has
been in effect since the mid-1980s, but there is
evidence that much hardwood timber
 continues to leave the country illegally. Trees
from Philippine forests continue to provide
wood for lumber, veneer, plywood, furniture,
wallboard, pulp and paper, and light building
materials, both for domestic and international
consumption. Other notable forest products
include rattan, gutta-percha, various resins,
and bamboo.
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agriculture and forestry

 abaca production
 In abaca
 copra production
 In coconut palm: Uses
 land reform
 In land reform: Southeast Asia
arts

 Southeast Asian arts

 In Southeast Asian arts
 theatre
 In theatre: Bali
 zarzuela musical theatre
 In zarzuela
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 In headhunting
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