Country: Republic of the Philippines

Citizens: Filipinos

Capital: City of Manila

Population: 86,241,697 (July 2004 est. – World Fact Book);
81.4 million (UN, 2004) 13th largest in the world

Persons with Disability: (NSO 2000 Census)
Blind population – Total blindness: 44,014
Partial blindness: 76,731
Deaf population – Total deafness: 35,890
Partial Deafness: 40,983

Population growth rate: 2.36%

Distribution of Population: 55% in Luzon
21% in Visayas
24% in Mindanao

Urban Population: 48.5%

Age Distribution: 0-14 years: 35.8% (male 15,758,255; female 15,152,291)
15-64 years: 60.2% (male 25,847,345; female 26,096,211)
65 years and over: 3.9% (male 1,473,873; female 1,913,722) (2004 est.)

National or Official Languages: Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino), English.

Other Languages/ Dialects: 8 major languages
Tagalog – 29.3%;
Cebuano – 24.40%,
Ilocano – 11.10%
Hiligaynon – 10.0%
Bicolano – 7.0 %
Waray – 4.6%
Pampanga – 3.4%
Pangasinan – 2.3%

Ethnologue listed 172 languages for the Philippines:
of the 172, 169 are living languages and 3 are extinct. .

Geographical / Political Divisions:
Regions: 16
Provinces: 79
Cities: 115
Towns: 1,485
Barangays: 41,861

Social & Economic Realities:

Population below poverty line: 40% (2001 estimate)

Unemployment: 11. 4 % (2003 estimate)

Overseas Contract Workers (OCW) / Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW)
1995: 782,297 OCW in 30 nations (Female – Male ration: 63:37)
50% of OCW are domestic helpers and entertainers
30% of OCW are college graduates
2001 - 1.03 million
2002 - 1.06 million
2000 –2003: over 7 million – (2,700 individuals deployed a day – minimum rate)