The Republic of the Philippines consists of 7,250 islands (about 700 are inhabited). Extending 1,000 miles from north to south, it is the second largest country consisting of an archipelago of islands in the world. Two main islands, Luzon in the north and Mindanao in the south, comprise 65 percent of the land area of 186,000 square miles. It is slightly larger than Arizona and has a population of over 91 million people.

Besides five major ethnic groups of Malayo-Indonesians numbering about 48 million in total, there are more than 100 small tribal people-groups living in the less-accessible mountainous areas.

The Philippines has been called “the only Christian country in Asia,” because more than 93 percent of Filipinos claim to be Christian, including a strong majority of 87 percent that claim to be Roman Catholic. Although a total of 270 Protestant churches and agencies work in the Philippines, less than 7 percent of the people are Protestants.