Names: conventional long form: Republic of the Philippines conventional short form: Philippines local long form: Republika ng Pilipinas local short form: Pilipinas

Capital City: Manila

Population: 89,468,677 (July 2006 est.)

GDP Per Capita: $5,000 (2006 est.)

Currency: Philippine peso (PHP)

Languages: two official languages - Filipino (based on Tagalog) and English; eight major dialects - Tagalog, Cebuano, Ilocano, Hiligaynon or Ilonggo, Bicol, Waray, Pampango, and Pangasinan

Total Area: total: 300,000 sq km land: 298,170 sq km water: 1,830 sq km slightly larger than Arizona

Region: Asia

Industries: electronics assembly, garments, footwear, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, wood products, food processing, petroleum refining, fishing

Agriculture: sugarcane, coconuts, rice, corn, bananas, cassavas, pineapples, mangoes; pork, eggs, beef; fish

Resources: timber, petroleum, nickel, cobalt, silver, gold, salt, copper

Labor Force: 36.65 million (2006 est.)
agriculture: 36% industry: 16% services: 48% (2004 est.)

Exports: $44.2 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
electronic equipment, machinery and transport equipment, garments, optical instruments, coconut products, fruits and nuts, copper products, chemicals

Imports: $48.76 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.)
raw materials, machinery and equipment, fuels, vehicles and vehicle parts, plastic, chemicals, grains

Overview: The Philippines was less severely affected by the Asian financial crisis of 1998 than its neighbors, aided in part by its high level of annual remittances from overseas workers, and no sustained runup in asset prices or foreign borrowing prior to the crisis. From a 0.6% decline in 1998, GDP expanded by 2.4% in 1999, and 4.4% in 2000, but slowed to 3.2% in 2001 in the context of a global economic slowdown, an export slump, and political and security concerns. GDP growth accelerated to about 5% between 2002 and 2006 reflecting the continued resilience of the service sector, and improved exports and agricultural output. Nonetheless, it will take a higher, sustained growth path to make appreciable progress in the alleviation of poverty given the Philippines' high annual population growth rate and unequal distribution of income. The Philippines also faces higher oil prices, higher interest rates on its dollar borrowings, and higher inflation. Fiscal constraints limit Manila's ability to finance infrastructure and social spending. The Philippines' consistently large budget deficit has produced a high debt level, and this situation has forced Manila to spend a large portion of the national government budget on debt service. Large unprofitable public enterprises, especially in the energy sector, contribute to the government's debt because of slow progress on privatization. Credit rating agencies have at times expressed concern about the Philippines' ability to service the debt, though central bank reserves appear adequate and large remittance inflows appear stable. The implementation of the expanded Value Added Tax (VAT) in November 2005 boosted confidence in the government's fiscal capacity and helped to strengthen the peso, making it East Asia's best performing currency in 2005-06. Investors and credit rating institutions will continue to look for effective implementation of the new VAT and continued improvement in the government's overall fiscal capacity in the coming year.

_{CIA World Book}

In 2007 Missouri exported $43,105,967 in goods to Philippines. This ranks Philippines 29^th among the 223 international buyers of Missouri goods. Missouri exports to Philippines increased from the previous year by $1,267,481 a change of 13.02%. State exports to Philippines have increased over the last 5 years by $19,149,886 a change of 79.93%. Missouri exports account for .32%. of all 2007 US exports to Philippines.