It is situated in the western Pacific Ocean and consists of around 7,641 islands that are broadly categorized under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. The Philippines is bounded by the South China Sea to the west, the Philippine Sea to the east, and the Celebes Sea to the southwest. It shares maritime borders with
Taiwan to the north, Japan to the northeast, Palau to the east and southeast, Indonesia to the south, Malaysia to the southwest,
Vietnam to the west, and China to the northwest. The Philippines covers an area of
300,000 km² and, as of
2021, it had a population of around 109 million people, making it the world's thirteenth-most populous
country. The Philippines has diverse ethnicities and cultures throughout its islands. Manila is the country's capital, while the largest
city is Quezon City.