Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/699

 AREA AND POPULATION 647

President of the United States, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Under him are the secretaries of six executive departments, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Public Instruction, the Department of Finance, the Department of Justice, the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and the D-partment of Commerce and Communications. With the exception of the Vice-iJovernor, who is appointed in the same way as the Goveruor-Geneial, and who at the same time is Secretary of Public Instruction, all the secretaries are Filipinos.

The Philippine legislative body is made up of two houses, the Senate and the House of Pepresentatives. There are in all ninety-one representatives and twenty-four senators, representing the forty-tight provinces of the archipelago, all of whom are elected by popular vote, with the exception »f nine representatives and two senators, who are appointed by the Governor- General to represent Agusan. Bukidnon, Cotabato, Davao, Lanao, Xamboanga, Sulu, Nueva Yiscaya, and the Mountain Provin>

A Council of State, created by Executive Order subsequent to the enact- ment of the pi e-ent Organic Act, commonly known as the Jones Law, forms the connecting link between the executive and the legislative branches of the insular government, and represents the peoples counsel in the administration of the government. The Council of State is composed of the Governor- General, as President, the Presidents of both houses of the Legislature, and the Secretaries of the Departments.

The provincial and municipal governments are supervised by the Department of the Interior through the Executive Bureau and the Bureau of Non-Christian Tribes, the former exercising authority over the thirty-six regular organised provinces, and the latter over the twelve so-called special

Erovinces. The chief executive of each province is a provincial governor. [e and two other members form the provincial board, which constitutes the legislative branch of the provincial government. All these three offices are filled by popular vote, while iu the special provinces, with the exception of Mindoro, Palawan, and Batanes, the provincial governors are appointed officials. The municipal president is the chief executive of each town or municipality, and the local legislative branch consists of a municipal council of from eight to eighteen councillors, depending upon the size of the municipality. The president, the vice-president, and the councillors are all elected by popular vote.

Area and Population.— The group is composed of 7,083 islands, of which 2,441 are named and 4,642 are not. The total area is 114,400 square miles. The eleven most important islands are Luzon, with an area of 40,814 square miles ; Mindanao, 36,906 square miles ; Samar, 5,124 square miles ; Negros, 4,903 square miles; Palawan, 4,500 square miles; Panay, 4,443 square miles ; Mindoro, 3,794 square miles ; Leyte, 2,799 square miles ; Cebu, 1,695 square miles ; Bohol, 1,534 square miles ; and Masbate, 1,255 square miles.

The total population, according to the Philippine Census of 1918, is 10,350,730, chiefly of Malay race, 91*5 per cent, of whom are Christians, and only 886,999, or 8 - 5 per cent., are Moros and Fagans, though these are fast taking advantage of the all-pervading system of public schools. The popula- tion of Manila, the capital and the leading commercial and industrial centre, is 283,613, of whom 257,356 are Filipinos, 17,856 Chinese, 1,611 Japanese, 3,124 Americans, 1,955 Spaniards, 635 English, 236 Germans, 160 French, 95 Swiss, and the rest of other nationalities.