Philippines Sea

Philippine Sea
Philippine Sea Location within the Pacific Ocean
Coordinates	20°N 130°E / 20°N 130°E / 20; 130
Part of	Pacific Ocean
Basin countries	Federated States of Micronesia Guam Indonesia Japan Northern Mariana Islands Palau Philippines Taiwan
Islands	Bonin Islands Catanduanes Dinagat Islands Guam Halmahera Homonhon Honshu Kyūshū Leyte Luzon Mariana Islands Mindanao Morotai Palau Polillo Islands Ryukyu Islands Saipan Samar Siargao Shikoku Taiwan Tinian Ulithi Yap
Trenches	Izu-Bonin Trench Mariana Trench Nankai Trough Philippine Trench Ryukyu Trench

The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea east and northeast of the Philippines occupying an estimated surface area of 5 million square kilometres (2 million square miles). It is located in the western part of the North Pacific Ocean. It is bordered by the Philippine archipelago (Luzon, Catanduanes, Samar, Leyte and Mindanao) on the southwest; Halmahera, Morotai, Palau, Yap, and Ulithi (of the Carolines) on the southeast; the Marianas, including Guam, Saipan, and Tinian, on the east; the Bonin and Iwo Jima on the northeast; the Japanese islands of Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyūshū on the north; the Ryukyu Islands on the northwest; and Taiwan in the west.

The sea has a complex and diverse undersea relief. The floor is formed into a structural basin by a series of geologic faults and fracture zones. Island arcs, which are actually extended ridges protruding above the ocean surface due to plate tectonic activity in the area, enclose the Philippine Sea to the north, east and south. The Philippine archipelago, Ryukyu Islands, and the Marianas are examples. Another prominent feature of the Philippine Sea is the presence of deep sea trenches, among them the Philippine Trench and the Mariana Trench, containing the deepest point on the planet.