Area—English
Possessions in Asia square miles. Population.
Philippine Islands 114,326 7,000,000
Sulu Islands 950 73,000
Caroline Islands and Palaos 560 36,000
Marianne Islands 420 10,172
———- ————-
Total Asiatic possessions 116,256 7,121,172
Possessions in Africa
Rio de Oro and Adrar 243,000 100,000
Ifni 27 6,000
Fernando Po, Annabon, Corsico, Elobey, San Juan 850 30,000
———- ———-
Total African possessions 243,877 136,000
The Sulu archipelago lies southwest of the Island of Mindanao, and directly south of Manila and the Mindora sea. The chief island gives its name to the group, which extends to the three-mile limit of Borneo. The area of the whole is estimated at 950 square miles; the population at 75,000 Melanesians.
The Caroline and Marianne, or Ladrone Islands, are more numerous, but scarcely as important or as populous as the Sulu group. They belong to what is sometimes known as Micronesia, from the extreme diminutiveness of the land masses. The two groups are east and northeast of the Philippines, and in easy sailing reach from Manila. From east to west they are spread over 30-odd degrees of longitude, and from north to south over 20 degrees of latitude.
The inhabited islands are of coral formation, generally not over ten or twelve feet above high water mark. They are, in fact, heaps of sand and seaweed blown over the coral reefs. Most of these islands are narrow bands of land from a few yards to a third of a mile across, with a lagoon partly or wholly inclosed by the reef. Cocoanuts and fish are the chief reliance of the natives, who are an inferior species, even for Polynesians.
First and most attractive of the African dependencies, both by reason of natural resources and of their advantages as a naval base, are the Canaries, which are regarded as a part of the Spanish kingdom proper, so long and so secure has been the hold of Spain upon them.
More extensive in area, if not more attractive for residence purposes, is the sandy, partially desert stretch bearing the names of Rio de Oro (River of Gold), and Adrar. The imaginary line familiar to schoolboys under the name of the Tropic of Cancer has an especial fondness for this region, passing near the north and south center. The district is close to the Canaries on its northern edge, and it is ruled by a sub-governor under the Governor of the Canaries. There are two small settlements on the coast The only glory Spain gets from this possession is that of seeing its color mark on the maps of Africa.
Of the other African possessions enumerated some are hardly big enough to be seen on an ordinary map without the aid of a microscope. Corisco is a little stretch of coast around an inlet just south of Cape St. John, near the equator. Fernando Po Island will be found right in the inner crook of the big African elbow. Annabon Island is off Cape Lopez.