Growing up, I was taught that the Philippines was an archipelago composed of a staggering 7,100 islands. But recently, that number has changed. The Filipino National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) had suspected there were actually a lot more for a long time. Using synthetic aperture radar satellite technology and in-person checks they remapped the country and came up with over 500 more islands … 534 more to be exact. The 3 main islands are Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao but there are thousands of smaller ones. A friend of mine says his family owns one in the Quezon province that is so small there are days in the year when the whole island is under water. I think he was joking ... then again, maybe he wasn't.