Claim: The Philippines is an archipelago.

The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea east and northeast of the Philippines occupying an estimated surface area of 5 million km ² -LRB- 2 million mi ² -RRB- . It is located in the western part of the North Pacific Ocean . It is bordered by the Philippine archipelago -LRB- Luzon , Catanduanes , Samar , Leyte and Mindanao -RRB- on the southwest ; Halmahera , Morotai , Palau , Yap , and Ulithi -LRB- of the Carolines -RRB- 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 .