PALAWAN, PHILIPPINE

S“PUERTO PRINCESA

UNDERGROUND RIVER: ONE OF THE

WORLD`S NEW SEVEN WONDERS OF

NATURE”

PALAWAN Palawan (Tagalog pronunciation: [pɐˈlawan]),

officially the Province of Palawan (Filipino: Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an island province of thePhilippines that is located in the MIMAROPA region. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of jurisdiction. Its capital is Puerto Princesa City, but it is governed independently from the province.

The islands of Palawan stretch from Mindoro in the northeast to Borneo in the southwest. It lies between the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea. The province is named after its largest island, Palawan Island (09°30′N 118°30′E), measuring 450 kilometres (280 mi) long, and 50 kilometres (31 mi) wide.[5][6]

PALAWAN ISLAND

Palawan is composed of the long and narrow Palawan Island, plus a number of other smaller islands surrounding the main island. The Calamianes Group of Islands to the Northeast consists of Busuanga Island, Coron Island and Culion Island. Durangan Island almost touches the westernmost part of Palawan Island, while Balabac Island is located off the southern tip, separated from Borneo by the Balabac Strait. In addition, Palawan covers the Cuyo Islands in the Sulu Sea. The disputed Spratly Islands, located a few hundred kilometres to the west, are considered part of Palawan by the Philippines, and is locally called the "Kalayaan Group of Islands".

Palawan's almost 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi) of irregular coastline are dotted with roughly 1,780 islands and islets, rocky coves, and sugar-white sandy beaches. It also harbors a vast stretch of virgin forests that carpet its chain of mountain ranges. The mountain heights average 3,500 feet (1,100 m) in altitude, with the highest peak rising to 6,843 feet (2,086 m)[6]

 at Mount Mantalingahan. The vast mountain areas are the source of valuable timber. The terrain is a mix of coastal plain, craggy foothills, valley deltas, and heavy forest interspersed with riverine arteries that serve as irrigation.[5]

POLITICAL MAP OF PALAWAN

Palawan consists of 367 barangays in 23 municipalities, and two congressional districts that divide the province into north and south portions. Thirteen municipalities are considered as mainland municipalities, and these are, Aborlan, Narra, Quezon, Sofronio Española, Brooke's Point, Rizal, and Bataraza (located south); San Vicente, Roxas, Dumaran, El Nido, and Taytay (found in the north). The remaining island municipalities are: Busuanga, Coron, Linapacan and Culion (forming the Calamianes group of islands), Cuyo, Agutaya and Magsaysay (the Cuyo group of islands), Araceli, Cagayancillo,Balabac and Kalayaan (Spratly Islands). The capital, Puerto Princesa is a highly urbanized city that governs itself independently from the province, but it usually grouped with the province for statistical and geographic purposes.

It has a total land area of 14,896 square kilometer (km2), When Puerto Princesa City is included for geographical purposes, the province's land area is 17,030.75 square kilometres (6,575.61 sq mi).[3] The land area is distributed to its mainland municipalities, comprising 12,239 km², and the island municipalities, which altogether measure 2,657 km². On the average, each municipality has an area of 620 km². On the other hand, the island municipality of Cuyo (4,003 km²) ranks largest in terms of municipal waters. On the latter, the mainland municipality of Sofronio Española has the smallest marine area with only 485 km².

The largest municipalities are situated in the central and northern mainland, and they are: Taytay (1,390 km²), and Roxas (1,220 km²). On the contrary, the smallest local government units are the island municipalities of Cagayancillo (15.40 km²), Magsaysay (27.70 km²) and Cuyo (57.30 km²). All 24 local government units have 431 barangays as of June 2002.

History[edit]The history of Palawan

(means Kapalawan in Meranau) may be traced back 22,000 years ago, as confirmed by the discovery of bone fragments of the Tabon Man in the municipality of Quezon. Although the origin of the cave dwellers is not yet established, anthropologists believe they came from Borneo. Known as the Cradle of Philippine Civilization, the Tabon Caves consist of a series of chambers where scholars and anthropologists discovered the remains of the Tabon Man along with his tools and a number of artifacts.[5]

Economy[edit]Palawan's economy is basically agricultural. The three

major crops are palay, corn and coconut. Mineral resources include nickel, copper, manganese, and chromite. Logging is also a major industry. Palawan has one of the richest fishing grounds in the country. About 45% of Manila's supply of fish comes from here. Having natural gas reserves of approximately 30,000 trillion cubic feet, the province is the onlyoil-producing province in the country.[19][20] In addition, tourism is also a thriving sector.

Pearl diving used to be a significant economic activity for Palawan until the advent of plastics.[citation needed] The world's largest pearl, the 240 millimetres (9.4 in) diameter Pearl of Lao Tzu, was found off Palawan in 1934.

The economic and agricultural business growth of province is at 20% per annum.[20] Coconut, sugar, rice, lumber, and livestock are produced here.[6]

Flora and faunaA Palawan Peacock-Pheasant

Palawan Palm forrest.

Taranaban River

Top Ten Places to Visit in Palawan

Palawan, also known as the Philippine’s Last Frontier

 is a must visit for everyone who wishes to see nature at its best. This is definitely one of a must visit places in the Philippines because of its white sandy beaches, gorgeous scenery, friendly locals, amazing landscape and seascape and a variety of flora and fauna. Palawan is a perfect vacation getaway. Palawan is also a tourist’s hotspot because of its caves, lagoons, rain-forests, and rich diversity of marine life. There are lots of things to do and see in Palawan so here are our Top Ten Places to Visit in Palawan.

1. Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park –The Park is located in the Saint Paul mountain range and the entrance to the underground park is just a short hike from Sabang. This is said to be one of the longest underground river in te world.

2. El Nido – This is one of the most beautiful places in the whole Philippines and it’s a great best to dive and snorkel, island hop or just to relax and lie comfortably on the beach.

3. Honda Bay – is just a 30 minutes’ drive from Puerto Princesa. Honda Bay is a must go to place too if you’re in Palawan. Island hopping is a popular activity in Honda bay among foreign and local tourists alike.

4. Coron – Coron is another gorgeous destination in Northern Palawan. A lot of foreign and local visitors frequently go here because of the direct flight that it has with Manila. It’s a great place to explore a variety of island and to snorkel and dive to see sunken ships. Coron is also home to a variety of colourful marine life which makes snorkelling and diving in Coron so much fun.

5. Sabang – This beach village is the nearest place to the Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park so if you’re going there, you’ll surely pass through this town. The beach here is quiet and beautiful and it’s a great place to relax after your day tour to the underground river. You can also explore the nearby mangrove forest and learn about the ecosystem that it supports.

6. Batac Tribal Community – An indigenous group of people in Palawan that dwells in the river valley just north of the provincial capital. Some say that there are only less than 500 of them left and these people are slowly disappearing.

7. Puerto De Sta. Isabel – also called the Taytay Port is one of the historical places to see in Palawan. The fort was used as a military station during the Spanish Era. The fort was built under the order of the Augustinian Recollect Fathers in 1667.

8. Port Barton – a quiet and beautiful fishing village, you can see here white sand beaches and a lot of beautiful sceneries and attractions. There are some restaurants here too and the place just has a laidback and relaxing atmosphere, activities are island hopping, snorkelling, swimming and a lot more. When you visit port Barton, be sure to check out the Pamoayan Falls as well.

9. Tabon Cave – The cave is located in the southern part of Palawan and labelled as the “Cradle of Civilisation” of the Philippines. This is where archaeologists found a skull cap and other remains of what they believed as the oldest inhabitants in the country.

10. Calauit Island – Calauit island will come up as a surprise to everyone because the main feature of this island is the collection of African animals such as giraffes, zebras and gazelles among others that are roaming freely in the wild. This is in response to an international effort to help save the animals in Kenya during the 70’s. Eight species arrived in Calauit in 1977 which include; impalas, giraffes, zebras, bushbucks, waterbucks, gazelles, elands, and topis. From then on, the animals proliferated and existed in this island together with some local species. This island is now a wildlife sanctuary.

PALAWAN`S YUMMY MENU

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