THE ISLAND PROVINCE OF MASBATE

The Province of Masbate lies at the center of the Philippine Archipelago between latitudes 11 degrees 43 minutes north and 21 degrees 36 minutes north, 123 degrees 9 minutes east and 124 degrees 15 minutes east. It is composed of a wedge-shaped mainland (Masbate), two major islands (Ticao and Burias) and 14 small islands. It is bounded on the north by the Bicol Mainland, on the south by the Visayan Sea, on the west by Sibuyan Sea and on the east by the Burias Pass, Ticao Pass and Samar Sea.

The province covers a total land area of 4,047.7 square kilometers. It is politically subdivided into three congressional districts, 20 municipalities, one city and 550 barangays. Masbate had a population of 707,668 as of the 2000 census, growing at an average rate of 1.71 percent from 1995 to 2000. The province had an average population density of 174.8 persons per square kilometer.

Masbate is the biggest cattle raising province in the region. Its main economic activity is agriculture with copra, rice, corn and tobacco as its main products. Fishing is also a major industry in the province. Until lately, the province is the site of the biggest gold mining operation in the region. Other minerals found in the island province are manganese and limestone.

Due to its geographic location, Masbate is a melting pot of dialects and cultures. Residents in the capital town of Masbate speak the native Masbateño with a mixture of the Bicol dialect; natives of Cataingan, Palanas, and Dimasalang along its east coast use Samar-Visayan; residents from Pio V. Corpus, Cataingan and Placer in the south speak Bohol and Cebu Visayan; along the western coast of Mandaon and Balud, people converse in Ilongo and Capiceño; natives of the Burias island talk in variants of the Bicol dialect and Visayan due mainly to the droves of migrants to the island during the sixties.