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PROVINCIAL PROFILE OF SULTAN KUDARAT
FAST FACTS
Capital : Isulan
Area : 6,225 sq km
Population : 435, 454
Cities : none
No. of Towns : 12
Click Here To View The
List Of Towns.
LOCATION
Sultan Kudarat is in central Mindanao. It is bounded on the north
by North
Cotabato and Maguindanao, on the east by Davao del Sur, on the
west by the
Moro Gulf, and on the south by South Cotabato.
THE LAND
The province's topography ranges from plains to rolling hills and
mountains.
The three coastal towns on the western side are lined with
mountain ranges
which wall the central portion from the sea. These are balanced
by the
mountain ranges of Columbio on the eastern side, leaving flat and
undulating
land in between. The climate is characterized by a short dry
season of one to
three months. Rainfall is evenly distributed throughout the year.
A BRIEF HISTORY
The province was named after the most famous and perhaps the
greatest ruler
to rise among the Maguindanaos, Sultan Mohammed Dipatuan Kudarat.
At
the height of his power in the mid-17th century, Sultan Kudarat
ruled not only
Lanao and parts of Davao and Cotabato but up to the northern
coast of
Borneo. He united the Muslims in fierce resistance against the
Spaniards.
During the Spanish period, the province was heavily forested and
underdeveloped.
After 1913, extensive tracts of the Cotabato lowlands were opened
to settlers
from Luzon and the Visayas. The large-scale migration that ensued
continued
into the 1960s. Sultan Kudarat was created from Cotabato on
November 22,
1973, by Presidential Decree No. 341.
THE PEOPLE
Christian migrants now outnumber Muslims and highlanders.
Maguindanaons
live in the coastal towns. Tribal groups who have settlements in
the province
include the Iranons, Tirurays, and Manobo. The predominant
dialect is
Ilonggo or Hiligaynon. In some municipalities, Cebuano and
Ilocano are
spoken. Maguindanaon is the dialect of the Muslim population.
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Sultan Kudarat is predominantly and extensively and agricultural
province. It
is endowed with rich and vast arable areas. Practically all kinds
of crops are
grown: coconut, sugarcane, abaca, tobacco, and ramie, of which
the region is
the country's top producer. It has a marketable surplus of rice,
corn, beef,
coffee, and vegetables, and is self-sufficient in poultry, swine,
and root crops.
It is one of the few producers of Irish potatoes in the
Philippines.
The Southern Philippines Grain Complex in Tacurong is the largest
grains-processing complex in the country. There are more than 200
ricemills
in the province. Other major industries include logging,
cornstarch milling, and
processing of raw rubber into latex. There is also an Africa-oil
extraction plant
and a rice bran oil extraction plant and refinery.
Information gathered from:
League of
Provinces
by:Roberto C. Arellano
This page last revised:February 02, 1999.
