|
|
PROVINCIAL PROFILE OF SAMAR
FAST FACTS
Capital : Catbalogan
Area : 5,591 sq. km
Population : 533,733
Cities : Calbayog
No. of Towns : 25
Click Here To View The List Of
Towns.
LOCATION
Samar Province occupies the southwestern part of Samar Island in
eastern
Visayas. It is bounded on the north by Northern Samar, on the
east by
Eastern Samar, on the west by the Samar Sea, and on the south by
Leyte
Gulf.
THE LAND
Samar is the third largest island of the Philippine archipelago.
The province is
also the largest of the three Samar provinces. It is hilly, with
some mountains
200 to 300 m high and a few narrow strips of lowland. It has a
number of
islands, 15 of which have land areas varying from 1,000 to 10,000
hectares.
The major rivers are Gibatan, Gandara, Basey, and Calbiga. Samar
experiences rain in varying degrees for most part of the year.
During
September and October, it usually is in the path of typhoons.
A BRIEF HISTORY
During the early days of Spanish rule, Samar Island was under the
jurisdiction
of the bishopric of Cebu. In 1735, Samar and Leyte were merged to
form one
province. Three years later, Samar was separated from Leyte, and
Catbalogan
became its capital. Republic Act No. 4221 dated June 19, 1965
divided Samar
into three provinces: Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, and Western
Samar.
The name of Western was changed to Samar on June 21, 1969 under
R.A.
No. 5650.
THE PEOPLE
Samareņos speak the Waray dialect.
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
As an agricultural province, the most important products are
coconut, rice,
corn, and abaca. There are a few large industries such as mining,
jellyfish
processing, and logging. The province has the largest marble
reserves in the
region. Samar Sea, which adjoins MaquedaBay, supports a large and
varied
fish population. But presently, fishery resources are severely
stressed due to
overfishing and environmental destruction. Large-scale drying and
salting of
fish are done in Catbalogan for consumers in upland areas and the
Manila
market. Cottage industries include woodcraft, shellcraft,
basket-weaving, and
abaca processing.
Information gathered from:
League of
Provinces
by:Roberto C. Arellano
This page last revised:February 02, 1999.
