Since the accessibility of land has been depleted, Leyte has provided countless number of migrants toMindanao.Most inhabitants are farmers. Fishing is a supplementary activity. Rice and corn (maize) are the main food crops; cash crops include coconuts, abaca, tobacco, bananas, and sugarcane. There are some manganese deposits, and sandstone and limestone are quarried in the northwest.[3]
Politically, the island is divided into twoprovinces:(Northern) Leyte andSouthern Leyte. Territorially, Southern Leyte includes the island ofPanaon to its south. To the north of Leyte is the island province ofBiliran, a former sub-province of Leyte.
The major cities of Leyte areTacloban, on the eastern shore at the northwest corner ofLeyte Gulf, andOrmoc, on the west coast.
Leyte today is notable for thegeothermal electric power plants near Ormoc.
The island was known to 16th-century Spanish explorers as Tandaya. Its population grew rapidly after 1900, especially in the Leyte and Ormoc valleys. The island was once the location ofMairete, a historic community which was ruled by Datu Ete. Before being colonized by Spain, the island was once home to indigenous animistWarays to the east and other indigenous animist Visayan groups to the west. In the early 17th Century Father Ignacio Alcina, recorded a local epic that a certain Datung Sumanga of Leyte courted the princess, Bugbung Humasanum of Bohol by raiding Imperial China, and upon their marriage, they were the precursorsof a kingdom there.[4]
Leyte was once labeled asCeylon in early Spanish maps of the Philippines[5] and in the 1700s, was home to 38Spanish Filipino families and 7,678 native families.[6]: 113
Leyte is most famous for its role in thereconquest of the Philippines inWorld War II. The province was utilized by the Japanese as a hub for sexual slavery. Some sex slave sites included Tacloban and Burauen, where the Japanese kidnapped girls, teenagers, and young adults and forced them into becoming sex slaves under the brutal "comfort women" system.[7][8][9] On 20 October 1944, GeneralDouglas MacArthur waded ashore on Leyte, saying, "I have returned", but theJapanese continued to resist strongly in theBattle of Leyte. The convergence of naval forces resulted in the four-dayBattle of Leyte Gulf, thelargest naval battle in history. During World War II the island was part of a large US Navy baseLeyte-Samar Naval Base.
The island measures about 180 kilometres (110 mi) north-south and about 65 kilometres (40 mi) at its widest point. In the north it nearly joins the island ofSamar, separated by theSan Juanico Strait, which becomes as narrow as 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) in some places. The island province ofBiliran is also to the north of Leyte and is joined to Leyte island by a bridge across the narrowBiliran Strait. To the south, Leyte is separated fromMindanao by theSurigao Strait. To the east, Leyte is somewhat "set back" from thePhilippine Sea of thePacific Ocean, Samar to the northeast and theDinagat Islands to the southeast formingLeyte Gulf. To the west is theCamotes Sea.[citation needed]
Leyte is mostly heavily forested and mountainous, but theLeyte Valley in the northeast has much agriculture.
The Leyte provincial capitol is the seat of the provincial government where there is a mural depicting theFirst Mass in the Philippines, believed to have happened inLimasawa, and the landing of GeneralDouglas MacArthur.
TheMacArthur Landing Memorial National Park in Red Beach,Palo, marks the 1944 landing by the American liberation forces. It also has a lagoon where a life-sized statue of Gen. MacArthur stands.
Mahagnao Volcano Natural Park Located inBurauen, Leyte, about 66 km (41 mi) from Tacloban City, theMahagnao Volcano Natural Park attracts visitors with its lakes, craters, hot springs, multi-colored mud, virgin forests and lagoon. It was proclaimed as a national park in 1937. Like other regions in the Philippines, the area enjoys a temperate climate. It has an elevation of 1,200 meters above sea level and an area of 635 hectares, within the boundaries of Burauen, La Paz and McArthur towns.[10]
Lake Danao is a guitar-shaped lake hemmed by the cloud-cappedAnonang-Lobi mountain ranges.
Kalanggaman Island inPalompon, Leyte is a virgin island with pure white sand. The ecological atmosphere of the island had been preserved by the municipality.
The Sto. Nino Shrine and Heritage Museum boasts the painting of the fourteen stations of the cross done by Filipino artists and a bas-relief of the legend of the first Filipino man and woman (Malakas andMaganda).
Leyte Island is the birthplace of theTinikling dance, popular throughout the Philippines.[citation needed]
On Friday, 8 November 2013,Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) destroyed 70-80% of the structures in its path on Leyte province. An estimated 10,000 people died and up to 620,000 people were displaced across the region.[11]
Leyte Tide Embankment Project was conceptualized as part of the program on rehabilitation from the aftermath of thestrongest typhoon, to build safer cities/communities. Theflood control shall cover a length of about 27.3 kilometers stretching from the shoreline of Barangay Diit,Tacloban City passing through the entire shoreline of the Municipality ofPalo, Leyte and ending up to Barangay Ambao ofTanauan, Leyte.[13]
^"Islands by Land Area".Island Directory Tables. United Nations Environment Programme. Archived fromthe original on 20 February 2018. Retrieved12 June 2013.
