 Map with Palawan Island highlighted in red | |
.svg)  Palawan Location within the Philippines | |
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Southeast Asia |
| Coordinates | 9°30′N118°30′E / 9.5°N 118.5°E /9.5; 118.5 |
| Archipelago | Philippine Islands |
| Adjacent to | |
| Area | 12,188.6 km2 (4,706.0 sq mi)[1] |
| Area rank | 64th |
| Length | 425 km (264.1 mi)[2] |
| Width | 40 km (25 mi)[2] |
| Coastline | 1,354.1 km (841.4 mi)[1] |
| Highest elevation | 2,086 m (6844 ft)[1] |
| Highest point | Mount Mantalingajan |
| Administration | |
| Region | Mimaropa |
| Province | Palawan |
| Municipalities | |
| Capital and largest city | Puerto Princesa (pop. 316,384) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 1,023,849 (2024)[3] |
| Pop. density | 72.7/km2 (188.3/sq mi) |
Palawan (Spanish:Isla deLa Paragua) is the largest island of the province ofPalawan in thePhilippines and fifth-largest by area and tenth-most populous island of the country, with a total population of 1,023,849 as of 2024 census. The northwest coast of the island is along thePalawan Passage in the easternSouth China Sea, while the southeast coast forms part of the northern limit of theSulu Sea.[4] Much of the island remains traditional and is considered by some as under-developed. Abundant wildlife, jungle mountains, and some white sandy beaches attract many tourists, as well as international companies looking for development opportunities.[5][6][7]
One city and 12 out of the 23 municipalities of the Province of Palawan are on this island.Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, one of seven operating units of theBureau of Corrections, is located on the island.
The entire length of the island forms a mountain range, with a peak altitude of 2,086 meters (6,844 ft) atMount Mantalingajan. Other significant peaks include Mount Gantung (1,788 meters (5,866 ft)) in Batazara and Victoria Peak (1,726 meters (5,663 ft)) inNarra.[2] The outlying islands includeCagayancillo to the far east,Dumaran Island and the more distantCuyo Archipelago are to the northeast, andLinapacan andBusuanga Island nearby in the north-northeast. The archipelago ofKalayaan Municipality is to the far west, whileBalabac Municipality is south of the island's western edge.
The geology of Palawan is, in many ways, unlike other parts of the Philippines. The crust of northeast Palawan was derived from the southeast edge of thecontinental crust of China, part of theEurasian Plate. It is the exposed portion of amicrocontinent that drifted southward with the opening of the South China Sea, and forms the shallow waters north of Palawan in theReed Bank-Dangerous Ground area of the southern South China Sea. Some of the oldest rocks in the Philippines are found in northeast Palawan (Permian-Carboniferous age). Southwest Palawan exposes primarilyophiolitic material (rocks derived from uplifted oceanic crust and mantle). This 34Mya old (latestEocene-earliestOligocene) ophiolite[8] appears to have beenthrust upon the continental crust as well as the older,Cretaceous ophiolitic and sedimentary units. The transition from "oceanic"ophiolite in the southwest to "continental"-type rocks in the northeast occurs in the area of central Palawan around Ulugan Bay and the Sabang area, in the southern coasts of which are several exposures showing Palawan ophiolite having been thrust onto continent-derived clastic rocks ("Sabang thrust").[9]
The Palawan Trough is an area of deeper water adjacent to the north coast of Palawan in the South China Sea.[10] The Palawan Trough is thought to exist due to downbending of the continental crust due to the weight of the ophiolite thrust sheet.
Further north, around theMalampaya Sound area and up to theEl Nido area, one finds older (Triassic-Jurassic) deep marinechert andlimestone. The limestone forms spectacularkarst terrain. These units are part of the microcontinent ("North Palawan Block") although they are deep marine rocks marginal to the continental crust. They were accreted to the Chinese continental crust in the Mesozoic at a time when an Andean-typesubduction zone existed in southeast China.
Intruding these rocks in central Palawan (Cleopatra's Needle area) and northern Palawan (Mount Capoas or Kapoas area) are young granite bodies (true granite togranodiorite). The Kapoas intrusion is of Miocene age (13-15 million years old based on zircon and monazite U-Pb dating).[11] In theTaytay area of northern Palawan, a youngbasalticcinder cone is another manifestation of young magmatic activity. The granitic magmatism and basaltic magmatism are both expressions of what has been identified as a widespread post-South China Sea spreading magmatism that has affected many areas around the South China Sea.[12]
Tectonically, Palawan with theCalamian Islands, is considered to be a north-east extension of theSunda Plate, in collision with thePhilippine Mobile Belt atMindoro.
Unlike most of the country, Palawan isbiogeographically part ofSundaland, with a fauna and flora related to those inBorneo.[13][14]
Two articulatedphalanx bones of atiger, besides another phalanx piece, were found amidst an assemblage of other animal bones andstone tools inIlle Cave near the village of New Ibajay. The other animal fossils were ascribed tomacaques,deer,bearded pigs, small mammals, lizards, snakes and turtles. From the stone tools, besides the evidence for cuts on the bones, and the use of fire, it would appear that early humans had accumulated the bones.[14] Additionally, the condition of the tigersubfossils, dated to approximately 12,000 to 9,000 years ago, differed from other fossils in the assemblage, dated to theUpper Paleolithic. The tiger subfossils showed longitudinal fracture of thecortical bone due to weathering, which suggests that they hadpost-mortem been exposed to light and air. Tiger parts were commonly used asamulets inSouth andSoutheast Asia, so it may be that the tiger parts were imported from elsewhere, as is the case with tigercanine teeth, which were found in Ambangan sites dating to the 10th to 12th centuries inButuan,Mindanao. On the other hand, the proximity of Borneo and Palawan also makes it likely that thetiger had colonized Palawan from Borneo before the EarlyHolocene.[15][16]
Using the work of Von den Driesch,[17] all chosen anatomical features of appendicular elements' anatomical features which were chosen, besides molars, were measured to distinguish betweentaxa that had close relationships, and see morphometric changes over ages, though not forpigs or deer. For the latter two,cranial andmandibular elements, besides teeth of deer from Ille Cave were compared with samples of thePhilippine brown deer (Cervus mariannus),Calamian hog deer (Axis calamianensis), andVisayan spotted deer (Cervus alfredi), and thus two taxa of deer have been identified from the fossils:Axis andCervus.[18] Remains of pigs were compared with theEurasian (Sus scrofa) andPalawanese wild boar (Sus ahoenobarbus). It is known that the Eurasian wild boar was imported as a domesticate to the islands fromMainland Southeast Asia to the islands during the TerminalHolocene.[19][20][21][22][23]
Throughout deposits of the Terminal Pleistocene and early Holocene and Terminal Pleistocene at Ille Cave, elements of deer skeletons are regular, gradually becoming less before vanishing in the Terminal Holocene. One 'large' and one 'small' taxon can be easily differentiated by the significant change in size observed in the postcranial elements and dentition.[18] From comparisons of themesial-distal andlabio-lingual measurements of individual fossil teeth and mandibular toothrows with those of surviving deer taxa in the Philippines and other Southeast Asian islands, it appears that the Calamian hog deer is most plausible candidate for the small taxon. The hog deer exists in forest edges and open grassland habitats on the islands ofCulion and Busuanga, which during the Pleistocene were part of the landmass of Greater Palawan, but not on Palawan itself nowadays.[24] As for the 'large' taxon of deer found in the Palawan fossils, thePhilippine brown deer from Luzon appears to be closely matched to them, from dental biometric comparisons which are similar between the latter and extant members of thegenusCervus orRusa, particularly the Philippine brown deer (C. mariannus) andspotted deer (C. alfredi). However, the Philippine brown deer shows significant variation across its range, with populations onMindanao Island being smaller than those ofLuzon. Thus, it is possible that the overlap between the Luzon brown deer and the archaeological material is coincidental, and that the fossils could belonged to another species ofCervus that had occurred in Palawan, with the taxonomic classification being unresolved.[25] The Philippine brown deer from Luzon appears to be closely matched to the 'large' taxon of deer found in the Palawan fossils, from dental biometric comparisons which are similar between the latter and extant members of thegenusCervus orRusa, particularly the Philippine brown deer (C. mariannus) andspotted deer (C. alfredi). However, the Philippine brown deer shows significant variation across its range, with populations onMindanao Island being smaller than those ofLuzon. Thus, it is possible that the overlap between the Luzon brown deer and the archaeological material is coincidental, and that the fossils could belonged to another species ofCervus that had occurred in Palawan, with the taxonomic classification being unresolved.[25] Otherwise, members of the genusCervus are no longer seen in the region of Palawan.[18]
In April 2013, a fishing vessel loaded with illegally poached animals ran aground on a coral atoll off the coast of Palawan Island.[26]
In May 2014,Armed Forces of the PhilippinesChief-of-Staff GeneralEmmanuel T. Bautista commented that Oyster Bay may be developed into a naval base withUnited States Navy support.[27]
More than 50 percent of Palawan residents speakTagalog. Languages native to the island areCuyonon (26.27%) andPalawano (4.0%).Kinaray-a is also present in Palawan, spoken by 19 percent of inhabitants. When the south of Palawan was part of theSultanate of Sulu,Tausūg was thelingua franca of minority Islamized ethnic groups, i.e., theMolbog, Muslim Palaw'an, as well as migrantTausūg and itinerantSama-Bajau. Many local Muslims and barter traders today can also speakSabah Malay. By the 19th century, Tausūg was superseded as alingua franca byCuyonon, which was also a common tongue for many of Palawan's native peoples including theAgutaynon, Cagayanen,Tagbanwa, Palawan, among others.
The mass immigration to Palawan by various groups of people fromSouthern Tagalog, theIlocandia,Central Luzon, andPanay eventually brought in their own languages, with the number of Cuyonon speakers plummeting in the 1990s and 2000s as Tagalog became widespread once the province was administratively placed in the Southern Tagalogregion.[28] TheBatangas dialect of Tagalog is common due to Palawan's geographical proximity toBatangas andMindoro.
Since the 1970s, the MuslimMoro people inMindanao, Philippines have been involved in aconflict with the government. Religious and political conflicts not only caused deaths but also forced people to migrate from Mindanao, pushing some of them to move to Palawan. In their place of migration in Palawan, they maintained their language and Islamic identity from 1970 onwards. Adding to the linguistic diversity of Palawan, most of these migrants areMaguindanao,Maranao, andIranun speakers.[29]
English is spoken by a majority of the younger (age 20–39) population inPuerto Princesa, and by a minority in every other area of the province.
Geographic data related toPalawan (island) atOpenStreetMapThe 40 largestislands of the Philippines | ||
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