REGION

Region II

CAPITAL

Basco

POLITICAL SUBDIVISION

Batanes has six municipalities, 29 barangays, and one congressional district. The six municipalities are Basco, Mahatao, Ivana, Uyugan (all in Batan island), and the island municipalities of Sabtang and Itbayat

PHYSICAL LOCATION

• Situated at longitude 121º 53' East and at latitude 22º 20' North.
• Smallest province of the Philippines.
• Population: approximately18,000
• Batanes is nearer Taiwan than mainland Luzon
  • 860 kilometers north of Manila,the capital of the Philippines
  • 280 kilometers from Aparri, the northern tip of the mainland of Luzon
  • 190 kilometers south of Taiwan.
• The Batanes Group of Islands is surrounded water
  • Pacific Ocean to the east
  • South China Sea to the west
  • Bashi Channel to the North
  • The Balintang Channel to the SouthThe Luzon Strait is between Taiwan and Luzon, and connects the Philippine Sea to the South China Sea. It is approximately 250 km wide and contains two groups of islands: Batanes Islands and the Babuyan Islands.

THE ISLANDS

• Composed of eleven tiny islands
• Of these, only three are inhabited (Batan, Itbayat, and Sabtang) while the islets of Dinem, Siayan, Ditarem, Misanga, Mavudis, Dequey and Vuhus are all uninhabited
• Mavudis (or Y'ami) is the country's northernmost island
• Batan Island has the highest population and is the political and commercial center of the province. Basco, the capital of the province, is in Batan island
• The municipalities of Basco, Mahatao, Ivana, and Uyugan, are located on Batan Island. The remaining two island municipalities are Sabtang and Itbayat
• The entire Batanes archipelago boasts of nine volcanoes, of which two are considered active or have shown signs of having erupted in the past few thousand years
• The only province in the Philippines declared in its entirety as a protected area under the National Integrated Protected Areas Act of 1992
• Only 6% of entire land area is comprised of flat lands

AREA

• Its vast territorial waters of 4,500 square kilometers is around 20 times more than its land area of only 230 square kilometers
• Of the total land area, or roughly around 14%, represent the combined land areas of the seven uninhabited islets

POPULATION

• As of August 1, 2007, Batanes recorded a total population of 15,974 spread in the following towns:
  • Basco: 7,517
    
  • Itbayat: 3,069
    
  • Mahatao: 1,539
    
  • Sabtang: 1,465
    
  • Uyugan: 1,203
    
  • Ivana: 1,181
• Of the 29 barangays in Batanes, most populated is Barangay Kayvaluganan in Basco with 2,055 people count. Least populated is Barangay Nakanmuan in Sabtang with a mere 119 people.
• Population Density (2007): 75 people per square kilometer
• Population Growth Rate (2007): 1.37%

SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC

• Number of Families: 4,080 families
• Literacy Rate: 97.39%

WEATHER

• Even during summer, weather in Batanes is relatively cooler than the rest of the Philippines.
• The coldest months are from December to February where temperatures fall to below 10 degrees. Dry months are from late March to June.
• Cool breeze in summer. Winter without the snow in cold season.

MAJOR INDUSTRIES

• Agriculture provides a major source of livelihood taking advantage of around 5,500 hectares of agricultural land
• Fishing offers another viable alternative but only during the months of March to June when the seawater is relatively calm
• Slowly, tourism is being groomed to become a major industry in the province.