Brief info about province of Catanduanes

1. CATANDUANES

2. GEOGRAPHY
The island bounded on the west by the
Maqueda Channel, on the south by Lagonoy
Gulf, and on the north and east by
the Philippine Sea. Several islands compose
the province, but beside the main island, they
are all too small to be of relative significance.
Its aggregate land area totals approximately
1,511.5 square kilometers or 151,150
hectares. The coastlines, that stretch to almost
400 km (249 mi), are jagged with many bays.

3. The province is mostly rugged and mountainous
terrain. Its slope characteristics are 13% gently
sloping to undulating, 1% classified rolling to
hilly, 2% very hills and mountains, 47% level to
very gently sloping, 32% steep hills and
mountainous, and 5% undulating to rolling. Ten
of the eleven municipalities of the province are
situated along the coastal fringes, over which
locate its mostly fractured plains. The only
landlocked municipality is San Miguel with
its poblacion [town center] sitting in a location
entirely devoid of flat lands. The majority of the
built-up areas occupy zones that are classified as
flat to rolling.

4. POLITICAL SUBVISION

5. RELIGION
Roman Catholicism is the religion of the vast
majority, comprising 97% of Catanduanes
population. The remaining faith of
Catandunganon people are divided with the
various Protestant groups such as Baptists,
Methodists, other Evangelical Christians,
Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Iglesia ni
Cristo as well as Moslems.

6. LANGUAGE
Two dialects of the Bicol language are being
spoken locally: Northern Catanduanes
Bicolano and Southern Catanduanes Bicolano.
The northern accent has a very pronounced
letter R that becomes a diphthong of non-vowel
letters L and R in the southern towns. In written
form, the conventional mainland Bicol language
is used. Tagalog, by virtue of being officially
taught in schools and the affinity of most
Bicolanos to it, is the second most common
language and easily the most understood by
people of all walks of life.

7. ECONOMY
Agriculture, fishing and tourism is the other
source of living in this beautiful island. Several
handicrafts, jewelry manufacturing, other small-
scale industries and manufacturing enterprises
also one of the contributors to the province's
economy. The province is rich in natural
resources, forests, waterfalls, rivers, mineral
deposits and productive soil made fertile by
volcanic ashes of distant Mayon Volcano.
Rattancraft, fishing, buri hat and mat making
and abaca fiber craft are its most and among the
important industries of the island.