Mindanao, Philippines

By | January 21, 2022

Mindanao, southernmost, with 94 630 km 2 the second largest island of the Philippines, (2015) 24.1 million residents.

National nature: Mindanao has predominantly highland and mountain character; more extensive plains are only the Agusantal in the northeast and the plain of Cotabato in the west. With the exception of the Davao area, the coastlines are narrow. In the northern central part, huge plateau basalts and stratovolcanoes are decisive. They build the plateau of Lanao-Bukidnon. In the southern central part, too, the volcanoes with the highest mountain in the Philippines, Mt. Apo (2,954 m above sea level) characterize the relief. The extensive Cotabato Basin represents a young sedimentary basin. The Daguma Mountains, which are characterized by a more complex geological structure, and the coastal cordillera in the south-west are wooded, but have not yet been developed much. The Zamboanga peninsula is connected to the main part of Mindanao via an isthmus that is only 7 km wide;

Climate: Mindanao is located in the inner tropics and – favoring agricultural use -, with the exception of the northeast, outside the typhoon belt. Annual precipitation is often over 3,000 mm (Surigao: 3,605 mm); they only drop significantly in the southeast (Davao: 1,930 mm) and especially in the southwest (Zamboanga: 1,125 mm).

Economy: Mindanao has rich natural resources. These include significant mineral resources, some of which have been developed with foreign aid, such as copper ores, gold (including Mount Diwata / Compostela Valley) and silver (around Davao), nickel and iron ores (both of which are the richest deposits in the country) as well as chromite and bauxite in the northeast (on the offshore islands Nonoc and Dinagat). Mindanao also has rich supplies of timber. The bananas (around Davao), pineapples (east of Cagayan de Oro), coconut and oil palms, rubber and Manila hemp, which are often cultivated in plantations (partly by foreign companies), also play a role for export. The cultivation of rice, corn, cassava and others. is mainly used for personal use, as is coastal fishing.

According to 800zipcodes, the population is concentrated in the river plains mentioned and along the coasts; the interior is sparsely populated, with the exception of the region around Lake Lanao. These peripheral areas are the settlement areas of ethnic minorities (including Subanonon, Bukidnon, Tirurary, Bilaan, Manobo, Mandaya, Bagobo; summarized under the name Lumad), into which they were pushed back by the groups who later immigrated (200 BC to 1500 AD). You operate land change management. – With the completion of the agricultural development, the cities also experience increased immigration. The most important cities are Davao in the southeast, Zamboanga in the southwest and Cagayan de Oro in the north. Up until the 1960s, Mindanao was the main target region for internal migration, mainly from the Visayas (Cebuano: most common language in Mindanao). – A particular problem developed from the conflict between the Christians who immigrated from the north and the Muslim minority (Moro), which at the beginning of the 1970s escalated into a guerrilla war that was costly for both sides. sought to contain it through the creation of an autonomous region Muslim Mindanao (ARMM, 1990) and through a peace agreement signed on September 2, 1996 with the Muslim organization “Moro National Liberation Front” (MNLF). In 2001 an MNLF group attacked military facilities again; 2000–03 there was new fighting between government troops and rebels of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which had split off from the MNLF(MILF), which, however, also started negotiations. Over 100,000 people fell victim to the conflict. A 2008 peace agreement between the government and the rebels was declared invalid by the Supreme Court. In October 2012, through the mediation of Malaysia, a framework agreement for a new peace agreement was reached. However, the situation remained unstable. A state of emergency was declared in the Mindanao region after fighting in the city of Marawi in May 2017. Philippines (history).

Cebu (city)

Cebu [Spanish θe  u], provincial capital on the east coast of the island of the same name, economic, cultural and religious center of the Visayan Islands, Philippines, (2015) 922 600 residents (metropolitan area population of 2.5 million).

Six universities (including San Carlos, founded in 1595, the oldest in the country); catholic archbishop’s seat; Petroleum refinery, export production zone. After Manila, Cebu is the most important city in the country, the most important port for inland traffic and air traffic hub (international airport on the island of Mactan).

Basilica Santo Niño in Spanish colonial style (around 1600), Metropolitan Cathedral (16th century); Houses with pre-built balconies on mighty wooden pillars; Spanish fortifications (now a school and administration building).

Cebu was founded in 1565 as the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines.

Mindanao, Philippines