Rdxfbgrtj

Surigao del Sur
Province
Province of Surigao del Sur
Surigao del Sur Provincial Capitol in Tandag
Flag Seal
Nickname(s):  Shangri-La by the Pacific[1]
Location in the Philippines
Coordinates: 8°40′N 126°00′E / 8.67°N 126°E / 8.67; 126Coordinates: 8°40′N 126°00′E / 8.67°N 126°E / 8.67; 126
Country	Philippines
Region	Caraga (Region XIII)
Founded	June 19, 1960
Capital	Tandag
Government
• Type	Sangguniang Panlalawigan
• Governor	Manuel O. Alameda, Sr. (Liberal Party)
• Vice Governor	Eleonor Momo
• Congressman 1st District	Prospero A. Pichay, Jr. (Lakas–CMD)
• Congressman 2nd District	Johnny T. Pimentel (Liberal Party)
Area [2]
• Total	4,932.70 km2 (1,904.53 sq mi)
Area rank	21st out of 81
Highest elevation (Mount Diwata)	553 m (1,814 ft)
Population (2015 census)[3]
• Total	592,250
• Rank	49th out of 81
• Density	120/km2 (310/sq mi)
• Density rank	66th out of 81
Divisions
• Independent cities	0
• Component cities	2 Bislig Tandag
• Municipalities	17 Barobo Bayabas Cagwait Cantilan Carmen Carrascal Cortes Hinatuan Lanuza Lianga Lingig Madrid Marihatag San Agustin San Miguel Tagbina Tago
• Barangays	309
• Districts	1st and 2nd districts of Surigao del Sur
Time zone	UTC+8 (PHT)
ZIP code	8300–8318
IDD : area code	+63 (0)86
ISO 3166 code	PH
Spoken languages	Surigaonon Kamayo Cebuano Agusan English
Income classification	1st class
Website	www.surigaodelsur.gov.ph

Surigao del Sur (Surigaonon: Probinsya nan Surigao del Sur; Cebuano: Habagatang Surigao) is a province in the Philippines located in the Caraga region in Mindanao. Its capital is Tandag City. Surigao del Sur is situated at the eastern coast of Mindanao and faces the Philippine Sea to the east.

History

An old map showing the current territories of the province as part of the historical province of Surigao

Before the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century, the aborigines of the province were the Mamanua and Manobo. Austronesian people from the Visayas came to settle with the natives.^[4] It was with the arrival of the immigrants that the province acquired its name from one of the natives, Saliagao who are now known as Surigaonon, who lived near the mouth of the river. The name Saliagao was later pronounced Surigao by the inhabitants.

Another version of the origin of the name "Surigao" is that, Visayan fishermen forced by the strong current of the Surigao Strait, sought refuge in one of the huts somewhere in the province. The Mamanua who thought that these fishermen wanted to occupy the hut by force said "Agaw", the term which was later given a prefix "Suri".^[4]

Ancient province of Surigao extended from what is known as Agusan, including the islands east of it and the northern regions of Davao and the capital of the province that time was Caraga and so the Spaniards called the people Caragas.

The aborigines of Surigao del Sur were a mixture of different races which include the Mandaya, Mamanua, Mansaka and Manobo. These groups were of Malayan-Indonesian ancestry who immigrated thousands of years ago.^[vague] In the course of their migration, these primitive nomads were believed^{[by whom?]} to have separated their ways in some portions of the archipelago in search for food (i.e., during the pleistocene of the glacial ages). It was believed further^{[by whom?]} that they first settled in the northern island of the country who later took their bancas and reach the shores of Mindanao particularly in the Provinces of Surigao and Davao.^{[clarification needed]} They scattered among themselves in spots^{[clarification needed]} either in pairs or by family clans, retaining their own customs, dialects and ways of life.

There was no trace of exact dates and places of arrival. But it was known^{[by whom?]} that this group of people^[which?] were very nomadic and were the remnants of the present Mamanua and Manobo found in the wilderness of the northern part of Davao bordering the Province of Surigao.^{[original research?]} Their migratory movement was said^{[by whom?]} to have come from the hinterlands of Agusan and along the foothills of western and southern part of Surigao del Sur. It was pointed out^{[by whom?]} that the cause of migration was due to famine and occurrence of death from diseases believed caused by evil spirits.^{[citation needed]}

During the Spanish Occupation in 1860, six military districts were created in Mindanao, with Surigao and Agusan forming the "East District". In 1870, the district was renamed to "Distrito de Surigao". In 1901, Distrito de Surigao became chartered province. Agusan became an independent province in 1907 during the American era, when it was separated from Surigao.^[4]

Independent province

Surigao del Sur was created as the 56th Philippine province on June 19, 1960 through Republic Act 2786, separated from its mother province, Surigao, on September 18, 1960.^[5]

At the time of its inception, it was classified as 4th Class province with an annual income of over ₱300,000.00. Seven years later, because of rapid increase of revenue collection particularly from the logging ventures, it has been reclassified as Ist Class B and in 1980 as Ist Class A with an estimated annual income of around ₱13,000,000. It has been reclassified as 2nd Class with a revenue adding up to ₱315,888,300.63.^{[citation needed]}

Recaredo B. Castillo was the appointed first governor and subsequently elected governor while Vicente L. Pimentel was the first elected congressman.

The province was formed with 13 municipalities. Six more were added, raising the number to 19 with Tandag as the capital. Two of its municipalities have been elevated to cities; the first was Bislig City. In 2007, Tandag was granted cityhood but it was nullified via a controversial decision by the Supreme Court a year later. In 2009, Tandag got back its city status after the court reversed its own ruling on December 22, 2009.

Geography

Tandag Airport

Surigao del Sur is located along the northeastern coast of Mindanao facing the Philippine Sea between 125°40' to 126°20' east longitudes and 7°55' and 9°20' north latitudes. It is bounded on the northwest by the province of Surigao del Norte, on the southeast by Davao Oriental, on the west and southwest by Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur.

Situated west is the Diwata Mountain Range, isolating the province from the rest of Mindanao. To the east lies the Philippine Sea. The Mindanao Deep, one of the deepest trenches in the world, is situated a few kilometers east of the coastline.^[6][4]

Land area

Ricefield in Cantilan

The land area of the province is 4,932.70 square kilometres (1,904.53 sq mi)^[7] representing 27.75 percent of the total land area of Caraga Administrative Region and about 5.14 percent and 1.74 percent of the total land area of Mindanao and Philippines, respectively. The province is elongated in shape, extending from the northeastern portion at Carrascal to the southernmost municipality of Lingig. It is approximately 300 kilometres (190 mi) in length and 50 kilometres (31 mi) at its widest point which runs from Cagwait to San Miguel.

Municipal-wise, San Miguel has the biggest land area accounting for 7001113100000000000♠11.31% (558 square kilometers) of the total provincial land area while Bayabas has the smallest constituting only about 7000239000000000000♠2.39% (117.84 square kilometers).^[7]

Of the 5,230.50 square kilometres (2,019.51 sq mi) land, only 1,703.72 square kilometres (657.81 sq mi) or 32.22 percent are classified as alienable and disposable (A and D) while 3,583.523 square kilometres (1,383.606 sq mi) or 67.78 percent are forest land. Tagbina has the biggest share of alienable and disposable land with 234.21 square kilometres (90.43 sq mi) or about 56.51 percent of its land area followed by Hinatuan with 202.52 square kilometres (78.19 sq mi) or 63.56 percent of its land area.^{[citation needed]}

The Britania Group of Islands

Of the 3,583.523 square kilometres (1,383.606 sq mi) of forest land, 636.076 square kilometres (245.590 sq mi) are protection forest, 2,582.43 square kilometres (997.08 sq mi) production forest, 12.68 square kilometres (4.90 sq mi) are non-forest agriculture and 352.337 square kilometres (136.038 sq mi) are for non-forest mining. As of today, the province still has vast area of remaining old growth and mossy forest.^{[citation needed]}

Climate

The province falls under Type II climate of the Philippines, characterized by rainfall distributed throughout the year, although there is a distinct rainy season which begins from the month of November and ends in March. However, the climatic behavior of the province for the past few years has shown variations wherein the onset of the rainy seasons no longer occurs on the usual time. Months with low rainfall are from July to October with September as the driest month. Wet months are from November to June with January as the wettest month.

Administrative divisions

Surigao del Sur comprises 17 municipalities and two cities, further subdivided into 309 barangays. There are two congressional districts encompassing all cities and towns.

Demographics

The population of Surigao del Sur in the 2015 census was 592,250 people,^[3] with a density of 120 inhabitants per square kilometre or 310 inhabitants per square mile.

The province is home to the Kamayo and Agusan people. Their dances are showcased in the local festival, "Sirong Festival", held especially during the town fiesta of Cantilan. The Sirong Festival depicts the early Christianization of the early Cantilan inhabitants where the natives tried to defend their land against Visayan invaders.

The indigenous people of the province were largely Christianized during the early times of the Spanish conquest.

Languages

Surigaonon is spoken in most parts of Surigao del Sur (except in Bislig City and the towns of Barobo, Hinatuan, Lingig and Tagbina, where most of the inhabitants speak Cebuano; Kamayo, a different language but distantly related to Surigaonon, is spoken by the rest of the population), with Cantilangnon, a northern variation of Surigaonon which is very much similar to the dialect of Surigaonon as spoken in Surigao del Norte, being spoken mostly in the five northern municipalities of the province namely Carrascal, Cantilan, Madrid, Carmen and Lanuza (or the municipal clusters called CarCanMadCarLan); these municipalities were once under a single Municipality of Cantilan before December 10, 1918.

English is also widely spoken throughout the province.

Economy

Coastal fishing in Cantilan

Surigao del Sur is one of the suppliers of rice, bananas and other tropical fruits. Copper, chromite and silver are also found here. Marine and aquaculture is abundant in the province, being a primary livelihood of the inhabitants as the province is well known for producing seafood and sea by-products.

Mineral resources

Surigao del Sur is endowed with metallic minerals such as copper, gold, chromite, cobalt, nickel and lead zinc, as well as non-metallic (limestone, coal and feldspar, clay diatomite/bentomite and coarse/fine aggregates). There are small and large scale mining activities in the province. Corporations operating in a large scale are the Marc Ventures Mining Development Corporation at Carrascal and Cantilan, operating in an area of 4,799 hectares (47.99 km²) within the Diwata Mountain Range.^[11][12] The CTP Construction and Mining Corporation, also in Carrascal, focuses on gold and nickel mining in an area of 35.64 square kilometres (13.76 sq mi) and 48.6916 square kilometres (18.80 sq mi), respectively. The Carac-an Development Corporation, also in Carrascal, has an area of 506.3764 square kilometres (195.51 sq mi). Small scale mining activities are found in the municipalities of Barobo, Carmen and San Miguel.

Tourism

Bislig's main tourist attraction is the Tinuy-an Falls,^[13] known as the little "Niagara Falls of the Philippines". It is a white water curtain that flows in three levels about 55 metres (180 ft) high and 95 metres (312 ft) wide.^[14] Its unique natural formation once appeared in the International Travel Magazine. It is also known as the widest waterfall in the Philippines.^{[citation needed]}

Surfing in Surigao del Sur is widely known and has been one of the local tourist attractions. This extreme sport is often practiced in Cantilan and Lanuza.^[15]Skimboarding is also found in several municipalities, attracting tourists.

• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Deep-blue waters of the renowned "Hinatuan Enchanted River", an underground river in Brgy. Talisay, Hinatuan
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  The Tinuy-an Falls in Burboanan, Bislig
  

  
  

  
  


• 
  

  

  
  

  
  

  Surfing in Lanuza
  

  
  

  
  

See also

• Surigao del Norte


• Dinagat Islands

References

External links

• 
  Media related to Surigao del Sur at Wikimedia Commons


• 
  Geographic data related to Surigao del Sur at OpenStreetMap
  


• Local Governance Performance Management System


• Surigao del Sur provincial profile at Philippine Provincial Profiles