Zamboanga del Norte

Zamboanga del Norte
Province
Province of Zamboanga del Norte
Provincial Capitol in Dipolog City
Flag Seal
Location in the Philippines
Coordinates: 8°08′00″N 123°00′00″E / 8.1333333°N 123°ECoordinates: 8°08′00″N 123°00′00″E / 8.1333333°N 123°E
Country	Philippines
Region	Zamboanga Peninsula (Region IX)
Founded	June 23, 1635 and June 6, 1952
Capital	Dipolog
Government
• Type	Sangguniang Panlalawigan
• Governor	Roberto Y. Uy (LP)
• Vice Governor	Senen O. Angeles (LP)
Area[1]
• Total	7,301.00 km^2 (2,818.93 sq mi)
Area rank	9th out of 81
Population (2010 census)[2]
• Total	957,997
• Rank	24th out of 81
• Density	130/km^2 (340/sq mi)
• Density rank	60th out of 81
Divisions
• Independent cities	0
• Component cities	2 Dapitan Dipolog
• Municipalities	25 Baliguian Godod Gutalac Jose Dalman Kalawit Katipunan La Libertad Labason Leon B. Postigo Liloy Manukan Mutia Piñan Polanco President Manuel A. Roxas Rizal Salug Sergio Osmeña Sr. Siayan Sibuco Sibutad Sindangan Siocon Sirawai Tampilisan
• Barangays	691
• Districts	3 districts of Zamboanga del Norte
Time zone	PHT (UTC+8)
ZIP code	7100–7124
IDD : area code	+63 (0)65
ISO 3166 code	PH-ZAN
Spoken languages	Cebuano Subanen Zamboangueño Chavacano Tagalog English
Website	www.zanorte.gov.ph

Zamboanga del Norte, officially the Province of Zamboanga del Norte, (Filipino: Hilagang Samboanga, Subanen: Utara Sembwangan, Cebuano: Amihanang Zamboanga) is a province in the Philippines situated within the Zamboanga Peninsula region in Mindanao. Its capital is Dipolog City and the province borders Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay to the south, Misamis Occidental to the east, and the Sulu Sea to the west.

Zamboanga del Norte is the largest province of the Zamboanga Peninsula region by land area covering 7,301.00 square kilometres (2,818.93 sq mi).^[1]

History

Prior to its creation as a province, Zamboanga del Norte formed the northern portion of the historical province of Zamboanga.

The historical province of Zamboanga in 1918

The early history of Zamboanga del Norte is shared with that of Zamboanga City, which had been the center of the entire Mindanao area, most notably during the American era. When Zamboanga City became a chartered city on October 12, 1936, it encompassed the southern tip of the Zamboanga Peninsula and the island of Basilan, making it the largest city in the world in terms of land area.

Through Republic Act No. 711 issued on June 6, 1952, Zamboanga province was divided into two independent provinces, which included Zamboanga del Sur.^[3]

Geography

Zamboanga del Norte comprises the northern portion of the Zamboanga Peninsula. It is bounded on the north and west by the Sulu Sea, on the northeast by Misamis Occidental, and on the south by Zamboanga del Sur.

Dakak riverside in Dapitan City

The province occupies a total land area of 730,100 hectares (1,804,000 acres).^[1] It has an average elevation of 243.8 metres (800 ft), with Mount Dabiak in Katipunan as the highest peak at 2,600 metres (8,500 ft). Other parts, near the coastlines, are plains. The province's irregular coastline runs some 400 kilometres (250 mi) from north to south.

Climate

Zamboanga del Norte has a mild and moderate climate due to evenly distributed rainfall throughout the year. Its southern portion has a longer dry season.

Climate data for Zamboanga del Norte
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	30.4 (86.7)	30.5 (86.9)	31.6 (88.9)	32.6 (90.7)	32.3 (90.1)	31.7 (89.1)	31.6 (88.9)	31.6 (88.9)	31.8 (89.2)	31.5 (88.7)	31.4 (88.5)	30.8 (87.4)	31.48 (88.67)
Average low °C (°F)	21.8 (71.2)	21.9 (71.4)	20.8 (69.4)	22.2 (72)	21.2 (70.2)	21.0 (69.8)	21.1 (70)	21.0 (69.8)	21.1 (70)	21.3 (70.3)	21.4 (70.5)	21.3 (70.3)	21.34 (70.41)
Average rainy days	15	10	8	7	10	17	16	16	14	16	17	16	162
Source: Storm247 [4]

Administrative divisions

Zamboanga del Norte comprises 25 municipalities and 2 cities. These are further subdivided into 691 barangays, and clustered into 3 congressional districts.^[5]

Sibuco is the largest municipality by land area, constituting 10.72% (782.54 square kilometers) of the total provincial area. Sibutad is the smallest, with 0.90% (65.57 square kilometers).^[5]

•  †  Provincial capital and component city
•  ∗  Component city
•      Municipality

City or municipality^[A] District[5] Population (2010)[5][6] Area[5] Density Brgy. Coordinates^[B] km^2 sq mi /km^2 /sq mi Baliguian 3rd 2.2% 21,190 439.26 169.60 48 120 17 7°48′38″N 122°08′43″E / 7.8105°N 122.1452°E Dapitan ∗ 1st 8.1% 77,441 390.53 150.78 200 520 50 8°39′17″N 123°25′20″E / 8.6548°N 123.4221°E Dipolog † 2nd 12.6% 120,460 241.13 93.10 500 1,300 21 8°35′10″N 123°20′28″E / 8.5861°N 123.3410°E Godod 3rd 1.9% 17,788 190.00 73.36 94 240 17 7°59′54″N 122°50′30″E / 7.9983°N 122.8417°E Gutalac 3rd 3.4% 32,153 492.86 190.29 65 170 33 7°58′21″N 122°23′58″E / 7.9724°N 122.3994°E Jose Dalman (Ponot) 2nd 2.8% 27,033 135.00 52.12 200 520 18 8°26′33″N 123°01′20″E / 8.4424°N 123.0221°E Kalawit 3rd 2.3% 22,157 217.89 84.13 100 260 14 7°54′17″N 122°31′35″E / 7.9048°N 122.5265°E Katipunan 2nd 4.5% 43,339 244.12 94.26 180 470 30 8°30′46″N 123°17′05″E / 8.5128°N 123.2847°E La Libertad 1st 0.8% 7,771 69.51 26.84 110 280 13 8°28′07″N 123°31′33″E / 8.4685°N 123.5257°E Labason 3rd 4.2% 40,375 169.58 65.48 240 620 20 8°03′52″N 122°31′28″E / 8.0645°N 122.5244°E Leon B. Postigo (Bacungan) 3rd 2.6% 24,643 255.50 98.65 96 250 18 8°09′10″N 122°55′30″E / 8.1528°N 122.9249°E Liloy 3rd 4.1% 39,015 128.43 49.59 300 780 37 8°07′24″N 122°40′45″E / 8.1234°N 122.6793°E Manukan 2nd 3.7% 35,589 246.35 95.12 140 360 22 8°30′57″N 123°05′38″E / 8.5159°N 123.0940°E Mutia 1st 1.3% 11,975 73.58 28.41 160 410 16 8°25′12″N 123°28′34″E / 8.4200°N 123.4761°E Piñan (New Piñan) 1st 2.1% 20,088 93.75 36.20 210 540 22 8°28′45″N 123°26′59″E / 8.4793°N 123.4497°E Polanco 1st 3.9% 37,472 206.88 79.88 180 470 30 8°31′52″N 123°21′46″E / 8.5310°N 123.3629°E President Manuel A. Roxas 2nd 3.9% 37,611 206.25 79.63 180 470 31 8°30′51″N 123°13′57″E / 8.5143°N 123.2326°E Rizal 1st 1.5% 14,111 80.03 30.90 180 470 22 8°31′32″N 123°33′06″E / 8.5255°N 123.5517°E Salug 3rd 3.3% 31,157 206.60 79.77 150 390 23 8°06′25″N 122°45′25″E / 8.1070°N 122.7570°E Sergio Osmeña Sr. 1st 3.1% 29,453 556.44 214.84 53 140 39 8°17′57″N 123°30′30″E / 8.2992°N 123.5082°E Siayan 2nd 3.7% 34,989 494.75 191.02 71 180 22 8°15′05″N 123°06′48″E / 8.2513°N 123.1134°E Sibuco 3rd 3.3% 31,982 782.54 302.14 41 110 28 7°17′32″N 122°04′00″E / 7.2923°N 122.0668°E Sibutad 1st 1.8% 16,783 65.57 25.32 260 670 16 8°36′45″N 123°28′48″E / 8.6126°N 123.4801°E Sindangan 2nd 9.8% 94,146 451.00 174.13 210 540 52 8°14′03″N 122°59′57″E / 8.2343°N 122.9993°E Siocon 3rd 4.3% 41,637 503.20 194.29 83 210 26 7°42′24″N 122°08′22″E / 7.7067°N 122.1395°E Sirawai 3rd 2.6% 24,583 222.50 85.91 110 280 34 7°35′14″N 122°08′24″E / 7.5873°N 122.1400°E Tampilisan 3rd 2.4% 23,056 137.75 53.19 170 440 20 7°58′27″N 122°39′51″E / 7.9741°N 122.6643°E Total 957,997 7,301.00 2,818.93 130 340 691 (see GeoGroup box) ^^ Former names are italicized. ^^ Coordinates are sortable by latitude. (Italicized entries indicate the generic location. Otherwise, they mark the city or town center).

Government

Demographics

Population census of Zamboanga del Norte
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1990	676,862	—
1995	770,697	+2.46%
2000	823,130	+1.42%
2007	907,238	+1.35%
2010	957,997	+2.00%
Source: National Statistics Office[2]

Zamboanga del Norte has a population of 957,997 according to the 2010 census.^[2] Its population density is 130/km². It is ranked 24th among the provinces in terms of population and 60th in terms of population density.

The main language spoken is Cebuano. Other languages include Suban-on, Tausug, Zamboangueño, Tagalog, Spanish, and English.

Religion

The predominant religion is Roman Catholicism with 40 percent adherence while Islam is a significant minority. There are also followers of other Christian religions such as Born-again Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses, Baptists, Iglesia Ni Cristo, Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, Methodists and Seventh-day Adventist.

Economy

About half of the province's land area is devoted to agriculture. Corn, coconut, and rice are the major crops. The province being rich in marine and mineral sources, its fish production has accelerated through the development of fishponds. Commercial fishing has steadily increased through the years, with the yellow fin tuna as the primary species.

In 2006, a study by National Statistics Coordination Board (NSCB), found Zamboanga del Norte Province to be the Philippines' poorest province with a poverty incidence rate of 64.6%, an increase from 47% in year 2000 statistical figures.^[7]

Despite of its rich and sea and land resources, it is still the poorest province incident rate of 64.6%. Large foreign mining companies operating within the province such as Canadian company TVI Resource Development and Philex Mining Corp. cause adverse effects to the culture and traditions of the indigenous Subanon and other poor settlers.^[8][9][10]

Media

Newspapers

• Mindanao Examiner
• Mindanao Observer
• Press Freedom

Television

• ABS-CBN Dipolog
• OneTV Dipolog
• Positiv Channel (formerly iTV Prime Dipolog)

References

1. "List of Provinces". PSGC Interactive. Makati City, Philippines: National Statistical Coordination Board. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
2. "Population and Annual Growth Rates for The Philippines and Its Regions, Provinces, and Highly Urbanized Cities" (PDF). 2010 Census and Housing Population. National Statistics Office. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
3. "Republic Act No. 711 - An Act to Create The Provinces of Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur". Chan Robles Virtual Law Library. Retrieved 28 September 2013.
4. "Weather forecast for Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines". Storm247.com. StormGeo AS, Nordre Nøstekaien 1, N-5011 Bergen, Norway: StormGeo AS. Retrieved 19 April 2016.
5. "Province: Zamboanga del Norte". PSGC Interactive. Makati City, Philippines: Philippine Statistics Authority - National Statistical Coordination Board. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
6. "Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay: as of May 1, 2010 (Zamboanga Peninsula)" (PDF). 2010 Census of Population and Housing. National Statistics Office. Retrieved 13 January 2016.
7. "Ten poorest provinces in 2003". Press Release. Makati City, Philippines: National Statistical Coordination Board. 6 June 2006. Retrieved 27 October 2012.
8. Olchondra, Riza T. (1 November 2011). "Open pit mine ban to hit TVI projects, Philex plan in Zamboanga Norte". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved 19 April 2016. Zamboanga del Norte has issued an ordinance banning open-pit mining in the province, threatening projects of mining firms operating in the area, such as those of TVI Resource Development.
9. Fiel, Tito N. (12 November 2011). "Zamboanga del Norte ban on open-pit mining stands". Philippine Daily Inquirer (Inquirer Mindanao). Retrieved 19 April 2016. The provincial government of Zamboanga del Norte stands fast on its ban on open-pit mining and will fight in court the Canadian-mining company TVI Resources’ efforts to have the ordinance declared unconstitutional.
10. "TVI Pacific closes Zamboanga mine". ABS-CBN News. 21 January 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2016.

External links

• Media related to Zamboanga del Norte at Wikimedia Commons
• Geographic data related to Zamboanga del Norte at OpenStreetMap
• Old website of the Province of Zamboanga del Norte
• Daily Zamboanga Times