Alabat Island is an island of the
Philippine archipelago
The islands of the Philippines, also known as the Philippine Archipelago, comprises about 7,641 islands, of which only about 2,000 are inhabited.[Quezon Province
Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon ( tl, Lalawigan ng Quezon), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Kalilayan was the first known name of the province. It was later renamed Tayabas. In honor of the ...](_bl ...<br></span></div>, in the <div class=)
of the
Calabarzon
Calabarzon (), formally known as the Southern Tagalog Mainland, is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region IV-A. The region comprises five provinces: Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon, and Rizal; and one highly urba ...
region, situated just off the east coast of Southern
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
. The island has an area of and a population of 41,822. The island has a mountain ridge with peaks ranging from to which look like islands at a distance. The highest peak is called Mt. Camagong.
Alabat Island comprises three municipalities:
Perez in the northern tip,
Alabat town proper in the center and
Quezon
Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon ( tl, Lalawigan ng Quezon), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region on Luzon. Kalilayan was the first known name of the province. It was later renamed Tayabas. In honor of the ...
in the south. The first inhabitants of the island were the indigenous Inagta Alabat people who are Negritos, the earliest settlers in the Philippines. The indigenous people spoke the
Inagta Alabat language
Inagta Alabat (Alabat Island Agta) is a nearly dormant Aeta language spoken in central Alabat Island, Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, l ...
, one of the most endangered languages in the world.
The island is located in the
Lamon Bay
Lamon Bay is a large bay in the southern part of Luzon island in the Philippines. It is a body of water connecting the southern part of Quezon province to the Philippine Sea, a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It borders on the coastal towns o ...
and (33 km long) has an extensive mangrove fringe along its southwest shore, with several hundred hectares of intertidal mudflats exposed at low tide. Large portions of the original
mangrove forest
Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fre ...
have been degraded or completely destroyed for the construction of fish and shrimp ponds.
Alabat enjoys a humid
tropical climate
Tropical climate is the first of the five major climate groups in the Köppen climate classification identified with the letter A. Tropical climates are defined by a monthly average temperature of 18 °C (64.4 °F) or higher in the cool ...
with no dry season, but a very pronounced period of maximum rainfall from November to January. The island is home to the indigenous Alabat Agta people, whose language is critically endangered.
Inagta Alabat language
Inagta Alabat (Alabat Island Agta) is a nearly dormant Aeta language spoken in central Alabat Island, Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, l ...
In 2010,
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...
released its 3rd world volume of Endangered Languages in the World, where 3 critically endangered languages were in the Philippines. One of these languages in the ''Alabat Island Agta'' language which has an estimated speaker of 30 people in the year 2000. The language was classified as ''Critically Endangered'', meaning the youngest speakers are grandparents and older, and they speak the language partially and infrequently and hardly pass the language to their children and grandchildren anymore. If the remaining 30 people do not pass their native language to the next generation of Alabat Agta people, their indigenous language will be extinct within a period of 1 to 2 decades.
The Alabat Agta people live only on the island of Alabat in Quezon province and a small area is
Guinayangan
Guinayangan, officially the Municipality of Guinayangan ( tgl, Bayan ng Guinayangan), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Quezon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 44,045 people.
Guinayangan came from ...
in mainland Luzon. They are one of the original Negrito settlers in the entire Philippines. They belong to the Aeta people classification, but have distinct language and belief systems unique to their own culture and heritage.
The Secret Island Full of Twins
In November 2022,
Nas_Daily
Nuseir Yassin ( ar, نصير ياسين; he, נוסייר יאסין; born ) is an Arab-Israeli vlogger who is most notable for creating over 1,000 daily, one-minute-long videos on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram under the page Nas Daily.
...
posted a video on their facebook page referencing Alabat Island as
The Secret Island Full of Twins
References
External links
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Islands of Quezon
{{Calabarzon-geo-stub