Bataraza, officially the Municipality of Bataraza (), is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Palawan Palawan (, ), officially the Province of Palawan (; ), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of . The capital and largest c ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 85,439 people making it the second most populous city/town in Palawan (after

Puerto Princesa Puerto Princesa (, American Spanish: , European Spanish: ), officially the City of Puerto Princesa (Cuyonon language, Cuyonon: ''Siyudad i'ang Puerto Princesa''; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in th ...

Etymology

The town was named after Datu Bataraza Narrazid who served as the father of the town. He was a locally influential Muslim chieftain and father of the town's first mayor and former mayor of Brooke's Point, then Datu Sapiodin Narrazid.

History

The area that forms the present-day Bataraza was previously part of the municipality of

Brooke's Point Brooke's Point, officially the Municipality of Brooke's Point (), is a municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 73,994 people. The Pearl of Lao Tzu, formerly considered the wo ...

. On June 18, 1961, the barrios of Bonobono, Bulalacao, Buliluyan, Culandanum, Igang-Igang, Inogbong, Iwahig, Malihud, Malitub, Marangas, Ocayan, Puring, Rio Tuba, Sandoval, Sarong, Sapa, Sumbiling, Tabud, Tagnato, Tagolango, Taratak, and Tarusan were separated from

and constituted into a new municipality known as Batarasa, by virtue of Republic Act No. 3425. The law took effect on January 1, 1964, following the election of its first municipal officials in November 1963.

Geography

Bataraza is located on the southernmost tip of

Palawan Island Palawan () is the largest island of the province of Palawan in the Philippines and fifth-largest by area and tenth-most populous island of the country, with a total population of 994,101 as of 2020 census. The northwest coast of the island is a ...

, from

Puerto Princesa City Puerto Princesa (, American Spanish: , European Spanish: ), officially the City of Puerto Princesa ( Cuyonon: ''Siyudad i'ang Puerto Princesa''; ), is a highly urbanized city in the Mimaropa region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 cen ...

. It has total land area of . Bataraza is situated some south-west of

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

, between roughly 8.3 and 8.75 degrees latitude north of the

equator The equator is the circle of latitude that divides Earth into the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, Southern Hemispheres of Earth, hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, about in circumferen ...

. It stretches approximately in north-easterly to south-westerly direction along the

Sulu Sea The Sulu Sea (; Tausug: ''Dagat sin Sūg''; ; ) is a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, separated from the South China Sea in the northwest by Palawan and from the Celebes Sea in the southeast by the Sulu Archipela ...

, from the Malis River to Cape Buliluyan in the south. On the western side, it extends up to Wangly River. It is bounded in the east by the

, in the west by a great mountain range, extending from

Mount Mantalingahan Mount Mantalingajan (or Mantalingahan or Mantaling) is the highest mountain in the island province of Palawan in the Philippines, with an elevation of above sea level, its ranked 68th-highest peak of an island on Earth and 10th-most prominent ...

(the highest peak of the province) to

Mount Malitub Mount is often used as part of the name of specific mountains, e.g. Mount Everest. Mount or Mounts may also refer to: Places * Mount, Cornwall, a village in Warleggan parish, England * Mount, Perranzabuloe, a hamlet in Perranzabuloe parish, C ...

, which serves as the divider between Bataraza and

Rizal Rizal most commonly refers to: * Rizal (province), a province of the Philippines * José Rizal, Filipino national hero whom the province is named after Rizal may also refer to: People * Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli, Malaysian footballer * Atep Ri ...

, and in the south-west by the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

Barangays

Bataraza is politically subdivided into 22

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...

s and some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own bar ...

. *Bono-Bono *Bulalacao *Buliluyan *Culandanum *Igang-Igang *Inogbong *Iwahig *Malihud *Malitub *Marangas (Poblacion) *Ocayan *Puring *Rio Tuba *Sandoval *Sapa *Sarong *Sumbiling *Tabud *Tagnato *Tagolango *Taratak *Tarusan (Bulosan) Rio Tuba is one of the populated barangays of Bataraza and known for its nickel mineral reserves. The primary mine site of Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation is located within its jurisdiction.

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Bataraza was 85,439 people, with a density of .

Economy

Main industries of Bataraza includes farming, fishing, and nickel mining and processing.

Culture

The

Molbog people Palawan, the largest province in the Philippines, is home to several indigenous ethnolinguistic groups namely, the Kagayanen, Tagbanwa, Palawano, Taaw't Bato, Molbog, and Batak tribes. They live in remote villages in the mountains and coa ...

dominate the municipality of Bataraza, as well as the municipality of Balabac in the south. The area constitute the homeland of the Molbog people since the classical era prior to Spanish colonization. The Molbog are known to have a strong connection with the natural world, especially with the sacred ''pilandok'' (

Philippine mouse-deer The Philippine mouse-deer (''Tragulus nigricans''), also known as the Balabac chevrotain or ''pilandok'' (in Filipino), is a small, nocturnal ruminant, which is endemic to Balabac and nearby smaller islands (Bugsuk and Ramos) southwest of Palaw ...

), which can only be found in the Balabac islands. A Muslim tale tells the Philippine mouse-deer once tricked a prince into giving up his bag of gold and facing a hive of angry bees. Another tale depicts him as a clever guardian of the environment, using his wisdom as an advantage against those who destroy forests, seas, and wildlife. The

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

is especially important in Molbog culture at it is their most prized agricultural crop.

References

External links

Bataraza Profile at PhilAtlas.com
*

Philippine Standard Geographic Code The Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC) is a systematic classification and coding for geographic areas in the Philippines. It classifies areas based on the country's four levels of administrative divisions: regions, provinces, municipalities ...

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{{Authority control Municipalities of Palawan Mining communities in the Philippines