Eastern Visayas
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| Regional center | Tacloban City, Leyte |
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| Population | 3,610,355 |
| – Density | 168.5 per km² |
| Area | 21,431.6 km² |
| Divisions | |
| – Provinces | 6 |
| – Cities | 6 |
| – Municipalities | 137 |
| – Barangays | 4,390 |
| – Cong. districts | 12 |
| Languages | Waray-Waray, Cebuano, Abaknon |
Eastern Visayas is one of the two regions of the Philippines having no land border with another region, MIMARO being the other, and is designated as Region VIII. It consists of six provinces, namely, Biliran, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar, Samar (Western Samar) and Southern Leyte. These provinces occupy the easternmost islands of Visayas: Leyte, Samar and Biliran. The regional center is Tacloban City, one of two cities of Leyte. Calbayog City is the lone city in Samar, one of the oldest in the country.
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[edit] Cultural groups
Region VIII is inhabited by the Waray-Warays, the country’s fourth largest cultural linguistic group. But Cebuanos, from the nearby island of Cebu live in Ormoc City, Western Leyte and parts of the southwest of Leyte.
[edit] Climate
The eastern portion of the region is frequently visited by storms from the Pacific Ocean. The region receives heavy rainfall throughout the year with no pronounced dry season.
[edit] Land use
Eastern Visayas is primarily an agricultural region with rice, corn, coconut, sugarcane and banana as major crops. Its total land area is 21,431.7 sq. kms. 52% of its total land area are classified as forestland and 48% as alienable and disposable land.
[edit] Natural Resources
The region’s sea and inland waters are rich sources of salt and fresh water fish and other marine products. It is one of the fish exporting regions of the country.
There are substantial forest reserves in the interiors of the islands. Its mineral deposits include chromite, nickel, clay, coal, limestone, pyrite and sand and gravel.
It has abundant geothermal energy and water resources to support the needs of medium and heavy industries.
[edit] Economy
Primary sources of revenue are manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade and services. Mining, farming, fishing and tourism contribute significantly to the economy Manufacturing firms include mining companies, fertilizer plants, sugar central, rice and corn mills and other food processing plants. Cebu is the hub of investment, trade and development in the region.
Other industries include mining, rice, corn and sugar milling, coconut oil extraction, alcohol distilling, beverage manufacture and forest products. Home industries include hat and basket weaving, metal craft, needlecraft, pottery, ceramics, woodcraft, shell craft and bamboo craft.
[edit] Political Divisions
| Province | Capital | Population (2000) |
Area (km²) |
Pop. density (per km²) |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Biliran | Naval | 140,274 | 555.4 | 252.6 |
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Eastern Samar | Borongan City | 375,822 | 4,339.6 | 86.6 |
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Leyte | Tacloban City | 1,592,336 | 5,712.8 | 278.7 |
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Northern Samar | Catarman | 500,639 | 3,498.0 | 143.1 |
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Western Samar | Catbalogan City | 641,124 | 5,591.0 | 114.7 |
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Southern Leyte | Maasin City | 360,160 | 1,734.8 | 207.6 |
[edit] Component Cities
[edit] Languages
Waray-Waray is spoken on the island of Samar, eastern Biliran and the eastern part of the province of Leyte while Cebuano is spoken in the rest of Leyte, western Biliran, as well as in the province of Southern Leyte; both of these languages are called Visayan by their speakers. A Sama language, distantly related to the languages of the region, called Abaknon is spoken in the island of Capul in Northern Samar.
