Mindoro

Mindoro, island (1990 pop. 832,642), 3,759 sq mi (9,736 sq km), 7th largest of the Philippines, SW of Luzon. Its mountainous interior rises to c.8,500 ft (2,590 m) at Mt. Halcon. What little arable land there is on the island is devoted largely to subsistence farming. Coal is mined, and lumbering is an important industry. Puerto Gabera is a well-known beach area.

Island (pop., 2000: 1,062,068), west-central Philippines. It is separated from Luzon on the north by the Verde Island Passage. It is 80 mi (130 km) long and 50 mi (80 km) wide, with an area of 3,759 sq mi (9,735 sq km). First visited by the Spanish in 1570, it came under U.S. rule in 1901. It was occupied by the Japanese during World War II. The tamaraw, a small water buffalo, is unique to the island.

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For the unincorporated community of Mindoro, Wisconsin in the United States of America, see Mindoro, Wisconsin.

Mindoro is the seventh-largest island in the Philippines. It is located southwest of Luzon, and northeast of Palawan. In past times, it has been called Ma-i or Mait by ancient Chinese traders and, by Spaniards, as Mina de Oro (meaning "gold mine") from where the island got its current name. The island was divided into its two present-day provinces, Occidental Mindoro and Oriental Mindoro, in 1950. Before then, since 1921, the entire island was one province.

According to the late historian William Henry Scott in his book Prehispanic Source Materials For The Study of Philippine History (rev. ed., 1984), an entry in the official history of the Sung Dynasty for the year 972 mentions Ma-i as a trading partner of China. Other Chinese records referring to Ma-i or Mindoro appear in the years that follow.

Prehispanic Source Materials enumerates the products that Mindoro traders exchanged with the Chinese as "beeswax, cotton, true pearls, tortoise shell, medicinal betelnuts and yu-ta [jute?] cloth" for Chinese porcelain, trade gold, iron pots, lead, colored glass beads and iron needles.

Economy

The economy of Mindoro is largely based on agriculture. Products consist of a wide variety of fruits, such as citrus, bananas, lanzones, rambutan, and coconuts, such cereals as rice and maize, sugar cane, peanuts, fish (catfish, milkfish, tilapia), livestock, and poultry. Logging and the mining of marble and copper also thrive.

Tourism is a lucrative business as well, with locations such as Apo Reef National Park, Lubang Island, Puerto Galera, Sabang Beach, and Mount Halcon. Puerto Galera's beaches are the island's most known tourist attraction and are widely visited.

Culture

The principal language in Mindoro is Tagalog, although in some parts it has been greatly influenced by the native Visayan and Mangyan languages. Mainstream Filipino and Taglish are, indeed, present in and around such areas as Puerto Galera, Pinamalayan, and Calapan City. Visayan and Mangyan languages, too, are spoken on the island, as are Ilokano and some foreign languages — e.g., English, Fukien, and, to a much lesser extent, Spanish.

The common religions on the island fall under Christianity. The religion of the indigenous Mangyan population is animism. Though they are into animism as a religion, the Catholic Church in some of Mindoro's parts is also active.

Other information

Mindoro is also home to the Tamaraw or Mindoro dwarf buffalo (Bubalus mindorensis), which is endemic to the island. The Tamaraw is a bovine related to the water buffalo and is an endangered species.

Bibliography

References

External links

• Online Community for Mindorenyos

Videos

• Born to be Wild: Mindoro, 06/19/2008