Dictionary Thesaurus Word Dynamo Quotes Reference Translator Spanish

Eastern Visayas

Eastern Visayas is one of the two regions of the Philippines having no land border with another region, MIMAROPA being the other, and is designated as Region VIII. It consists of six provinces, namely, Biliran, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Northern Samar, Samar and Southern Leyte. These provinces occupy the easternmost islands of Visayas: Leyte, Samar and Biliran. The regional center is Tacloban City.

Geography

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.

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.

Land

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 km². 52% of its total land area are classified as forestland and 48% as alienable and disposable land.

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.

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.

Shopping Malls

Wilsam Uptown Mall in Borongan City is the largest Shopping Mall in Eastern Visayas. However, Robinson's Tacloban is also under construction, and is expected to open this December, 2008.

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 Samar language, distantly related to the languages of the region, called Abaknon is spoken in the island of Capul in Northern Samar.

Political Divisions

Province	Capital	Population (2000)	Area (km²)	Pop. density (per km²)
Biliran	Naval	140,274	555.4	252.6
Eastern Samar	Borongan City	375,822	4,339.6	86.6
Leyte	Tacloban City	1,592,336	5,712.8	278.7
Northern Samar	Catarman	500,639	3,498.0	143.1
Samar	Catbalogan City	641,124	5,591.0	114.7
Southern Leyte	Maasin City	360,160	1,734.8	207.6