Palawan in the context of "Archipelagic"

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 and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luzon, Mindoro, and Palawan), and in the south by Borneo, eastern Sumatra, and the Bangka Belitung Islands, encompassing an area of around 3,500,000 km (1,400,000 sq mi). It communicates with the East China Sea via the Taiwan Strait, the Philippine Sea via the Luzon Strait, the Sulu Sea via the straits around Palawan, the Java Sea via the Karimata and Bangka Straits, and directly with the Gulf of Thailand. Additionally, the Gulf of Tonkin is part of the South China Sea.

$3.4 trillion of the world's $16 trillion maritime shipping passed through the South China Sea in 2016. Oil and natural gas reserves have been found in the area. The Western Central Pacific accounted for 14% of the world's commercial fishing in 2010.

The barangay (/bɑːrɑːŋˈɡaɪ/; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically known as the barrio, is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the precolonial polities of the same name, modern barangays are political subdivisions of cities and municipalities, and are analogous to villages, districts, neighborhoods, suburbs, or boroughs. The term barangay is derived from balangay, a type of boat used by Austronesian peoples when they migrated to the Philippines.

All cities, including independent cities, and municipalities in the Philippines are politically subdivided into barangays, with the exception of the municipalities of Adams in Ilocos Norte and Kalayaan in Palawan, each of which contains only one barangay. Barangays are sometimes informally subdivided into smaller areas called purok (English: "zone"), or barangay zones consisting of clusters of houses for organizational purposes, and sitios, which are territorial enclaves—usually rural—located far from the poblacion. As of January 2025, there are 42,011 barangays throughout the country.

Luzon (/luːˈzɒn/ loo-ZON, Tagalog: [luˈson]) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as well as Quezon City, the country's most populous city. With a population of 64.3 million as of 2024, it contains 55% of the country's total population and is the 4th most populous island in the world. It is the 15th largest island in the world by land area.

Luzon may also refer to one of the three primary island groups in the country. In this usage, it includes the Luzon Mainland, the Batanes and Babuyan groups of islands to the north, Polillo Islands to the east, and the outlying islands of Catanduanes, Marinduque and Mindoro, among others, to the south. The islands and provinces of Masbate, Palawan and Romblon are also included, although these three are sometimes grouped with another of the island groups, the Visayas.

Mindoro is the seventh largest and eighth-most populous island in the Philippines. With a total land area of 10,571 km ( 4,082 sq.mi ), it has a population of 1,430,921, as of the 2024 census. It is located off the southwestern coast of Luzon and northeast of Palawan. Mindoro is divided into two provinces: Occidental Mindoro and Oriental Mindoro. Calapan is the only city on the island and largest settlement on the island with a total population of 148,558 inhabitants as of 2024. The southern coast of Kristine Mindoro forms the northeastern extremum of the Sulu Sea. Mount Halcon is the highest point on the island, standing at 8,484 feet (2,586 m) above sea level located in Oriental Mindoro. Mount Baco is the island's second highest mountain with an elevation of 8,163 feet (2,488 m), located in the province of Occidental Mindoro.

Palawan (Spanish: Isla de La Paragua) 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 1,023,849 as of 2024 census. The northwest coast of the island is along the Palawan Passage in the eastern South China Sea, while the southeast coast forms part of the northern limit of the Sulu Sea. Much of the island remains traditional and is considered by some as under-developed. Abundant wildlife, jungle mountains, and some white sandy beaches attract many tourists, as well as international companies looking for development opportunities.

One city and 12 out of the 23 municipalities of the Province of Palawan are on this island. Iwahig Prison and Penal Farm, one of seven operating units of the Bureau of Corrections, is located on the island.

The Sulu Sea (Filipino: Dagat Sulu; Tausug: Dagat sin Sūg; Malay: Laut Sulu; Spanish: Mar de Joló) 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 Archipelago. Borneo is found to the southwest and Visayas to the northeast.

The Sulu Sea contains a number of islands. The Cuyo Islands and the Cagayan Islands are part of the province of Palawan whereas Mapun and the Turtle Islands are part of the province of Tawi-Tawi. Sulu Sea is also where the Tubbataha Reef National Marine Park, one of the World Heritage Sites is located.

The Visayas (/vəˈsaɪəz/ və-SY-əz), or the Visayan Islands (Visayan: Kabisay-an, Cebuano pronunciation: [kabiˈsajʔan]; Filipino: Kabisayaan [kɐbɪsɐˈjaʔan]), are one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao. Located in the central part of the archipelago, it consists of several islands, primarily surrounding the Visayan Sea, although the Visayas are also considered the northeast extremity of the entire Sulu Sea. Its inhabitants are predominantly the Visayan peoples.

The major islands of the Visayas are Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Samar. The region may also include the provinces of Palawan, Romblon, and Masbate, whose populations identify as Visayan and whose languages are more closely related to other Visayan languages than to the major languages of Luzon.

A balangay, or barangay, is a type of lashed-lug boat built by joining planks edge-to-edge using pins, dowels, and fiber lashings. They are found throughout the Philippines and were used largely as trading ships up until the colonial era. The oldest known balangay are the eleven Butuan boats, which have been carbon-dated individually from 689 to 988 CE and were recovered from several sites in Butuan, Agusan del Norte. The Butuan boats are the single largest concentration of lashed-lug boat remains of the Austronesian boatbuilding traditions. They are found in association with large amounts of trade goods from East Asia, Southeast Asia, and as far as Persia, indicating they traded as far as the Middle East.

Balangay were the first wooden watercraft excavated in Southeast Asia. Balangay are celebrated annually in the Balanghai Festival of Butuan.

Kalayaan, officially the Municipality of Kalayaan (Tagalog: Bayan ng Kalayaan), is a municipality under the jurisdiction of the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 406 people, making it the least populated town in Palawan and in the Philippines.

Part of the Spratly Islands, in the South China Sea, the Kalayaan municipality, which includes Thitu Island (locally known as Pag-asa, the administrative center of Kalayaan Island Group) is 280 nautical miles (320 mi; 520 km) northwest of Puerto Princesa and 932 kilometres (503 nmi; 579 mi) south-west of Metro Manila. It consists of a single barangay named Pag-asa located on Thitu, which also serves as the seat of the municipal government. Besides Thitu Island, the municipality comprises six other islands: West York Island, Northeast Cay, Nanshan Island, Loaita Island, Flat Island (South China Sea) and Lankiam Cay (respectively locally named Likas, Parola, Lawak, Kota, Patag and Panata), and three shoals or reefs: Irving Reef (Balagtas Reef), Second Thomas Shoal (Ayungin Shoal) and Commodore Reef (Rizal Reef). It is the least populated municipality in the Philippines. Kalayaan's annual budget is 47 million pesos (about $1.1 million).