Palawan (redirected from Palawan Province)

Palawan (pälä`wän), island (1990 pop. 528,287), 4,550 sq mi (11,785 sq km), 5th largest of the Philippines, N of Borneo and between the Sulu Archipelago and the South China Sea. Lumbering is an important industry on Palawan. There is concern that excessive logging and slash-and-burn farming will deplete the island's rain forests. What little arable land exists on the island is devoted largely to subsistence farming. The island has important mercury and chromite deposits. The population includes many Moros, mostly in the south, and the Batah and the Palawan, mostly in the rain forests. During World War II, it was the site of a Japanese massacre of American prisoners.

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Palawan

Island (pop., 2000: 713,539), southwestern Philippines. It is long and narrow and extends northeast to southwest between the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea. It has a mountainous backbone that runs its entire length, with the highest peak at Mount Mantalingajan (6,839 ft [2,085 m]). The capital is Puerto Princesa. The similarity of Palawan's vegetation with that of Borneo is explained by remnants of a Pleistocene Epoch land bridge that connected the two islands. A coastal plain supports most of the population and is the main agricultural area of Palawan. Scattered settlement and shifting agriculture predominate, with rice as the main food crop. Oil drilling off the northern coast began in 1992.

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Palawan

an island of the SW Philippines between the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea: the westernmost island in the country; mountainous and forested. Capital: Puerto Princesa. Pop.: 311 550 (latest est.). Area: 11 785 sq. km (4550 sq. miles)

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Palawan 

an island in the western Philippines, between the Sulu Sea on the southeast and the South China Sea on the northwest. Population, 232,000 (1970). Approximately 450 km long, Palawan has an area of 11,800 sq km. The relief is mountainous (elevations to 2,085 m). The island is composed of crystalline rocks overlaid with sandstones, schists, shales, and coral limestones. Along the seacoast (primarily in the north and east) is a belt of coral reefs. There are deposits of manganese ores, mercury, and chromite. Dense tropical forests grow on the slopes. In the valleys and along the coasts, rice is grown and coconut trees are cultivated on plantations. Other occupations of the population include hunting and fishing (sardines, mackerel, tuna). The capital is Puerto Princesa, which is situated on the southeastern shore.