Cotabato Province

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Location of the province of Cotabato

Cotabato , previously known as North Cotabato , is a province of the Philippines and is located in the center of Mindanao Island . As one of the few provinces in the country, it has no access to the sea.

Cotabato belongs to the administrative district of SOCCSKSARGEN (Region XII) and is known as the Province of High Mountains . The capital is Kidapawan City . The governor of the province is Emmylou J. Taliño-Mendoza.

geography

The province is bounded in the north by the provinces of Lanao del Sur and Bukidnon , in the south by Davao del Sur , in the east by Davao City and Sultan Kudarat and in the west by Maguindanao .

In the east of the province is the highest mountain in the Philippines, the Apo , a volcanic cone with a height of 2,954 m. Another large mountain in the province is the Piapayungan with a height of 2,815 m. In the west, the Piapayungan mountain range separates the province of Lanao del Sur.

In the center of the lowland is the plain of the Rio Grande de Mindanao , which flows south from Bukidnon to Maguindanao and finally into the Bay of Illana . The province is part of the extensive Ligawasan river landscapes , one of the largest wetlands in the Philippines.

The Pulangi or, as it is often called, the Mindanao River is one of the largest rivers in the Philippines . The active volcanoes Latukan and Ragang lie on the border with the province of Lanao del Sur .

The total area of ​​the province is 9,008.9 km².

Demographics and language

According to the 2007 census, Cotabato has 1,121,974 people. Cotabato ranks 26th among the 81 provinces of the Philippines in population statistics. The population density is 135 people per km². This means that Cotabato is also in 26th place among the provinces in this regard.

Cotabato is a melting pot of people of different origins, religions and cultures. 71% of the population are immigrants from Luzon and the Visayas , while 18% are indigenous to the Manobo, T'boli and Maguindanao ethnic groups.

Different languages ​​are spoken, mainly Hiligaynon or Ilonggo (43%), Cebuano (31%), Maguindanao (16%), Ilocano (10%). But Tagalog , Manobo and English are some regions disseminated.

economy

Cotabato directs its economic focus on the production of rubber and is one of the largest rubber producers in the country. 27 main cultivation areas ensure the production of air dried sheets (dried smoke-free), pale crepes (washed) and rown crepes (unwashed) natural rubber.

The province is one of the leading producers of exotic fruits such as durian , lansium , rambutan , marang and jackfruit . But crops such as rice and maize are also widely grown. In addition, coconut , sugar cane , abacá , pineapple , cotton , coffee , tobacco and ramie are farmed in the province .

The local culture also produces a variety of handicraft products such as pottery, basketry and weaving products. Cotabato is currently promoting the development of the local textile industry.

Administrative division

Cotabato is politically divided into 16 independently administered municipalities and one city. The city and the municipalities in turn are subdivided into a total of 543 barangays (districts).

The province is divided into three congressional districts.

Cities

Communities

climate

The plains of Cotabato lie between long mountain ranges that provide a cool breeze in the region. The change between dry and rainy season is therefore very leisurely. Rain can fall year-round, but it mainly occurs between May and October. The rest of the year is rather dry.

history

The name Cotabato is derived from the word Kuta wato from the dialect Maguindanao or Kota batu from the Malay language, which means something like stone fortress . The name gives an insight into the long, eventful history during which the residents along the Pulangi River had to repeatedly defend themselves against intruders.

Cotabato was once part of the great Sultanate of Maguindanao . The region was populated by the manobos who were subjects of the Sultan or at least depended on him. The Spaniards were unable to advance into this area until the second half of the 19th century. When the Sultan of Maguindanao had to accept Spanish sovereignty in 1861, the empire was divided into different districts to keep it controllable. The resistance against the Spanish occupation withdrew to the hinterland to Pagalungan in order to continue its activities against the Spanish from there.

In 1861 the Cotabato District was finally formed. Around 1871 it included the military-occupied areas of Polloc, Malabang, Reina Regente, Taceran, Babia, Illana, Baras and Lebac. The current area of ​​Cotabato remained outside the Spanish influence.

In 1901, the American government formed the Province of Cotabato in the Philippines, which included the then districts of North Cotabato, Maguindanao , Sultan Kudarat , South Cotabato and Sarangani . During the American period, numerous companies emerged to mine the vast natural resources in this area. From 1930 on, settlers came from the provinces of Luzon and the Visayas and settled in Cotabato, with the influx of immigrants accelerating in the 1950s and 1960s.

The original Cotabato Province was one of the largest in the Philippines. In 1966, however, South Cotabato was detached from this association and made an independent province.

The immigration of large Christian communities into the Muslim-dominated area led to great ethnic tensions between the two religious groups. These tensions exploded in bloody clashes between Muslim and Christian armed groups such as the Blackshirts and Ilagas in 1971. The infamous Manili massacre in which more than 50 men, women and children were killed in a mosque by armed Christians led to an escalation in ethnic tensions sparked in a civil war between renegades of the Bangsa Moro and government forces. Thousands of fugitives then fled to more populated areas.

On November 22, 1973, the provinces of North Cotabato, Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat were separated from the former Cotabato Province when Presidential Decree No. 373 came into force. The new province of North Cotabato became part of an autonomous government of District XII after the Tripoli Agreement of 1976.

North Cotabato was finally renamed Cotabato on December 19, 1983.

In 1989 there was a referendum on whether the province belonged to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The citizens of Cotabato voted against joining the ARMM.

Cultural heritage

The indigenous Maguindanaon and other indigenous groups possess a remarkable and fascinating culture that revolves around kulintang music, a special kind of gong music that has its roots in both Muslim and non-Muslim populations of the southern Philippines. For this type of music, a set of gongs is embedded in a horizontally erected board, which is then played with two wooden mallets.

Attractions

  • The Apo , the highest mountain in the Philippines.
  • The New Israel Eco Park, a mountain village known for its tame monkeys.
  • The Batasan-Biangan Hotspring Resort
  • The Epol River and the Gambudes Caves
  • The Pisan Cave

Web links

Commons : Cotabato  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 7 ° 50 '  N , 125 ° 5'  E