Bohol

Bohol is an island province of the Philippines, with the capital Tagbilaran and has 1,255,128 inhabitants (as of 1 May 2010). It is the tenth largest island of the archipelago and is located in the center of the island group Visayas.

• 5.1 Cities
• 5.2 communities

• 6.1 infrastructure
• 6.2 Tourism

Geography

Bohol is an island province (area 4117 km ²) in the Visayas, which forms the island nation of the Philippines, together with the other two groups of Luzon in the north and Mindanao in the south. It lies southeast of Cebu, southwest of the island of Leyte and north of Mindanao. The Visayas is divided into three regions, Western Visayas, Central Visayas and Eastern Visayas. Bohol is one of the Central Visayas (Region VII).

The main island of Bohol, with an area of 3864 km ² and a coastline length of 332 km, the tenth largest island of the Philippines. It is surrounded by 70 smaller islands, the largest of which is the island Lapinin. The two bridges with associated Panglao Island Tagbilaran City is the most developed tourist region of Bohol. From the south coast can be seen from 54 km away, Camiguin, with its towering volcano, which is already calculated to Mindanao.

The island is consistently hilly and covered with limestone. At the edge of the island, there are medium mountains like mountain ranges. The entire interior is a large plateau.

Sandy beaches are only a few on Bohol, but are on the island of Panglao, in Anda ( Bohol ), and in Guindulman, of the highest quality with white sand and turquoise water. The rest of the coast of Bohol is marked by cliffs and steep slopes, the only conditionally suitable for bathing. In the north of the island lies the Danajon reef system, the largest coral reef system in the Philippines, one of which also the Olango archipelago. The northern and eastern coast of the island have numerous bays, these extend large mudflats and mangrove forests. These are partially protected, as in the Cogtong Bay. The western coastline bordering the Strait of Cebu, in it lies the island of Cabilao.

Bohol is - as the entire Philippines - Pacific Ring of Fire. There are volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis. See also Philippine plate.

Climate

Bohol is in contrast to Luzon and the northern part of the Visayas rarely haunted by the destructive typhoons. When typhoons sweep over the island, they do so most quickly. In addition, they have already lost much of its force to the mountain ranges on Leyte and Samar.

From November to April prevail " mild " temperatures around 28 ° C and it is less likely to dominate. Night " cools " it to 25 ° C. The summer lasts from May to July and brings higher temperatures and high humidity with it. For the period from August to October the weather is unpredictable: Beautiful weeks are interrupted by rainy days.

Flora and Fauna

The Philippine Tarsier ( Tarsius syrichta ) is one of the smaller species of primates. It reaches just sturdy double fist size and a weight of 150 g They are nocturnal - especially at dusk time - and equipped with immovable, big eyes, make up almost ¼ of her face. For this, they can turn their head in both directions through 180 °. Since the sense of smell is not particularly strong, they also draw on their independently alignable ears for locating insects. They move like a frog from branch to branch (up to 3 m) jumping and can travel in a night of up to 1.5 km. During the day they sleep hidden in the shadows of tree trunks and branch forks. Disorders are for the animals stress; they need rest. Also, they can be taken - disturb. In captivity, they waste away by stress and die after a few months.

The Philippine Tarsier Foundation, Inc., it has therefore taken on the task to protect the tarsiers in a 134 -acre reserve between Corella and Sikatanu, 15 km northeast of Tagbilaran at the foot of the Chocolate Hills (see above) against intruders. "Father" of this idea is Carlito Pizzaras, the " Tarsier Man of Bohol ". As a little boy he turned away from the usual hunt for the tarsiers from and explored gradually their habits.

History

Since March 10, 1917 Bohol is an independent province

Language and religion

The main language on Bohol is Boholano, a dialect of Cebuano. But English and Tagalog are understood by many locals.

As throughout the Philippines are most of the inhabitants are Roman Catholic (almost 90 %), but also other Christian faiths such as Protestantism or the Iglesia ni Cristo before coming. Chance live (yet) Muslims on the island. The island came from the late 15th century for the first time in contact with Islam, which was spread by Malay immigrants. It is likely that substantial parts of the population of Bohol were Muslim before the Spanish conquest in 1565. However, a few years after the conquest of the island began the Christianization.

Attractions

→ Main article: Chocolate Hills

A unique attraction make the Chocolate Hills ( " Chocolate Hills " ), a bizarre area of 1268 cone-shaped limestone hills whose height varies between 40 and 120 meters. The name is derived from the deforestation of the last centuries. Since then, a resistant alang-alang grass vegetation ( Imperata cylindrica, Engl Cogongrass ) has made wide, parched in the dry season and the hills turns chocolate brown.

According to scientific interpretation which extends over several square kilometers extending geological formation was created on an area which was located in a shallow area millions of years ago. Coral and other sea creatures embedded in flow and growth-related sectors from their remains. After the level of the sea level, various elevations and depressions of the soil, caused by subduction and secondary volcanic events, the material came to the surface. The erosion began their game and created in this way the impressive hills. Besides the scientific genesis theory also various legends are told, have a more imaginative view of the legislative history. A quite similar, largely unknown and much smaller region exists on Negros.

In addition, Bohol has other interesting landscapes such as the Rajah Sikatuna National Park Protected Landscape, the Hindanan coast, the Tuntunan waterfall and the Mag- Aso Falls. On the island of Panglao, the grotto is Hinagdanan with its underground lake.

Culturally, the oldest Philippine buildings are worth mentioning from the Spanish colonial period. Are preserved in different places and old watchtowers, such as the Fuerza Punta Cruz in Maribojoc, historic monastery ( Baclayon Church). In Loboc the San Pedro Apostol Church is, it is on the short list of the Philippines for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Among the oldest traces of human life on Bohol are the rock paintings on the Anda Peninsula, the Philippines is on the short list of the Philippines for inclusion in the World Heritage list of UNESCO since 2006 as petroglyphs and rock paintings.

Management

Bohol is in 47 municipalities ( municipalities ) and divided a city.

Cities

• Tagbilaran

Communities

• Alburquerque
• Alicia
• Anda
• Antequera
• Baclayon
• Balilihan
• Batuan
• Bien Unido
• Bilar
• Buena Vista
• Calape
• Candijay

• Carmen
• Catigbian
• Clarin
• Corella
• Cortes
• Dagohoy
• Danao
• Dauis
• Dimiao
• Duero
• Garcia Hernandez
• Guindulman

• Inabanga
• Jagna
• Jetafe
• Purple
• Loay
• Loboc
• Loon
• Mabini
• Maribojoc
• Panglao
• Pilar
• Pres. Carlos P. Garcia ( Pitogo )

• Sagbayan ( Borja )
• San Isidro
• San Miguel
• Seville
• Sierra Bullones
• Sikatuna
• Talibon
• Trinidad
• Tubigon
• Ubay
• Valencia

Economy

Bohol Agricultural products are rice, sugar, sugar cane, Palay and corn.

At minerals manganese, clay and limestone occur.

Increasingly, Bohol and especially the small offshore island of Panglao will be developed for tourism. Apart from Cebu, Boracay and Puerta Galera is Bohol has done up in recent years.

Infrastructure

• Daily train several fast ferries of the companies SuperCat, Ocean Jet and Weesam Express between Cebu City and Tagbilaran. While SuperCat for the nearly two-hour crossing offers only one class of travel, can be selected at the Ocean Jet and Weesam Express between Tourist and Business Class or Economy Class and First Class. Compounds from Tagbilaran is also to Dumaguete, Dapitan, Larena, Hilongos and Cagayan de Oro.
• Since mid-2004, also run again airliner to the small airport of Tagbilaran. Daily Tagbilaran is served from Manila with Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines. Since 2010 also fly Airphil and ZestAir on individual days of the week to Tagbilaran.
• There is a car ferry from Cebu to Tagbilaran. However, the crossing is complicated and not recommended. In Tagbilaran and Panglao, however, can (recommended with driver) be rented for any period of time hire. Prices must be negotiated.

Tourism

Tourism is increasingly importance in Bohol. The lovely landscape, especially the Chocolate Hills and the Loboc River, Bohol to make a highlight, especially for intra- Philippine tourism. The sights are easily accessible via a constantly improved road network and equipped with modern visitor centers.

By contrast, international visitors have discovered especially the beaches and coral reefs of Panglao Iceland for themselves. The local diving resorts are visiting even in high season. 2009/2010 the southern main bridge from Tagbilaran to Panglao is four lanes extended to improve to date still poor road services. The construction of a small airport on Panglao is planned.