Basilan is an island province in southern Philippines.

Profile of Basilan Province (Geography)
Location –> West of Zamboanga Peninsula in the island of Mindanao. The province belongs to the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Philippines (See map below)
Nearest Provinces –> Zamboanga Del Norte and Sulu
Capital –> Lamitan City
Area –> 1,327.23 km2 (512.45 sq mi)
Note: The province of Basilan is composed of around 40 islands.
Population –> 459,367 (2015 Census)
Terrain –> Hilly with coastal plains
Main Industry –> Agriculture
Major Products –> Rice, Rubber, Coconut and Fish
People/Language –> Bisaya (Cebuano), Tausug, Yakan, Sama, Chavacano

Government Officials
Go here to see the elected provincial officials in Basilan.

Cities –> Isabela, Lamitan
Municipalities (Towns) –> (11) Akbar, Al-Barka, Hadji Mohammad Ajul, Hadji Muhtamad, Lantawan, Maluso, Sumisip, Tabuan-Lasa, Tipo Tipo, Tuburan, and Ungkaya Pukan

Basilan History

Long before the coming of the Spaniards, the Yakan tribe established settlement in the island. They were joined later by the Tausugs. Since then, it became a territory of the Sultanate of Sulu.

Basilan was originally called Tagime after a Datu who once ruled a big part of the island. Later, historians called the island Basilan from the local weapon BasihBalan which means magnetic iron. In 1636, the Spaniards started to colonized the island and by 1726, the Sultanate of Sulu formally relinquished control of the island. The coming of the Americans saw the establishment of plantation agriculture for rubber and copra production. In 1973, Basilan was organized as an independent province. In 2001, majority of the people voted to become part of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) except for Isabela City which opted to remained with Zamboanga Peninsula Region (Region 9).

Go here to see all the famous people from Basilan Province.

Read the history of Basilan in Tagalog here.

Economy of Basilan Province

Basilan is an agricultural province where rice, rubber, coconut, and corn are the main products. Fish and seaweeds are the produced in commercial quantities.

RELATED: Profile of Palawan Province
See also: List of Philippine Provinces and Capital by Region

Map of Province