Basic
Facts - Camarines Norte
BRIEF HISTORY
From 1573 to 1829, Camarines sur and Camarine Norte formed only one
political unit known as Ambos Camarines.
In 1829, they were separated but reunited again in1854. They again
separated, to be reunited again in 1893. This union continued until
1919. On
March 3, 1919, Camarines Norte was created by the Philippine
Legislature in Act 2809.
When Camarines Norte was separated from Ambos Camarines in 1829, it
was assigned to the towns of Daet, as capital, Talisay, Indan (Vinzons),
Labo, Paracale, Mambulao (Jose Panganiban), Capalonga, Ragay, Lupi and
Sipocot. Seventeen years late, it lost Sipocot, Lupi and Ragay to
Camarines Sur in exchange for the town of Siruma.
Juan de Salcedo, dispatched by Legazpi to explore the island in 1571,
influence the existence of Camarines Norte. After subduing Taytay and
Cainta, he marched further across Laguna and Tayabas.
He visited the rich gold-laden town of Mambulao and Paracale obsessed
by them about which he heard from native’s there of existing gold
mines.
When Francisco de Sande took over from Legazpi as Governor General,
Spanish influence started to be felt in the region. He established a
permanent spanish garison in Naga to control the region and defend it
from Chinese and Muslim pirates. Capt. Pedro de Chavez was assigned
to head this force.
There were already native settlements here when the Spaniards
arrived. The flourishing town of Mambulao and Paracale were two of
them.
Indan and Daet were the other settlements besides Capalonga and
others. But Paracale
remained the most sought after and the most prosperous because of its
gold mines.
The towns were chiefly inhabited by Tagalogs; the rests were of
Visayan strain. However, most of the immigrants were from Mauban
Quezon. The Spanish missionaries did not falter in their mission to
Christianized the natives.
By virtue of RA Act 2809 of March 3, 1919, General F. B. Harrison
separated Camarines Norte from Camariens Sur with Don Miguel R. Lukban
as its first governor. At present it has twelve towns: Basud,
Capalonga, Daet, Jose Panganiban, Labo, Mercedes, Paracale, San
Lorenzo Ruiz, San Vicente, Santa Elena, Talisay and Vinzons. Daet
remained as its capital town.
GEOGRAPHY
Location and
Boundaries
The province of
Camarines Norte is found in the Northern Coast of the Bicol Peninsula,
which form the southeastern section of Luzon, the largest island in
the Philippine Archipelago.
One of the six
provinces that make up Region V. It is bounded on the North by the
Pacific Ocean, in the east by San Miguel Bay, in the west by Lamon Bay
and in the South by Quezon province and the adjoining province of
Camarines Sur.
Land Area
Camarines Norte has a
total land area of 220, 012 hectares or 2,000 square kilometer. It
has 12.4% of the total Bicol Area and 0.73% of the total Philippine
Area.
POPULATION
The population of the province in May 2000 according to Census was
458,840.
POLITICAL SUBDIVISION
The province is composed of 12 towns
namely: Basud, Capalonga, Daet, Jose Panganiban, Labo, Mercedes,
Paracale, San Lorenzo Ruiz, San Vicente, Sta. Elena, Talisay and
Vinzons. It has a total of 282 barangays. Among the twelve towns of
the province, Labo has the biggest number of barangay with 52 and San
Vicente has the least with only 9.
TOPOGRAPHY
The topogragphy of the province is characterized by rolling hills and
mountains in the interior, and fertile plains and valleys along the
coast. The land area of the province is largely within the 0-8% and
8-18% slope with 72,483 and 77,315 hectares or 32.95% and 35.14% of
the total land area, respectively.
CLIMATE
According to the Daet PAG-ASA Radar Station, Camarines Norte belongs
to the second type of climate with no dry season and with a very
pronounced maximum rain period from November to January. These are
along and very near the eastern coast and are sheltered neither from
the northern portion and the winds nor from cyclonic storms. This
class particularly falls under the eastern and northern part of
Camarines Norte.
The Bicol Region lies within the so-called typhoon belt; hence the
province is seriously affected by frequent visits of typhoons. The
typhoon months mostly affecting the province and the Bicol Region are
April, June, July, October, November and December.
LANGUAGES/DIALECT
Two principal dialects are spoken in the province; one is tagalog
which is spoken by 60.0% of the whole population and Bikol which is
spoken by 38.17%. The remaining 1.83% is the dialect spoken by
Cebuano, Ilocano, Ibanag, Pangasinan, Waray, Maguindanao, Maranao,
Binisaya, Binukid, Chinese and English.
The towns which dominantly speaks Bikol dialects are: Daet, Basud,
Mercedes, Talisay, San Vicente and San Lorenzo Ruiz, while the towns
of Labo, Vinzons, Jose Panganiban, Paracale, Capalonga and Sta. Elena
dominantly speaks tagalog.
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