Davao del Sur
| Davao del Sur Timog Dabaw |
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| Province | |||
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Map of the Philippines with Davao del Sur highlighted |
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| Coordinates: 06°20′N 125°30′E / 6.333°N 125.500°ECoordinates: 06°20′N 125°30′E / 6.333°N 125.500°E | |||
| Country | Philippines | ||
| Region | Davao Region (Region XI) | ||
| Founded | May 8, 1967 | ||
| Capital | Digos City | ||
| Government | |||
| • Governor | Claude Bautista (NPC) | ||
| • Vice Governor | Aileen Almendras (NPC) | ||
| Area[1] | |||
| • Total | 2,163.98 km2 (835.52 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 56th out of 81 | ||
| Excluding Davao City | |||
| Population (2010)[2] | |||
| • Total | 574,910 | ||
| • Rank | 46th out of 81 | ||
| • Density | 265.7/km2 (688/sq mi) | ||
| • Density rank | 28th out of 81 | ||
| Excluding Davao City | |||
| Divisions | |||
| • Independent cities | 1 | ||
| • Component cities | 1 | ||
| • Municipalities | 9 | ||
| • Barangays | 232 including independent cities: 414 |
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| • Districts | Lone District of Davao del Sur | ||
| Time zone | PHT (UTC+8) | ||
| ZIP code | 8000 to 8010 | ||
| Dialing code | 82 | ||
| ISO 3166 code | PH-DAS | ||
| Spoken languages | Cebuano, Tagalog, Bagobo, Mansakan | ||
Davao del Sur (Filipino: Timog Dabaw) is a province of the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital and largest city is Digos City. The province is bordered by Davao City to the north, the new province of Davao Occidental to the south and Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, South Cotabato and Sarangani to the west. To the east lies the Davao Gulf.
Contents
History[edit]
The beginnings of both Davao Region and Davao del Sur was associated with that of the foundation of Davao, which was the first town to be founded in southern Mindanao in 1848, following the conquest of the area by Don Jose Uyanguren of Guipúzcoa, Spain. In 1849, Nueva Guipúzcoa province was founded in the region conquered by Uyanguren in what is now Davao Region, with Davao, then called Nueva Vergara, as the provincial capital. Don Uyanguren, became the provincial governor, but failed in his efforts to develop the areas he conquered.
Just thirty-six years after the foundation of Davao, the town of Sta. Cruz was founded on the 5th day of October, 1884. It is the first town to be founded south of Davao and is now the oldest in the province.
In 1898, the Spanish administration in the Philippines ended in 1898 following its defeat during the Spanish–American War. In early 1900s, waves of immigrants from the Visayas, Luzon, and as well as from Japan began to live in the region, centered mainly in Davao. The region began to boom in economic growth as agricultural business proliferated in the region.
As part of the "food bowl" of what is now the province of Davao del Sur, otherwise known as the Padada Valley, the agricultural area south of the town of Sta. Cruz, which is known as Digos that time, lured many migrants, majority of whom came from the Visayas and Ilocos regions to settle permanently in the area. Before World War II, an enterprising American by the name of N.E. Crumb leased 10.24 km² and transformed the place into an Abaca Plantation. This became the hub of economic activity in the locality during those days.
In 1942, during the start of the Second World War in the Pacific, the first waves of invading Japanese units landed and entered the province of southern Davao.
In 1945, the liberation in southern Davao by the United States and the Philippine Commonwealth troops was supported by the Davaoeño guerrilla fighters against the Japanese forces beginning to fighting in the Second World War.
In 1967, Davao Province was divided into three provinces, one of them being Davao del Sur; the town of Digos was made its capital and will become a suburban city for the next 33 years.
In October 28, 2013, along with the Barangay Elections, a plebiscite was held to create a new province Davao Occidental, formed out of the southern part of Davao del Sur, covering the municipalities of the 2nd district of the province, namely Don Marcelino, Jose Abad Santos, Sta. Maria, Sarangani and Malita (which was designated as the provincial capital) by virtue of Republic Act 10360 enacted on July 23, 2013, and the majority of votes cast were "Yes", ratifying the province.[3]
Geography[edit]
Located in the southeastern corner of the country's southernmost island of Mindanao, the province of Davao del Sur is bounded by the province of Davao del Norte to the north; Davao Occidental to the south-east; North Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat to the west; South Cotabato and Saranggani to the south-west ; and Davao Gulf to the east. The province is composed of sandy beaches and outlying islands, agricultural plains and valleys, rainforests, swamps, rolling hills and mountains, including the Philippines' highest peak, Mount Apo, which is at 3,144 metres (10,315 ft) above sea level.
Its land area is 2,163.98 square kilometres (835.52 sq mi). When Davao City is included for geographical purposes, the province's land area is 4,607.59 square kilometres (1,779.00 sq mi).[1]
Subdivisions[edit]
The province of Davao del Sur is subdivided into 9 municipalities and 1 component city. Even though Davao City is part of the province for some geographical and statistical purposes, it is governed independently from the province.
| City/Municipality | Type and income class[1] | Population (2010)[4] |
Area (km2)[1] |
Density (per km2) |
No. of barangays |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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1st class highly urbanized city (only geographically within province) |
1,449,296 | 2,443.61 | 593.1 | 182 |
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2nd class component city | 149,891 | 287.10 | 522.1 | 26 |
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1st class municipality | 56,496 | 157.75 | 358.1 | 25 |
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3rd class municipality | 49,107 | 114.28 | 429.7 | 22 |
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2nd class municipality | 44,618 | 390.07 | 114.4 | 30 |
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3rd class municipality | 49,141 | 268.09 | 183.3 | 22 |
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2nd class municipality | 35,295 | 186.12 | 189.6 | 15 |
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2nd class municipality | 51,382 | 202.40 | 253.9 | 33 |
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3rd class municipality | 25,724 | 83.00 | 309.9 | 17 |
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1st class municipality | 81,093 | 319.91 | 253.5 | 18 |
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3rd class municipality | 32,163 | 155.26 | 207.2 | 25 |
Climate[edit]
The province enjoys a mild, pleasant climate all year round. Because of its topographical characteristics and geographical location, it is rarely visited by typhoons. There is no pronounced wet or dry season. The coolest months are from November to February with an average temperature of 25 °C (77 °F). during the peak summer months from March to May, temperatures average 28 °C (82 °F) but may rise as high as 32 °C (90 °F).
| Climate data for Davao del Sur, Philippines | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 42 (108) |
38 (101) |
39 (102) |
38 (100) |
37 (99) |
43 (109) |
38 (101) |
39 (102) |
39 (103) |
38 (100) |
34 (93) |
38 (100) |
43 (109) |
| Average high °C (°F) | 30 (86) |
31 (87) |
31 (88) |
32 (90) |
32 (89) |
31 (87) |
31 (87) |
31 (88) |
31 (88) |
31 (88) |
31 (88) |
31 (87) |
31 (88) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 23 (74) |
23 (74) |
24 (75) |
24 (76) |
24 (76) |
24 (76) |
24 (75) |
24 (75) |
24 (75) |
24 (75) |
24 (75) |
24 (75) |
24 (75) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 19 (66) |
20 (68) |
20 (68) |
21 (70) |
22 (72) |
22 (72) |
22 (71) |
21 (70) |
21 (70) |
22 (71) |
22 (72) |
21 (69) |
19 (66) |
| Source: Weatherbase[5] | |||||||||||||
Demographics[edit]
| Population census of Davao del Sur | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1990 | 423,272 | — |
| 1995 | 457,244 | +1.46% |
| 2000 | 504,289 | +2.12% |
| 2007 | 549,836 | +1.20% |
| 2010 | 574,910 | +1.64% |
| All population numbers exclude Davao City and municipalities under Davao Occidental, which was part of the province until 2013. Source: National Statistics Office[2] |
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As of May 2010 census, the population of Davao del Sur (excluding Davao City) was 868,690 people. When adjusted to the current boundaries after the formation of Davao Occidental, its population is 574,910. When Davao City is included for geographical purposes, the province's population is 2,024,206 people, with a density of 439 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,140/sq mi).
Davao del Sur is an ethnic mix of Mindanaoans, Visayans, Tagalogs, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish with a number of indigenous tribes scattered across the province. Davaoeño, a variant of Cebuano, is the main and official language of the province, although English and Filipino are widely spoken.
Religion[edit]
Christianity in the form of Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion in the province followed by more than 80% of the people. The remaining faiths are Islam and other Christians such as Baptists, Iglesia Ni Cristo, Church of Christs of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) Seventh-day Adventist, other Evangelical Christians and Jehovah's Witnesses.
Indigenous groups[edit]
Moro peoples[edit]
The major Moro ethnic group is Maguindanaos, since Davao del Sur was once part of Sultanate of Maguindanao.
Lumad peoples[edit]
Bagobos live in an area that extends from Davao del Sur and South Cotabato to the foot of Mt. Apo and Davao City all the way to the land bordered by the Davao and Pulangi rivers and up to northern Cotobato and southeast Bukidnon. Numbering about 80,000, their traditional costume is woven from abaca fiber and heavily ornamented with beads, shells, metal discs, embroidery and brightly colored geometric applique. Though Bagobos have the most stunning costumes among the Davao ethnic groups, they wear them only on special occasions. Like the Mandayas and Mansakas, they shave their eyebrows to a thin line and file and blacken their teeth. Bagobo smiths cast little bells which are attached to pouches, bracelets, jackets, anklets and inlaid metal boxes.
Tagacaolos number about 23,000 and occupy the area between the western shores of the gulf and the slopes of Mt. Apo. This is one of the tribes which resisted Muslim conversion and maintained a highland animistic culture.
Kalagans are a Muslim group related to the Tagacaolos. Numbering only about 7,000, they live along the shores of the Davao Gulf.
Mangguangans are now only 3,000. They can be found in Davao del Sur and Davao del Norte.
In both groups, women generally wear handwoven abaca tube skirts, embroidered blue cotton tops and heavy jewellery. Men sport wide blue or white fringed and embroidered trousers and a loose shirt. Red is a color only for a headman ("bagani") and for women of high status.
Aeta people[edit]
Aeta people live in some areas of Davao City all the way to Davao del Norte, Compostela Valley and Bukidnon. They are related to the Manobos of Cotabato and include sub-groups such as the Talaingod of the Kapalong forests in Davao del Norte and the Matigsalug. Numbering about 222,000, Ata men wear long-sleeved shirts, carry spears, hunt, log and grow crops. Their womenfolk wear native blouses, "malong" skirts and accessories of brass bracelets and bead necklaces. Mandaya and Mansaka are culturally related groups who are highly musical - playing the five string bamboo guitar, two-string lute, violin, flute, gong, drum and bamboo Jew's harp. They are also excellent silversmiths crafting breastplates, jewellery, daggers and knives. The Mandayas are famous for their colorful abaca fiber weaves embroidered with tribal motifs.
Art and culture[edit]
The colorful artistic heritage of Davao stems from the rich culture of its tribes. For the Bagobos, aesthetics is the meticulous carving of weapons; the elaborate decoration of inlaid metal boxes with bells; and the ornamentation of their abaca fiber dress with embroidery, shells, beads and metal discs. The Mandayas, on the other hand, have a solid tradition in weaving. To produce their famed coarse textured cloth, abaca fiber is colored with earth dyes and woven on a backstrap loom.
The final product is embroidered with bright-colored threads in geometric patterns. Some elements of tribal folklore are also included in the designs. The Mansakas, together with the Mandayas, are also expert silversmiths. They craft weapons, breastplates and dress accessories. Much of its people are Christians. Davao is also a harmonious blend of Christian and Muslim cultures. However, its most stunning cultural aspect is definitely its ethnic art which encompasses music, dance, religious ritual, dress and ornamentation.
Government[edit]
Governor: Claude P. Bautista (NPC/Liberal)
Vice Governor: Aileen C. Almendras-Uy (NPC)
Districts: Lone District of Davao del Sur
- 1st District Representative: Mercedes "Didi" C. Cagas
- 2nd District Representative: Franklin P. Bautista
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d "Province: Davao del Sur". PSGC Interactive. Makati City, Philippines: National Statistical Coordination Board. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
- ^ a b "Population and Annual Growth Rates for The Philippines and Its Regions, Provinces, and Highly Urbanized Cities" (PDF). 2010 Census and Housing Population. National Statistics Office. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
- ^ Cayon, Carina L. (30 October 2013). "DavSur voters approve of Davao Occidental". Philippine Information Agency. Retrieved 7 November 2013.
- ^ "Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay: as of May 1, 2010" (PDF). 2010 Census of Population and Housing. National Statistics Office. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
- ^ "Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Davao del Sur, Philippines". Weatherbase. 2011. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
External links[edit]
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Davao del Sur. |
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Davao del Norte | |||
| Cotabato Sultan Kudarat |
Compostela Valley Davao Gulf / Davao Oriental |
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| South Cotabato | Sarangani, Davao Occidental |
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