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Mindoro is the seventh-largest island in the Philippines.
It is lcoated just 80 km from the metropolis of Manila and yet it remains undeveloped to a large extent. Mindoro's population is just 1.3 million. This island's interior is very rugged and in places almost inpenetrable due to a cover of thick jungle.
Most of the people of Mindoro earn a subsistence living from agriculture (citrus fruits, bananas, rambutans, lanzones, coconuts, rice, maize, sugar and peanuts), fishing (galag [catfish], bangus [milkfish] and tilapia), and livestock and poultry raising.
Others earn money from logging, marble mining and tourism.
The main language spoken in Mindoro is Tagalog (Filipino). The language of the island's indigenous people is Manyan.
The island of Mindoro is divided into two provinces:
-- Mindoro Oriental (sometimes called Oriental Mindoro)
-- Mindoro Occidental (sometimes called Occidental Mindoro).
Mindoro's tourist attractions include:
-- Puerta Galera
-- Mount Halcon
-- Sablayan Watershed Forest Reserve
-- North Pandan Island and Apo Reef
-- Tribal visits
History
Mindoro has traded with China for more than a thousand years. Chinese traders referred to Mindoro as Mai, Ma-i or Mait.
The Spanish referred to the island as Mina de Oro (that is, "gold mine") from which the island draws its current name of Mindoro.
During the Second World War the island was the location of an important battle, the Battle of Mindoro. In the period 13–16 December 1944, the United States Navy and USAF, assisted by guerillas from the local Filipino population, made an amphibious landing on Mindoro and defeated the forces of the Imperial Japanese Army on the island.
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Author: David Paul Wagner
(David Paul Wagner on Google+)