Leyte (also Northern Leyte;
Waray: Norte san/Amihanan nga Leyte;
Cebuano: Amihanang Leyte;
Tagalog: Hilagang Leyte), officially the Province of Leyte, is a
province in the
Philippines located in the
Eastern Visayasregion occupying the northern three-quarters of
Leyte Island (with the remaining portion being the province of
Southern Leyte). Its capital is the city of
Tacloban, administered independently from the province. Leyte is thus north of
Southern Leyte, south of
Biliran, and west of
Samar Island. To the west across the
Camotes Sea is the province of
Cebu.
The historical name of the Philippines, "Las Islas Felipenas", named by Spanish explorer
Ruy López de Villalobos in honor of
Prince Philip of Spain, used to refer to the islands of
Leyte and
Samar only, until it was adopted to refer to the entire archipelago.[4]
The island of Leyte is known as Tandaya during the 16th century.[5]
Leyte is especially prone to typhoons because it geographically faces toward the Pacific Ocean. On 8 November 2013, the province was severely affected by
Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). The typhoon, known internationally as Haiyan, and domestically referred to as Yolanda, killed thousands of people and garnered significant international media attention. Leyte suffered similar destruction and loss of life in 1991 from
Tropical Storm Thelma.
History
Early history
The island of Leyte was once the location of Mairete, meaning land of Ete, a historic community which was ruled by Datu Ete centered in present-day municipality of
Leyte and nearby towns. It was the oldest city-state in the entire Eastern Visayas region. Before being colonized by Spain, the island was once home to indigenous
animistWarays to the East and other indigenous
Hindu-
BuddhistVisayan groups to the west.
Spanish colonial era
The Spanish explorer
Ruy López de Villalobos, first came to the island in 1543 and named it Las Islas Felipinas. When the Spanish government established government in
Cebu,
Leyte and
Samar became part of the province of
Cebu. In 1595, the religious Jesuits established mission in
Carigara which preceded the mission established in
Palo in 1596 and Ormoc and Alangalang missions in 1597. In 1735,
Leyte and
Samar were separated from
Cebu to be established as a single provincial government with
Carigara as the first provincial capital. Leyte had jurisdiction over Samar. In 1768,
Leyte and
Samar were split into two separate provinces.
American invasion era
On March 27, 1923, Act No 3117 was proposed to divide Leyte into Occidental Leyte and Oriental Leyte but was not proclaimed by the
Governor-General of the Philippines.
On May 22, 1959, Republic Act No. 2227 was passed into law that separated the third Congressional District of Leyte into a separate province of
Southern Leyte.[6]
The
First Battle of Leyte occurred on 20 October 1944. A successful Allied invasion of the island was the crucial element to the eventual Filipino and American victory in the Philippines.
Geography
Leyte covers a total area of 6,313.33 square kilometres (2,437.59 sq mi)[7] occupying the northern and central sections of
Leyte in the
Eastern Visayas region. The province is situated west of
Samar Island, north of
Southern Leyte, south of
Biliran, and east of the
Camotes Sea.
Ormoc is an independent component city, while the capital
Tacloban was declared a highly urbanized city in 2008. Both cities govern themselves independently of the province and their residents do not vote for elective provincial officials.
Baybay attained cityhood in 2007 but reverted to its municipal status when the
Supreme Court declared its
city charterunconstitutional in 2008. It regained its city status following the reversal of the Supreme Court decision dated December 22, 2009.[8] In August 2010, however, a resolution had been passed reverting 16 cities, one of which was Baybay, to municipal status. It was on February 15, 2011, that the Supreme Court reversed its decision once again, allowing Baybay, along with the other 16 cities, to retain their cityhood status.
The population of Leyte in the 2020 census was 1,776,847 people,[3] with a density of 280 inhabitants per square kilometre or 730 inhabitants per square mile. When Tacloban is included for geographical purposes, the population comes to 1,966,768 people, with a density of 302/km2 (782/sq mi).
The people of Leyte province are subdivided into two closely related Visayan ethnolinguistic groups. In the northern, central and eastern parts are the
Warays and in the western part are the
Cebuanos.
Tacloban-Waray dialect is considered as the standard form of Waray language and is used as the de facto lingua franca in both Leyte and Samar Islands. Aside from
Cebuano and
Waray, most Leyteños can also speak and understand
Filipino and
English. Some students who have studied the Spanish language and a few descendants of Spanish colonists can also speak and understand
Spanish.
Leyte is predominantly a Roman Catholic Christian province. The 2000 census stated that 97% of Leyte's population adhered to Roman Catholicism, one of the highest percentages in the Visayas.[citation needed] The remaining 3% were adherents of other different Christian denominations and sects, such as the indigenous
Iglesia ni Cristo, the
Kingdom of Jesus Christ and Members Church of God International, popularly known as Ang Dating Daan, and many other foreign religious groups like the
Mormons,
Born Again Christians,
Baptists,
Pentecostals,
Seventh-Day Adventists (Sabadistas), and many more.
Islam is also present in the province and concentrated in the metropolitan Tacloban area. It comprises 0.3% of Tacloban City's population, and its adherents are mainly the
Maranao people and other Moro migrants from
Mindanao who work mostly as traders.
Official provincial seal
The upper portion is a perspective of the national Freedom Park commemorating the landing of
GeneralDouglas MacArthur and the American Liberation Forces in Leyte during
World War II. The white cross represents the 2nd phase of Leyte's development when Magellan stopped here on his way to Cebu. The alphabet on the cross argent is the ancient Visayan paleographic syllabary of the letter L which stands for Leyte. The stars around the inner circle symbolize the forty-one towns of Leyte and the everlasting flame symbolizes the soldiers who died during World War II.
The economy of Leyte is a mixed agriculture, fishing, industrial, energy and mining.
Rice is farmed in the lowland plains areas specifically those around Tacloban, while
coconut farming, is the main cash crop in upland and mountainous areas. Sugarcane plantation is no. 1 produce in Ormoc City. Since Leyte is an island province, fishing is a major source of livelihood among coastal residents.
The province is the site of the largest
geothermal power plant in Asia, making it one of the resource-rich provinces of the Philippines. Excess energy of the numerous powerplants in the geothermal valley that generate electricity is supplied to the national grid that adds to the energy demand in
Luzon and
Mindanao.
Mining industry has started to pick up in the province with the exploration in
MacArthur. The
iron smelting in
Isabel has been operational for more than 20 years since its inception.
Leyte ICT Park
The Leyte Information Communications Technology (ICT) Park is one of the economic zones approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).[19] Located at Pawing, Palo, Leyte, the 6.8 facility hosts two
business process outsourcing (BPO) companies, namely, the
Expert Global Solutions (EGS) Company (formerly APAC Customer Services, Inc.) and ACUDATA, Inc. (a financial and data services BPO). However, EGS decided to fully close its operations after its facility was destroyed by
Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.
Leyte is connected by air with its only commercial airport located in
Tacloban City.
Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport, which is one of the busiest airports in the Philippines, is served by three major airlines,
Philippine Airlines,
Cebu Pacific and
AirAsia. Tacloban Airport primarily serves connecting flights from major Philippine cities (Manila and Cebu).
^Lancion, Conrado M. Jr. (1995). "The Provinces; Leyte".
Fast Facts about Philippine Provinces. cartography by de Guzman, Rey (The 2000 Millenium ed.). Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines: Tahanan Books. p. 96.
ISBN971-630-037-9. Retrieved 26 December 2015.