Basilan

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Basilan" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Basilan
Province
(from top: left to right) Basilan Peak, Forest Park in Isabela City, Lamitan City Hall and Basilan satellite image in 2016
Flag Seal
Location in the Philippines
OpenStreetMap
Coordinates: 7°N 122°E / 7°N 122°E / 7; 122
Country	Philippines
Region	Bangsamoro (Whole province except Isabela City) Zamboanga Peninsula (Isabela City only)
Chartered City	July 1, 1948
Converted into a province	December 27, 1973
Capital	Lamitan[1]
Administrative Center	Isabela
Largest city	Isabela
Government
• Type	Sangguniang Panlalawigan
• Governor	Hadjiman S. Hataman-Salliman (PFP)
• Vice Governor	Yusop T. Alano (PDP-Laban)
• Representative	Mujiv S. Hataman (LP)
• Legislature	Basilan Provincial Board
Area [2]
• Total	1,327.23 km2 (512.45 sq mi)
• Rank	72nd out of 81
Highest elevation (Basilan Peak)	998 m (3,274 ft)
Population  (2020 census)
• Total	556,586
• Rank	56th out of 81
• Density	420/km2 (1,100/sq mi)
Demonyms	Basileño Basileña Basilanin Tau Basilan
Divisions
• Independent cities	0
• Component cities	2 Isabela City Lamitan
• Municipalities	11 Akbar Al-Barka Hadji Mohammad Ajul Hadji Muhtamad Lantawan Maluso Sumisip Tabuan-Lasa Tipo-Tipo Tuburan Ungkaya Pukan
• Districts	Legislative district of Basilan
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code	7300–7306
IDD : area code	+63 (0)62
ISO 3166 code	PH-BAS
Languages	Chavacano Yakan Tausug Sama Cebuano English Filipino
Income classification	3rd class
Website	www.basilan.gov.ph

Basilan, officially the Province of Basilan (Chavacano: Provincia de Basilan; Yakan: Wilayah Basilanin; Tausug: Wilaya' sin Basilan; Filipino: Lalawigan ng Basilan), is an island province of the Philippines located primarily in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. Basilan Island is the largest and northernmost of the major islands of the Sulu Archipelago. It is just off the southern coast of the geographic Zamboanga Peninsula.^[3][1]

Isabela, the most populous city and the former capital, is a component city under the provincial government of Basilan but is administered as part of the Zamboanga Peninsula Region and is listed statistically independent. The provincial capital has since been transferred to Lamitan. Despite this, the provincial Capitol and government offices are still located at Isabela.^[4]

Basilan is home to three main ethnolinguistic groups: the indigenous Yakans, and the later-arriving Tausugs and Chavacanos. The Yakans and Tausugs are predominantly Muslim, while the Chavacano are mainly Christian. There are also a number of smaller ethnic groups. Although the official languages are Filipino and English, the main native language is Yakan and lingua franca is Chavacano. Other languages include Tausug, Cebuano, and Sama.

Basilan, although classified as a 3rd-class province in terms of gross provincial income, has one of the lowest incidences of poverty in the Philippines (26.19% of the general population), ranked 20 among the Philippines' 80 provinces. (In comparison, Maguindanao which is ranked last at number 80 has a poverty incidence of 44.24%.) The gap between Basilan's rich and poor residents are among the narrowest in the country (ranked 3rd nationwide), pointing to one of the most equitable distributions of wealth anywhere in the country (Gini coefficient 0.2826, which is slightly better than the provinces of Pampanga, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Cavite, Batanes and Batangas).