Batan Island

Batan Island
Geography

Batan Island Location within Batanes Show map of Batanes Batan Island Batan Island (Luzon) Show map of Luzon Batan Island Batan Island (Philippines) Show map of Philippines
Location	Luzon Strait
Coordinates	20°25′17″N 121°57′37″E / 20.42139°N 121.96028°E / 20.42139; 121.96028
Archipelago	Batanes Islands
Adjacent to	Balintang Channel Philippine Sea South China Sea
Area	95.18 km² (36.75 sq mi)^[1]
Length	20 km (12 mi)^[2]
Width	6.5 km (4.04 mi) at its widest
Highest elevation	1,009 m (3310 ft)^[2]
Highest point	Mount Iraya
Administration
Philippines
Region	Cagayan Valley
Province	Batanes
Municipalities	Basco Ivana Mahatao Uyugan
Demographics
Population	14,007 (2020 est.)^[3]
Pop. density	134/km² (347/sq mi)
Ethnic groups	Ivatans
Additional information

Batan Island (/bɑːˈtɑːn/ bah-TAHN^[4]) is the main island of Batanes, an archipelagic province in the Philippines. It is the second largest of the Batanes Islands, the northernmost group of islands in the Philippines.

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Geography

Batan is a dumbbell-shaped volcanic island, part of the Luzon Volcanic Arc. The northern part of the island is dominated by the 1,009-meter (3,310 ft) high active volcano, Mount Iraya, which last erupted in 1454.^[2] The lower portion of the island is the inactive volcano Mount Matarem, about 405 meters (1,329 ft) tall.^[5]^[6] A hilly narrow neck of land, about 4.5 kilometers (2.8 mi) long and from 1.9 to 2.5 kilometers (1.2 to 1.6 mi) wide, separates the two volcanoes of the island. Near Mt. Matarem, the island is at its widest at about 6.5 kilometers (4.0 mi).

Sabtang Island, the nearest island to Batan is located about 4.5 kilometers (2.8 mi) southwest of the southern tip of the island. Itbayat, the largest island of the archipelago, is about 32 kilometers (20 mi) northwest of the central part of Batan.

Geology

The Batan Volcanic Complex includes the Pliocene Matarem composite volcano of basalt and andesite flows, 5.8 to 1.7 Ma, on the southern part of the island, and the Quaternary Mt. Iraya basalt and andesite lava flows on the northern part of the island. The central isthmus has an outcrop of Late Miocene andesitic flows, 9 - 7 Ma. Western Mt. Iraya has a pyroclastic flow deposit dated 1,480 years B.P., that includes ash and pumice. The periphery of Mt. Matarem includes lahar and tuffaceous deposits. The Miocene Batan Group are sedimentary rocks that includes the Liguan, Caracaran and Bilbao formations. The Middle Miocene Bilbao limestone overlies the Early Miocene Caracaran siltstone, which overlies the Liguan limestone. The Liguan and Bilbao include coal measures up to 300 meters thick.^[7]^[8]

History

Japanese invasion

The Japanese invasion of the Philippines began with the invasion of Batan Island by a 490-man naval combat unit and an indeterminate number of air corps troops, on two transports escorted by one destroyer and four torpedo boats. This was the first landing on American territory, the same day as the attack on Pearl Harbor.^[9]

Japanese forces quickly secured the existing small airfield outside Basco without resistance and began expansion work immediately as a forward base for operations against Luzon. Work was discontinued only a few days later as the success of the Japanese bombing of Clark Field rendered a base at Basco redundant. On 10 December 1941, the naval combat force was withdrawn.^[10]

Governance

Four of the six municipalities of Batanes are located on the 20-kilometer (12 mi) long island including the provincial capital of Basco. The other municipalities are Ivana, Mahatao and Uyugan.

References

^ "Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC) - Province: BATANES". nap.psa.gov.ph. Philippine Statistics Authority. Archived from the original on 18 April 2018. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Iraya". Global Volcanism Program. Retrieved on 2013-04-11.
^ Census of Population (2015). "Region II (Cagayan Valley)". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved 20 June 2016.
^ Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary, 3rd ed. (ISBN 0-87779-546-0; Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster Inc., 1997), p. 119.
^ "Inactive Volcanoes Part 5". Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. Retrieved on 2013-04-11.
^ "Mount Mataram". Google Maps. Retrieved on 2013-04-11.
^ Pena, Rolando (2008). Lexicon of Philippine Stratigraphy 2008. Mandaluyong City: the Geological Society of the Philippines, Inc. pp. 45–46, 49–50, 88, 169. ISBN 9789719423119.
^ Reyes, Rolando (2005). "An approach in determining the baseline data on the natural background radioactivity of Natanes Province, its implications to national security" (PDF). IAEA. National Defense College of the Philippines. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
^ "The First Landings". Retrieved 18 March 2014.
^ "The First Landings". Retrieved 18 March 2014.