Batanes

The island-province of Batanes is the smallest province in the Philippines with a land area of 230 square kilometers and was created by a series of volcanic activities and other geologic forces when Mt. Iraya erupted around 325 BC. It is bounded on the north by the Bashi Channel, on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the west by the West Philippine Sea and on the south by the Balintang Channel. Basco, its capital town, is about 280 kilometers north of Aparri, Cagayan or some 860 kilometers north of Manila and about 190 kilometers south of Taiwan. The prehistoric Ivatans who are nationally acclaimed as the “True Insulares” were boatmaking and seafaring people who lived in small tribal communities that lived on fishing, hunting, horticulture, and raising root crops.