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CAMARINES SUR PROVINCE

Location: Camarines Sur lies across the middle of the Bicol Peninsula at the southeastern portion of Luzon. It is bounded on the north by the Pacific Ocean, on the east by Maqueda Channel, on the south by the Province of Albay, on the west by the Ragay Gulf and on the northwest by the Provinces of Camarines Norte and Quezon.

Land: Camarines south is the largest of Bicol´s 6 provinces. At its center lies the vast Bicol Plain. This is surrounded by mountains, two of which, Isarog and Iriga, are extinct volcanos. To the east is the Caramoan Peninsula.
The Bicol River drains the central and southern parts of the province. Iriga is surrounded by three lakes - Buhi, Bato and Baao. The northeastern side has no pronounced dry season but a very rainy season, but a very rainy season from November to February.

Land Area: 5267 sq km

History: Orginally, Camarines was one political unit but in 1829, the province was divided into two, Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur. In 1854, the two provinces were again united to form the province were again united to from the province of Ambos Camarines. However, in 1857, they were again separated until 1893. But on March 10, 1917, the province was divided into Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur.
Naga City, the former capital, was founded in 1573 as Nueva Caceres, after Caceres in Spain.
Among the great sons of Camarines Sur are Bishop Jorge Barlin, the first Filipino Catholic bishop, revolutionary leaders Elias Angeles and Felix Plazo, and the 15 Bicol Martyrs, led by Manel and Domingo abella, who died fighting against Spanish rule.

Political Division: Camarines Sur is politically subdivided into four congressional districts, one chartered city, one component city, 35 municipalities and 1,063 barangays. The province has a land area of 5,481.6 square kilometers, roughly 30 percent of Bicol Region’s land area and 1.83 percent of the Philippines.

Population: The population of the province as of May 2000 census was 1,551,549 accounting for almost 33 percent of the regional population. The province's population grew at an average annual rate of 1.72 percent between 1995 and 2000. Its population density is 283.0 persons per square kilometer of land area.

Distinct: The province’s most dominant geographic features are its two mountains; Mount Isarog and Mount Asog at Lake Buhi at the foot of Mount Asog is home to the country’s smallest commercial fish, tabios or sinarapan (Mistichis Luzonensis).

Dialect: Dominant dialect is Bicolano, but migrant dialects like Bisaya and Ilocano have also been brought in.

Economy: Basically agricultural, 62 percent of its total land area devoted to crop production. The major crops are coconut (Coconut is planted to about 18 percent of the province’s land area), rice, abaca, banana, root crops and vegetables. The province is flanked by some the richest marine fishing grounds in the country making fishery one of its major economic activities.
Mining is growing industry. There are deposits of gold, silver, chromate, copper and other metals in the eastern side. The province also has rich fishing grounds. Mineral reserves are estimated at 5.1 million metric tons, 82 percent percent of which are gold ore deposits. Non-metallic mineral reserves is estimated at 3.5 billion metric tons composed mainly of limestone, sandstone, calcaceous classics, marble and ball clay.
Cottage industries include bamboo craft in Nabua, embroidery in Baao and fiber craft in the other towns.

PROVINCES

Cama

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