Batanes, the smallest province in the Philippines in terms of population and land area consists of ten tiny islands and islets located about 162 kms. north of the Luzon mainland. Of this island group, the largest and most economically important are Itbayat, Batan and Sabtang. Five islets, namely, Siayan, Mavudis, Diogo, North Island and Y'ami form the northernmost frontier of the Philippine archipelago, Farther north, only 46 miles away from Y'ami is the southernmost tip of Taiwan. Two islets, Ivuhos and Dequey are situated south west of Sabtang.

 

Almost one-half of Batanes are hills and mountains. Batan island, with a land area of 35sq. kms., is generally mountainous on the north and southeast. It has a basin in the interior. Itbayat Island, which has a total area of 95 sq. kms., slopes gradually to the west, being mountainous and hilly along its northern, eastern coast. As for Sabtang, mountains cover the central part of its 41 sq. km. area, making the island slope outward to the coast.

 

The islands are situated between the vast expanse of the waters of Bashi Channel and Balintang Channel, where the Pacific Ocean, merges with the China Sea. The area is a sealane between the Philippines and Japan, China, Hongkong and Taiwan. It is rich with marine resources, including the rarest sea corals in the world.

 

Toward the end of the Spanish regime, Batanes was made a part of Cagayan. In 1909, however , the American authorities organized it into an independent province. Because of its strategic location, the Batanes island group was one of the first points occupied by the invading Japanese imperial forces at the outbreak of the Pacific War.

 

The Batanes Islands are a special place. Isolated from the rest of the country by miles of rough ocean, they have evolved into a truly unique destination - unlike any other island in the Philippine archipelago. The land is different - windswept hills and boulder-hemmed shores that lure, challenge and haunt. The people are different - a brave and skillful race of hardy, inscrutable survivors. The weather is different. In fact, the weather is king. Everyone and everything steps aside. The houses are different - stone walls, whitened with lime and roofed in thatch. The boats, the language, the crafts, the wine - all different.