Southern Leyte Article Index for
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Southern Leyte
 

Information About

Southern Leyte





Philippine Information

  Infoboxtitle Province of Southern Leyte
  Sealfile
  Region Eastern Visayas (Region VIII)
  Capital Maasin City
  Founded May 22 , 1959
  Pop2000 360,160
  Pop2000rank 18th smallest
  Popden2000 208
  Popden2000rank 42nd highest
  Areakm2 1,7348
  Arearank 16th smallest
  Hucities 0
  Componentcities 1
  Municipalities 18
  Barangays 500
  Districts 1
  Languages Waray , Cebuano
  Governor Rosette Y Lerias


Southern Leyte forms an important part of the inter-island transportation system of the country, with ferries transporting people and goods between Liloan and Surigao Del Norte in Mindanao .

Limasawa , an island municipality to the south is believed to be the site of the first Christian Mass in the far east, when Ferdinand Magellan landed there in 1521 .


PEOPLE AND CULTURE

The Native Language is Cebuano . English and Tagalog are widely understood as second languages.


ECONOMY


GEOGRAPHY


Political

Southern Leyte is subdivided into 18 Municipalities and 1 City .


City



Municipalities







Physical

Southern Leyte occupies the southern one-fourth of the island of Leyte . Southern Leyte is bounded by the province of Leyte to the north, by Surigao Strait to the east, Bohol Sea to the south, and Canigao Channel , across from Bohol , to the west. Its capital is Maasin City .


HISTORY

For a time, Southern Leyte was a part of Leyte province. The difficulty of managing the entire island from Tacloban , the capital of Leyte, suggested the need to separate the island into two provinces. A law, Republic Act 2227, was passed forming the province of Southern Leyte in 1959 and the province was inaugurated in 1960 .

See Also: 2006 Southern Leyte mudslide


On February 17 , 2006 , several mudslides caused by heavy rains, amounting over 200cm (79 inches), and a minor Earthquake destroyed at least one town and many buildings. Hundreds are presumed dead and over a thousand are missing. Rescue efforts were greatly hampered by poor road conditions and lack of heavy equipment. Unfortunately, over 1,800 people are missing and possibly dead here. The city of Guinsaugon is absoulutely leveled and everything from trees to homes are gone.


EXTERNAL LINKS