Babuyan Islands

This article is about the group of islands. For the island within Babuyan Islands, seeBabuyan Island.

Babuyan Islands

Babuyan Islands of Luzon Strait
Babuyan Islands Location within the Philippines
Geography
Location	Luzon Strait
Coordinates	19°15′N121°40′E
Adjacent to	Babuyan Channel Balintang Channel
Total islands	24
Major islands	Babuyan Island Calayan Island Camiguin Island Dalupiri Island Fuga Island
Area	600 km2(230 sq mi)
Administration
Philippines
Region	Cagayan Valley
Province	Cagayan
Municipality	Aparri Calayan
Demographics
Population	19,349 (2020)
Pop. density	32.2/km2(83.4/sq mi)

TheBabuyan Islands(/bɑːbəˈjɑːn/bah-bə-YAHN), also known as theBabuyan Group of Islands,is an archipelago in thePhilippines,located in theLuzon Straitnorth of the main island ofLuzonand south ofTaiwanviaBashi ChanneltoLuzon Strait.The archipelago consists of five major islands and their surrounding smaller islands. These main islands are, counterclockwise starting from northeast,Babuyan,Calayan,Dalupiri,Fuga,andCamiguin.The Babuyan Islands are separated from Luzon by theBabuyan Channel,and from the province ofBatanesto the north by theBalintang Channel.

Geography

The archipelago, comprising 24 volcanic-coralline islands, has a total area of about 590 km²(230 sq mi).The largest of these is Calayan with an area of 196 km²(76 sq mi), while the highest peak in the island group is Mount Pangasun (1,108 metres, 3,635 ft) on Babuyan Claro.

Islands

The following are the islands of Babuyan and their adjoining islets and rocks,along with land areas and highest elevation:

Major island	Adjacent islets	Area	Highest elevation
Babuyan Claro	Pan de Azucar Island	100 km2 39 sq mi	1,108 m 3,635 ft
Calayan Island	Panuitan Island Wyllie Rocks	196 km2 76 sq mi	499 m 1,637 ft
Camiguin	Guinapac Rocks Pamoctan Island (area: 0.7 km2,0.27 sq mi elevation: 202 m, 663 ft) Pinon Island	166 km2 64 sq mi	828 m 2,717 ft
Dalupiri Island	Irao Islet	50 km2 19 sq mi	297 m 974 ft
Fuga Island	Barit Island Mabag Island	70 km2 27 sq mi	208 m 682 ft
Didicas Island		0.7 km2 0.27 sq mi	244 m 801 ft
Balintang Islands

Geology

Babuyan Islands satellite image captured bySentinel-2in 2016

Smith Volcanoon Babuyan Island

The eastern islands of the archipelago are part of theLuzon Volcanic Arc.Three volcanoes from two of the islands have erupted in historical times -Camiguin de Babuyaneson Camiguin Island,Babuyan Claro VolcanoandSmith Volcano(also known as Mount Babuyan) on Babuyan Island.

Another small volcanic island located just 22 km (14 mi) NE of Camiguin Island,Didicas Volcanoon Didicas Island, became a permanent island only after emerging and rising to over 200 metres (656 ft) above sea level in 1952.

Flora and fauna

All of the islands within the island group are classified byHaribon FoundationandBirdLife Internationalaskey biodiversity areas,or sites with outstanding universal value due to its geographic and biologic importance. All of the islands within the island group have never been part of any large landmass, and thus have unique flora and fauna, most of which are found nowhere else. A research conducted by theDepartment of Environment and Natural Resourceshave found at least 5 faunal regions in the area, one of the highest density of separate faunal regions in the world. The islands are also home to the most critically endangeredbirdspecies in the Philippines, theCalayan rail(found only on the small island of Calayan), and the most critically endangeredsnakespecies in the Philippines, theRoss' wolf snake(found only on the small island of Dalupiri). The island group is also a congregation site for endangeredhumpback whales,one of the only few of its kind inSoutheast Asia.Due to its immense value to the natural world and Philippine biological diversity, various scientific and conservation groups have been lobbying for its declaration as anational parkand its inclusion in theUNESCOWorld Heritage List.

Humpback whaleshave re-colonized into the area and the Babuyan became the only wintering ground for the species in the Philippinesalthough historical records among Babuyan Islands have not been confirmed.

Demographics

List of islands by population (as of 2020):

1. Calayan Island- 9,648
2. Camiguin Island- 5,231
3. Fuga Island- 1,939
4. Babuyan Island- 1,910
5. Dalupiri Island- 621
6. Barit Island- 14

Government

The whole archipelago is administered under the province ofCagayanwith Babuyan, Calayan, Camiguin, and Dalupiri comprising the municipality ofCalayanwhile Fuga is under the jurisdiction ofAparri.

Babuyan and Dalupiri are themselves individualbarangaysin Calayan municipality, respectively named Babuyan Claro and Dalupiri, while Fuga Island is also an individual barangay, also named Fuga Island, in Aparri.

External links

• Information on Fuga Island
• Babuyan language wordlist at the Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database