Negros
an island in the Philippine group, between Panay and Cebu; area, 5,191 square miles; pop. 460,776. In the NEILL S. W. part is the mountain cnain of Sojatas, and lying N. and N. E. of this are large plains cut by numerous rivers.
The interior has not been explored. The island is divided into two provinces, Western and Eastern Negros. The former is very fertile, and owing largely to the work of the various European settlers, is in the front rank of all the provinces of the archipelago. The Eastern province, while not so fertile, produces large crops of sugar-cane, hemp, rice, cocoa, and cotton. The forests of the island furnish an abundance of fine building woods, among them teak. On the seashores are numbers of shell fish, tortoise shell, lagan, sea cucumbers, etc., while near the W. coast deposits of excellent coal have recently been discovered. Bacolod is the capital of the Western province, and has a number of fine public and private buildings. There are over a score of cities with a population of 10,- 000 and over.