Visayas
THE, a group of islands which occupy the central part of the Philippine Archipelago, between Luzon on the N., Mindanao on the S., the Pacific Ocean on the E., and Paragua on the W.
They lie between lat. 9° 2 and 12° 39′ N., and between lon. 121° 48′ and 125° 50' W.; area, 57,714 square kilometers; pop. about 3,500,000. The group may be divided into three parts, each including several adjacent islands. The principal islands of the first group are Romblon and Panay, of the second, Negros, Cebu, and Bohol, and of the third Samar and Leyte. Many of the islands are mountainous, but there are valleys and plains which are usually very fertile. Agriculture is quite extensively carried on. There are large crops of rice, sugar cane, subacao, coffee, chocolate, wheat, corn, tobacco, hemp, etc. The forests of the islands are generally rich in excellent building and cabinet woods, such as molave, ipil, banaba, durigon, alintatao, narra, etc. There is also found in the forests an abundance of pitch, resin, gum, mastic wax, and honey. Gold, silver, lead, coal, marble, etc., are mined to a greater or less extent in some of the islands. Manufacturing is carried on to a considerable extent. In the province of Antique, on the island of Panay, the manufacture of fabrics from pineapple fiber, jusi, and sinamay is flourishing.
Hunting and fishing are also important industries.