| Northern Samar | |||
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| — Province — | |||
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| Map of the Philippines with Northern Samar highlighted | |||
| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Philippines | ||
| Region | Eastern Visayas (Region VIII) | ||
| Founded | June 19, 1965 | ||
| Capital | Catarman | ||
| Government | |||
| • Governor | Paul R. Daza (Liberal) | ||
| • Vice Governor | Ramp Nielsen B. Uy (Nacionalista) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 3,692.9 km2 (1,425.8 sq mi) | ||
| Area rank | 35th out of 80 | ||
| Population (2007) | |||
| • Total | 549,759 | ||
| • Rank | 44th out of 80 | ||
| • Density | 148.9/km2 (385.6/sq mi) | ||
| • Density rank | 50th out of 80 | ||
| Divisions | |||
| • Independent cities | 0 | ||
| • Component cities | 0 | ||
| • Municipalities | 24 | ||
| • Barangays | 569 | ||
| • Districts | 1st and 2nd districts of Northern Samar | ||
| Time zone | PHT (UTC+8) | ||
| ZIP Code | |||
| Spoken languages | Waray-Waray, Cebuano, Inabaknon, Tagalog, English | ||
Northern Samar (Filipino:Hilagang Samar) is a province of the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catarman and is located at the northern portion of the island of Samar. Bordering the province to the south are the provinces of Samar and Eastern Samar. To the northwest, across the San Bernardino Strait is Sorsogon; to the east is the Philippine Sea and to the west is Samar Sea.
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Most people speak Norte Samarnon, a variation of Waray-Waray. Cebuano is spoken in the island municipalities of San Antonio and San Vicente. A third language Inabaknon is spoken in the island of Capul.
Norte Samarnon usually is further subclassified into Balicuatro, Central and Pacific speakers.
Tagalog and English are also widely understood in Northern Samar.
Northern Samar has a lot of tourism potentials that are still undiscovered and unknown by many tourists. You can find famous old churches, beautiful falls, rivers, caves, virgin forests, beaches, and other secret places.
Three of these “secret” places are the island Municipalities of Biri, Capul and Dalupirit (San Antonio), all off the coast of Northern Samar.
Remote and desolate, and definitely off the normal tourist track, forgotten Northern Samar evokes powerful images.
Among the last frontiers in the country, its rugged coastline of limestone cliffs along the Pacific Ocean is a historical landmark. During the Spanish colonial era, Samar island was the first Philippine landfall seen by the Manila galleons as they approached the end of their long voyage from Acapulco.
Entering the waters of the Philippine archipelago, the galleons called at the fortified island of Capul off Samar, offered thanks for a safe crossing at the Jesuit church, and then negotiated the rough waters of narrow San Bernardino Strait toward Manila, their final destination.
Capul also became the last stop on Philippine soil of the departing galleons before the long, often treacherous trans-Pacific sail to Acapulco in Mexico.
Northern Samar is subdivided into two (2) congressional districts, 24 towns or municipalities, and 569 barangays.
Northern Samar is bounded on the north by the San Bernardino Strait, on the east by the Pacific Ocean, on the west by the Samar Sea, on the southwest by Western Samar and on the southeast by Eastern Samar. Its total land area is 3,498 km².
The province is composed largely of low and extremely rugged hills and small lowland areas. It also has small and discontinuous areas along the coasts and its rivers are usually accompanied by alluvial plains and valleys. The province is endowed with relatively rich and fertile soil that most crops can grow on it.
Northern Samar is where the Sumuroy Rebellion of 1649-1650 led by the Waray hero Juan Ponce Sumuroy first began. One of the trusted co conspirators of Sumuroy, David Dula y Goiti, sustained the Filipino quest for motherland in a greater vigor. He was however wounded in a battle, was captured and later was executed in Palapag, Northern Samar by the Spaniards together with his seven key lieutenants. They were accused of masterminding several attacks on Spanish detachments. The place where David came from was named later as Candawid (Kan David) in Isla De Batag, Laoang, Northern Samar. Some of David's descendants changed their surnames to Dulay to avoid Spanish prosecutions. Some maintained their surname Dula, which up to these days is the source of minor internal frictions among some descendants of David Dula y Goiti in Laoang, Northern Samar accusing each side as "sigbinan", a native waray folklore which originated in Isla de Batag, which connotes "a family secretly keeping bear-like creatures", which are being fed with all kinds of meat, sometimes, including flesh of dead Spanish Guardia Civil. Several famous Northern Samarenos are tracing their ancestry among the seven co conspirators executed with David Dula y Goiti in Palapag , Northern Samar.
During the Philippine-American War, the Siege of Catubig was fought in the town of Catubig.
| Sorsogon / San Bernardino Strait | Philippine Sea | |||
| Masbate / Samar Sea | Philippine Sea | |||
| Northern Samar | ||||
| Samar | Eastern Samar |
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