Basey, officially the Municipality of Basey ( war, Bungto han Basey; tl, Bayan ng Basey), is a 1st class

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 56,685 people. On 8 November 2013, Basey was one of the places heavily devastated by

Super Typhoon Haiyan Typhoon Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Yolanda, was one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. On making landfall, Haiyan devastated portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines. It is one of the ...

, leaving more than 200 people dead.

Etymology

The town's name is pronounced "Basai" or "Basay", not "basÉY". This mispronunciation was propagated by American soldiers in the early days of the American colonial period. There is no "ey" sound in the

Waray-Waray language Waray (also known as Waray-Waray or Bisaya/Binisaya nga Winaray/Waray) is an Austronesian language and the fifth-most-spoken native regional language of the Philippines, native to Eastern Visayas. It is the native language of the Waray people ...

. Basay is from the Waray word ''mabaysay'', meaning "beautiful".

Geography

Barangays

Basey is politically subdivided into 51

barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

s. In 1957, the sitio of Cancoral was converted into the barrio of Roxas.

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Tourism

The town of Basey is famous for its beautiful

Sohoton Caves The Sohoton Caves and Natural Bridge Park is a protected natural area about 841 hectares and a tourist attraction within the Samar Island Natural Park. The natural park features caves, subterranean rivers, waterfalls, limestone formations, thic ...

, whose inner chamber features stalactites, stalagmites, and an underground river. The town is also known for artistically woven decorative mats called ''

Banig A baníg ( ) is a traditional handwoven mat of the Philippines predominantly used as a sleeping mat or a floor mat. Depending on the region of the Philippines, the mat is made of ''buri'' (palm), pandanus or reed leaves. The leaves are dried, u ...

''. Tourists buy these mats as souvenir items.

References

External links

Basey Profile at PhilAtlas.com
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Philippine Standard Geographic Code The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Philippine Census Information

Local Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Municipalities of Samar (province) Basey