Balabac Island is the southernmost island of the

Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in t ...

province, and therefore the westernmost undisputed island in the

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 ...

, only about north from

Sabah Sabah () is a state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indonesia to the south. The Federal Territory ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two regions: Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo's East Mal ...

, across the

Balabac Strait The Balabac Strait ( fil, Kipot ng Balabak; ms, Selat Balabak) is one of the straits that connects the South China Sea with the Sulu Sea. It separates Balabac Island (Palawan province), Philippines, from Balambangan and the Banggi Islands no ...

. Administratively, the island forms the main part of the municipality of Balabac and is divided into 14

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 metropolita ...

s (the other six barangays of the municipality are on other nearby islands): Balabac Island is home to various

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

species. It is the home of birds like the

grey imperial pigeon The grey imperial pigeon (''Ducula pickeringii'') is a species of bird in the family Columbidae. It is found in the Sulu Archipelago, Miangas and Talaud Islands. Its natural habitats are tropical moist lowland forests and plantations. It is thr ...

(''Ducula pickeringii''), Philippine cockatoo (''Cacatua haematuropygia''),

blue-headed racket-tail The blue-headed racket-tail (''Prioniturus platenae''), also known as the Palawan racket-tail and locally as ''kinawihan'', is a parrot found in the western Philippines around Palawan. The species was formerly considered conspecific with the blu ...

(''Prioniturus platenae''), and the

Palawan hornbill The Palawan hornbill (''Anthracoceros marchei'') is a large forest bird endemic to the Philippines. It is one of the 11 endemic hornbills in the country. It is only found in Palawan and nearby islands of Balabac, Busuanga, Calauit, Culion and C ...

(''Anthracoceros marchei''). The

Philippine mouse-deer The Philippine mouse-deer (''Tragulus nigricans''), also known as the Balabac chevrotain or ''pilandok'' (in Filipino), is a small, nocturnal ruminant, which is endemic to Balabac and nearby smaller islands (Bugsuk and Ramos) southwest of Palawa ...

, a subspecies of the greater mouse-deer (''Tragulus napu'') can only be found in this island. The Molbogs, a Muslim ethnolinguistic group, is concentrated in this island. Their livelihood includes farming, fishing and

barter In trade, barter (derived from ''baretor'') is a system of exchange in which participants in a transaction directly exchange goods or services for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. Economists disti ...

trading with the nearby

Mapun Mapun, officially the Municipality of Mapun, is a 4th class municipality in the province of Tawi-Tawi, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 30,038 people. It is formerly known as Cagayan de Sulu until 1984, then as ...

and

market centres. Cabo Melville Lighthouse 1892

References

Balabac Island (Important Birds Areas of Philippines)

The Molbog

External links

Balabac Island
at

OpenStreetMap OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, open geographic database updated and maintained by a community of volunteers via open collaboration. Contributors collect data from surveys, trace from aerial imagery and also import from other freely licensed g ...

{{Authority control Islands of Palawan