Batan Island ( ) is the main island of Batanes, an archipelagic

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

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 ...

. It is the second largest of the

Batanes Islands Batanes, officially the Province of Batanes ( ivv, Provinsiya nu Batanes; Ilocano: ''Probinsia ti Batanes''; fil, Lalawigan ng Batanes, ), is an archipelagic province in the Philippines, administratively part of the Cagayan Valley region. It i ...

, the northernmost group of islands in the country. Four of the six

municipalities 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 ...

of Batanes are located on the long island including the provincial capital of Basco. The other municipalities are

Ivana Ivana ( sr, Ивана) is a feminine given name of Slavic origin that is also popular in southern Ireland, France, French-speaking Canada, the Mediterranean and Latin America. It is the feminine form of the name Ivan, which are both the Slavic ...

Mahatao Mahatao, officially the Municipality of Mahatao ( ivv, Kavahayan nu Mahatao; tl, Bayan ng Mahatao), is a 6th class municipality in the province of Batanes, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 1,703 people. History ...

and

Uyugan Uyugan, officially the Municipality of Uyugan ( ivv, Kavahayan nu Uyugan; tl, Bayan ng Uyugan), is a 6th class municipality in the province of Batanes, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 1,380 people. History Tho ...

Geography

Batan is a dumbbell-shaped

volcanic island Geologically, a high island or volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed ...

, part of the

Luzon Volcanic Arc The Luzon Volcanic Arc is a chain of volcanoes in a north–south line across the Luzon Strait from Taiwan to Luzon. The name "Luzon Volcanic Arc" was first proposed by Carl Bowin et al. to describe a series of Miocene to recent volcanoes due to ...

. The northern part of the island is dominated by the high

active volcano An active volcano is a volcano which is either erupting or is likely to erupt in the future. An active volcano which is not currently erupting is known as a dormant volcano. Overview Tlocene Epoch. Most volcanoes are situated on the Pacific Ri ...

Mount Iraya Mount Iraya, is a dormant stratovolcano on Batan Island and the highest point in the province of Batanes, Philippines. Location Iraya is located on Batan Island, one of the Batanes Islands, in the province of Batanes, in the Luzon Strait, nor ...

, which last erupted in 1454."Iraya"

Global Volcanism Program The Smithsonian Institution's Global Volcanism Program (GVP) documents Earth's volcanoes and their eruptive history over the past 10,000 years. The mission of the GVP is to document, understand, and disseminate information about global volcanic a ...

. Retrieved on 2013-04-11. The lower portion of the island is the inactive volcano Mount Matarem, about tall. A hilly narrow neck of land, about long and from wide, separates the two volcanoes of the island. Near Mt. Matarem, the island is at its widest at about .

Sabtang Island Sabtang, officially the Municipality of Sabtang ( ivv, Kavahayan nu Sabtang; tl, Bayan ng Sabtang), is a 6th class municipality in the province of Batanes, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 1,696 people. The south ...

, the nearest island to Batan is located about southwest of the southern tip of the island.

Itbayat Itbayat, officially the Municipality of Itbayat, ( ivv, Kavahayan nu Itbayat; tl, Bayan ng Itbayat), is a 5th class municipality in the province of Batanes, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 3,128 people. Itbay ...

, the largest island of the archipelago, is about northwest of the central part of Batan.

Events

The

Japanese invasion of the Philippines Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

began with the invasion of Batan Island by a 490-man naval combat unit and an indeterminate number of air corps troops, on two transports escorted by one destroyer and four torpedo boats. This was the first landing on American territory, the same day as the

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

. Japanese forces quickly secured the existing small airfield outside Basco without resistance and began expansion work immediately as a forward base for operations against

Luzon Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...

. However, work was discontinued only a few days later as the success of the Japanese bombing of Clark Field rendered a base at Basco redundant. On 10 December 1941, the naval combat force was withdrawn.

Geography

Events

See also