Last modified: 2025-09-13 by 
zachary harden
Keywords: cagayan valley | isabela |
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![[Cagayan, Philippines]](../images/p/ph-isa.gif)
located by Zachary Harden, 11 September 2025
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Proceeding southward (or in alphabetical order, or upriver) through Region II we
come to the Province of Isabela, created in 1856 and named for Isabela II, then
the Queen of Spain. Isabela is the biggest (10,665 sq.km.) and most populous
(1,277,000) province in the Cagayan Valley, and comprises one city (Santiago,
for which I have no flag) and thirty-six towns, of which Ilagan is the capital.
The Cagayan River runs through the central plains, which are separated from the
coast by the Sierra Madre (now often called the Sierra Mountains [apologies to
our Spanish-speaking friends]).
About half the land is forested, and the government looks to expand the existing
trade in furniture, rattan products, and other forest products. The bulk of the
economy is agricultural. Tobacco dominated in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries. Imposition of a government tobacco monopoly in 1782 led to rebellion
and the partial depopulation of many towns. Tobacco is still grown, but so too
are rice, bananas, maize, coconuts, and vegetables. The coast is sparsely
inhabited, though surfers come to play, and the government is building an
airport and seaport on the coast to encourage development. The forests and caves
of the wild east are still largely unexplored.
John Ayer, 28 March 2001
The flag used by the province is their seal on a green background. (Source)
Zachary Harden, 11 September 2025
![[Isabella, Philippines]](../images/p/ph-isa_f.gif)
by Jaume Ollé,
12 January 2001
