This represented Based on these figures, the population density is computed at inhabitants per square kilometer or inhabitants per square mile. Isabela has 34 municipalities and 3 cities. The total number of barangays in the province is 1, According to the Census, the age group with the highest population in Isabela is 5 to 9 , with , individuals.
Ilocano was the most prominent ethnic group in Isabela. Of the total household population, The next two prominent ethnic groups were Ibanag The remaining 7. Agriculture, mainly rice with a relatively large corn crop, is the biggest industry in Isabela. Farming is highly mechanized as most of the agricultural lands are irrigated.
With the presence of the Isabela State University, joint ventures, other foreign assisted projects, and the Magat Dam, agriculture has a high level of productivity. It is also the hub of trade, commerce, and other economic activities due to its central location in the region.
The wood industry used to be a top earner for the province but due to the logging ban imposed in the Cagayan Valley Region, activities in this industry have considerably declined. However, furniture making using narra and other indigenous forest materials continues. Some potential investments are in fisheries and tourism.
Shell midden sites and other archaeological sites throughout the province constitute the material culture of those groups during the classical era. During the Spanish era, prior to , the Cagayan Valley was divided into only two provinces: Cagayan and Nueva Vizcaya.
The Province of Cagayan at that time consisted of all towns from Tumauini to Aparri in the north. In order to facilitate the work of the Catholic missionaries in the evangelization of the Cagayan Valley, a royal decree was issued on May 1, , creating the Province of Isabela consisting of the towns of Gamu, Old Angadanan now Alicia , Bindang now Roxas and Camarag now Echague , Carig now Santiago City and Palanan, all detached from the Province of Nueva Vizcaya; while Cabagan and Tumauini were taken from the Province of Cagayan.
The province was placed under the jurisdiction of a governor with Ilagan as the capital, where it remains up to present. Although the province did not play a major role in the revolt against Spain, it is in Palanan that the final pages of the Philippine Revolution were written when United States troops, led by General Frederick Funston, finally captured General Emilio Aguinaldo in the area on March 23, Isabela was re-organized as a province under the American military government through Act No.
The Americans built schools and other buildings and instituted changes in the overall political system. However, the province's economy remained particularly agricultural with rice replacing corn and tobacco as the dominant crop.
World War II stagnated the province's economic growth but it recovered dramatically after the war. In , Imperial Japanese occupied Isabela. A new wave of immigration began in the late 19th and 20th centuries with the arrival of the Ilokano who came in large numbers. They now constitute the largest group in the province. In , construction began on the Magat Dam on the boundary of Ramon, Isabela with neighboring Ifugao Province, becoming a catchbasin for 8 rivers upstream in Ifugao and serving multiple functions, including: irrigating of agricultural lands; flood control; and power generation.
The construction was protested by the Ifugao people due to the flooding of their ancestral lands, but the dam was eventually completed in , partially funded through a loan from the World Bank.
In , Republic Act was passed, legislating that Isabela be divided into two new provinces: Isabela del Norte and Isabela del Sur. A referendum was held on the same year with a slight majority voting against partitioning the province. The night after the plebiscite, Ilagan was declared as a component city of the province. Isabela comprises an aggregate land area of , representing almost 40 percent of the regional territory. It is the largest province in the island of Luzon and the second largest province in the Philippines by land area.
Occupying the central section of the Cagayan Valley region in Luzon, Isabela is bordered by Cagayan to the north, Kalinga to the northwest, Mountain Province to the central-west, Ifugao and Nueva Vizcaya to the southwest, Quirino to the south, and Aurora to the south. To the east lies the Philippine Sea, making Isabela one of the typhoon-prone provinces in the country. The province is divided into three physiographic areas.
The eastern area, straddled by the Sierra Madre mountain range, is rugged and thickly forested. A substantial portion is uncharted. These unexplored hinterlands are home to a rich variety of flora and fauna, and some are under government reservations. It is home to one of the world's largest remaining low-altitude rainforests, with numerous unknown endemic species of flora and fauna and biological diversity in the protected area known as the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park.
The highest point of the province is located near the border with Cagayan. The western area is a fertile valley hemmed by the Central Cordillera.
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