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Davao, Region XI, Philippines

Philippine Region XI, Southern Mindanao, comprises five provinces: the three larger, Davao Oriental, Davao, and Davao del Sur, clustering around the Davao Gulf, and the two smaller, Sarangani and South Cotabato, sharing Sarangani Bay. The region comprises two cities plus sixty-six municipalities, with a total population of 4,604,158 as of the 1995 census.

Flag images here drawn after Symbols of the State, published by the Philippines Bureau of Local Government.

Compostela Valley
Davao
Davao del Sur
- Davao City
Davao Oriental

Compostela Valley

Flag not known.

Davao

image by Jaume Ollé, 12 January 2001

The Province of Davao, formerly (and still occasionally) called Davao del Norte, occupies the head of the Davao Gulf in Southern Mindanao, Philippine Region XI. It contains two cities, Tagum (the capital) and the Island Garden City of Samal (in the gulf). It does NOT contain the city of Davao. Bananas are the dominant export crop, and rice, maize, and several other food crops are grown for consumption on Mindanao. Little remains of the forests. Livestock raising and fishing contribute to the economy, and there are various manufactures. Gold-mining was important in former times, and probably accounts for the gold cross on the shield, but seems to have been given up. Sand, gravel, guano, and marble are all extracted. The provincial government encourages tourism, and Samal is one of the national government's five top goal areas for tourist development.
John Ayer, 29 May 2001

Davao del Sur

image by Jaume Ollé, 12 January 2001

The Philippine Province of Davao del Sur in Region XI, Southern Mindanao, occupies the western shore of the Gulf of Davao. It encompasses but apparently does not include Davao City. Its western boundary is defined by a mountain range, with Mount Apo dominating the skyline. There are several other isolated mountains. Below these the forests have mostly been cleared to make way for agriculture. The main crops are rice, maize, coconuts, bananas, sugarcane, and coffee. There is also a good deal of fishing, some mining (gold, silver, copper, lead, and chromium), and tourism. Some lumbering and wood-processing persists. Davao del Sur now comprises fifteen towns, but I suspect there were twelve in 1975, when this flag was current. I have been unable to learn the significance of the date 1907. The capital is Digos.
John Ayer, 6 June 2001

Davao City

image by Dirk Schönberger, 12 January 2001

Source: Symbols of the state

Preliminary results of the 2000 census show Davao has a population of 1,147,000 (slightly rounded),
John Ayer, 11 February 2001

When the Province of Davao was divided in 1967 the City of Davao seems to have been kept separate from any province. The single star on the flag probably represents this separate status. Davao is the only city in the Philippine Republic outside the National Capital Region that is not part of a province - but it is also the only city in the republic outside the NCR that has a population of more than a million (1,147,000 by the 2000 census, to 758,000 for Davao del Sur). It is geographically one of the biggest cities in the world, covering more than 2200 sq.km. When the Province of Davao was created in 1914, the town of Davao was its capital; it was chartered as a city in 1937. It is the regional headquarter. It grows rice and coconuts, manufactures textiles, cement, and plywood, and is a major port for inter-island and international trade, shipping large quantities of abaca fiber, as well as maize, rice, and copra. It also has a major airport. Before World War II the city was largely Japanese. Davao was nearly destroyed in the war, and afterward the Japanese returned to Japan.
John Ayer, 6 June 2001

Davao Oriental

image by Jaume Ollé, 12 January 2001

The Philippine Province of Davao Oriental in Region XI, Southern Mindanao, occupies the eastern flank of the Davao Gulf. A mountain range shelters the province from the fury of Pacific typhoons. On the sheltered Gulf coast the people live by agriculture, fishing, and lumbering, though this suffers from excessive harvesting in the past. There is some industry, including the manufacture of parquet tiles, and there is clearly some tourist trade. Davao Oriental comprises eleven towns covering 5165 sq.km.; the population by the 2000 census was 446,191.
John Ayer, 3 June 2001