MINI-PROFILE
CAPITAL : PUERTA PRINCESA
AREA : 1,489,655 HEC.
POPULATION : 640,486
CITY : 1
NO. OF MUNICIPALITIES : 22

Palawan, the country's last frontier, is blessed with 1,768 islands and islets most of which have irregular coastlines that make excellent harbors. Quite fittingly, on its almost 1.5 hectare land area stands Nature in all her virgin-glory wrapped in a mantel of rainforests, majestic mountains, primeval caves, and untrodden beaches. Palawan is surrounded by a coral shelf that abounds with varied and colorful marine life, hence, the island province has been declared a nature sanctuary. Palawan is the country's largest province not only in terms of land area but also of natural resources, which attract local and foreign visitors of either business or tourism inclinations. Its stunning, pristine beauty is unsurpassed. Palawan boasts of exotic flora and fauna like the mouse deer and the scaly ant eater are found nowhere else. Palawan waters are among the best in the world not only for diving but also for fishing. Many Manila-based fishing operations have built fortunes from the flourishing fish trade, supplying Manila other parts of Luzon with produce from the sea.

Today, the number of leisure travellers to the province continues to grow, especially those drawn to underwater sports, mountain-trekking and exploring. A Japanese and Filipino partnership have even built a resort in El Nido, famous for it's cliffs which house the swift, a bird species that makes the famous edible bird's nest. Anthropologists also found the biggest and best known skull of the oldest Filipino, the Tabon Man (approximately 22,000 years old), high up in the cool recess of Tabon Cave Quezon 157 kilometers southeast of the provincial capital.

A diver's paradise, Palawan has miles of sub-surface coral and rainbow reef walls which surround the costs and coves teeming with a multitude of marine life. The province also boasts of extraordinary scenic wonders like the St. Paul Underground River, the Calauit Wildlife Sanctuary and the Honda Bay Islands, among others. Palawan engages in the nation's most intensive environmental program. The provincial government has mobilized its citizenry to actively participate in various environment conservation and protection programs such as : the "Bantay Gubat" for forests and the "Bantay Dagat" for the seas.