Culion

Culion
Municipality of Culion
Culion Skyline
Culion Skyline
Flag of Culion
Official seal of Culion
Map of Palawan with Culion highlighted
Map of Palawan with Culion highlighted
OpenStreetMap
Map
Culion is located in Philippines
Culion
Culion
Location within the Philippines
Coordinates: 11°53′40″N 120°01′07″E / 11.8944°N 120.0186°E / 11.8944; 120.0186
CountryPhilippines
RegionMimaropa
ProvincePalawan
District 1st district
FoundedFebruary 19, 1992
Barangays14 (see Barangays)
Government
[1]
 • TypeSangguniang Bayan
 • mayor of Culion[*]Ma. Virginia N. de Vera
 • Vice MayorAlister S. Leyson
 • RepresentativeFranz Josef George E. Alvarez
 • Municipal Council
Members
 • Electorate13,979 voters (2022)
Area
 • Total499.59 km2 (192.89 sq mi)
Elevation
45 m (148 ft)
Highest elevation
(Mount Oltaloro)
468 m (1,535 ft)
Lowest elevation
0 m (0 ft)
Population
 (2020 census)[3]
 • Total23,213
 • Density46/km2 (120/sq mi)
 • Households
5,651
Economy
 • Income class3rd municipal income class
 • Poverty incidence
40.16
% (2021)[4]
 • Revenue₱ 191.8 million (2020)
 • Assets₱ 244.3 million (2020)
 • Expenditure₱ 196.9 million (2020)
 • Liabilities₱ 47.34 million (2020)
Service provider
 • ElectricityBusuanga Island Electric Cooperative (BISELCO)
Time zoneUTC+8 (PST)
ZIP code
5315
PSGC
IDD:area code+63 (0)48
Native languagesCalamian Tagbanwa
Palawano
Tagalog

Culion, officially the Municipality of Culion (Tagalog: Bayan ng Culion), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 23,213 people.[3]

Culion consists primarily of Culion Island as well as 41 minor surrounding islands, as part of the Calamian group of islands.[5]

It was a former leprosarium, starting in 1906 under the American colonial regime until the American commonwealth of the Philippines era. Although leprosy on the island-town was abolished in the 1980s, it was only in 2006 when it was declared a leprosy-free area by the World Health Organization.[6][7] The municipality was created by virtue of Republic Act No. 7193 on February 19, 1992.[8] In May 2017, the Philippine National Commission for UNESCO began its initiative to prepare the dossier of Culion's leprosy documentary heritage, which will be nominated in the future in the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme.[9] In May 2018, the Culion Museum and Archives was officially nominated by the Philippines in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register – Asia and the Pacific.[10] On June 18, 2018, Culion Leprosy Archives was officially inscribed to the Memory of the World Register – Asia and the Pacific. The government and the Asia-Pacific bloc aims to nominate the archives further to the International Memory of the World Register. If approved by UNESCO, it will be the fifth internationally recognized documentary heritage of the Philippines, increasing Culion town's feasibility to become a World Heritage Site in the future.[11]

  1. ^ Municipality of Culion | (DILG)
  2. ^ "2015 Census of Population, Report No. 3 – Population, Land Area, and Population Density" (PDF). Philippine Statistics Authority. Quezon City, Philippines. August 2016. ISSN 0117-1453. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 25, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Census of Population (2020). "Mimaropa". Total Population by Province, City, Municipality and Barangay. Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved 8 July 2021.
  4. ^ "PSA Releases the 2021 City and Municipal Level Poverty Estimates". Philippine Statistics Authority. 2 April 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2024.
  5. ^ "Culion Island". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved April 7, 2011.
  6. ^ Ronald Fettes Chapman (1982). Leonard Wood and leprosy in the Philippines: the Culion Leper Colony, 1921-1927. University Press of America. pp. 85–86. ISBN 0-8191-1977-6. OL 4094674M.
  7. ^ Bartolome, Jessica (August 27, 2017). "Inside Culion, the Philippines' "Island of No Return"". GMA News.
  8. ^ "Republic Act No. 7193 - An Act Creating the Municipality of Culion in the Province of Palawan". Chan Robles Virtual Law Library. 19 February 1992. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  9. ^ "PH NatCom visits Culion Island in Palawan". UNESCO Philippines. 2017.
  10. ^ "Nomination Information – Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific". www.mowcapunesco.org.
  11. ^ "Culion Leprosy Archives (2018) – Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific". www.mowcapunesco.org. June 18, 2018.