Oriental Mindoro Quick Facts and Figures

Oriental Mindoro is located in MIMAROPA Region. It lies 45 kilometers south of Batangas and 130 kilometers south of Manila.

It is bounded by Verde Island Passage on the north; Maestro del Campo Island and Tablas Strait on the east; Semirara Island on the south; and Occidental Mindoro on the west.

Oriental Mindoro has a total land area of 4,364.72 square kilometers or 436,472 hectares. It represents 1.45% of the total land area of the country and 15.90% of the MIMAROPA Region.

Oriental Mindoro has a rugged terrain and an irregular coastline. Numerous rivers and streams traverse the province but none are navigable by large vessels.

The province has two climate types: Type I and Type III. Type I is characterized by two pronounced seasons, dry and wet. Type III has no pronounced season, relatively dry from November to April, and wet during the rest of the year.

The seven recognized tribes of Mangyan in Oriental Mindoro are Alangan, Bangon, Buhid, Hanunuo, Iraya, Tadyawan, and Tau-Buhid, each with its own distinct language, traditions, and way of life, yet all united in preserving their cultural heritage and deep connection to the land and nature of Mindoro.

Mt. Halcon is home to the indigenous Alangan Mangyans. Its steep slopes have earned it the reputation of being one of the most difficult and technically most challenging mountains to climb in the Philippines. Mt. Halcon Range is situated on the northern central portion of Mindoro with an estimated elevation of 2,590 meters (Merrill 1907). Recent elevation studies of the summit of Mt. Halcon have reported it to be at 2,582 meters (Mandia 2001).

The tamaraw or Mindoro dwarf buffalo (Bubalus mindorensis) is a small buffalo belonging to the family Bovidae. It is endemic to the island of Mindoro in the Philippines, and is the only endemic Philippine bovine. It is not a subspecies of the water buffalo, nor is it a subspecies of the slightly larger carabao. The discovery of fossil bubalids in other islands around the archipelago indicates that the family was once widespread throughout the Philippines.

Naujan Lake is the main feature of the protected area known as the Naujan Lake National Park. The lake and adjoining areas was declared a national park on March 27, 1956 through Proclamation No. 282 by President Ramon Magsaysay. The Ramsar Convention has declared it as a “Wetland of International Importance”. It is bordered by the municipalities of Naujan, Victoria, Socorro and Pola. The lake is home to a wide variety of fish and water birds both local and migratory.