The Province of Negros Oriental 

Location

The island of Negros is approximately located in the middle of the archipelago, 500 miles south of Manila. It lies along 9º 1' to 11' north and longitude 12º 34' to 122º 24 east. It is the fourth largest island in the Philippine archipelago. It is located between the islands of Panay in the west and Cebu in the east. It is bounded by the Visayan sea in the north, the Tañon Strait in the east, the Sulu and Mindanao Seas in the south and Guimaras Strait in the northwest.

Negros Oriental is located on the eastern side of the Negros Island in the Central Visayas Region, occupying the southern lobe of the island of Negros. While Negros Occidental belongs to Region VI (Western Visayas Region), Negros Oriental is in Region VII (Central Visayas Region) grouped together with other Cebuano-Speaking provinces of Cebu, Bohol and Siquijor.

Form and Boundary

It is a narrow estate extending two-thirds of the way from the south to the north of the island. It measures 103 miles from the north to south and from the east to west it is 49 miles at its widest, and 8 miles at it’s narrowest. It is bounded by a chain of rugged mountains from its sister province of Negros Occidental and separated from Cebu by the Tañon Strait.

Negros Oriental consists of twenty (20) municipalities, five (5) cities and five hundred fifty-seven (557) barangays. It is also further divided into three (3) legislative districts.

Ethnic and Name Origin

When the Spanish explorers landed in Negros Oriental in 1565, they found natives who caslled the place "Buglas", named after a kind of tall grass resembling the present -day sugarcane plant. Buglas grass was then abundantly growing in the island. The Spaniards encountered many black people with black kinky hair among the inhabitatants, they called the island Negros. Kabilin, a book on provincial history, mentions what seemed to be the first known documentary reference of the island of Negros in the atlas drawn in 1545 by renowned Spanish cartographer Alonso de Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz' map bears the legend y de Negros, probably derived from the reports of the presence of small black people (negritos) on the island. Thus, a score of years before the Legaspi Expidition, the Spaniards already knew the island of Negros by this name. At that time, there were two (2) types of forest dwellers, the black natives called Ata or Agta (Negrito) and the Proto-Malay also known as Bukidnon with dark brown skin.

Along the coastline dwelt natives of Malayan heritage who were engage in little agricultural activities and barter trading with the Chinese and other Asian merchants who came as early as the thirtenth (13th) century. Although no written documents have been found, artifacts and relics belonging to the Sung Dynasty period in the 12th century were excavated in the towns of Bacong, Bayawan and La Libertad in Negros Oriental and Escalante in Negros Occidental. This indicates a flourishing trade and commerce with other neighboring countries such as China, India and the Malayan peninsula, is a narrow estate extending two-thirds of the way from the south to the north of the island. It measures 103 miles from the north to south and from the east to west it is 49 miles at its widest, and 8 miles at it’s narrowest. It is bounded by a chain of rugged mountains from its sister province of Negros Occidental and separated from Cebu by the Tañon Strait.

Establishment of the Province

When the Spanish explorers landed in Negros Oriental in 1565, they found natives who caslled the place "Buglas", named after a kind of tall grass resembling the present -day sugarcane plant. Buglas grass was then abundantly growing in the island. The Spaniards encountered many black people with black kinky hair among the inhabitatants, they called the island Negros. Kabilin, a book on provincial history, mentions what seemed to be the first known documentary reference of the island of Negros in the atlas drawn in 1545 by renowned Spanish cartographer Alonso de Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz' map bears the legend y de Negros, probably derived from the reports of the presence of small black people (negritos) on the island. Thus, a score of years before the Legaspi Expidition, the Spaniards already knew the island of Negros by this name. At that time, there were two (2) types of forest dwellers, the black natives called Ata or Agta (Negrito) and the Proto-Malay also known as Bukidnon with dark brown skin.

Along the coastline dwelt natives of Malayan heritage who were engage in little agricultural activities and barter trading with the Chinese and other Asian merchants who came as early as the thirtenth (13th) century. Although no written documents have been found, artifacts and relics belonging to the Sung Dynasty period in the 12th century were excavated in the towns of Bacong, Bayawan and La Libertad in Negros Oriental and Escalante in Negros Occidental. This indicates a flourishing trade and commerce with other neighboring countries such as China, India and the Malayan peninsula. is a narrow estate extending two-thirds of the way from the south to the north of the island. It measures 103 miles from the north to south and from the east to west it is 49 miles at its widest, and 8 miles at it’s narrowest. It is bounded by a chain of rugged mountains from its sister province of Negros Occidental and separated from Cebu by the Tañon Strait.