Batangas is a first class province of the Philippines located on the southwestern part of Luzon in the

CALABARZON region. Its capital is Batangas City and it is bordered by the provinces of Cavite and Laguna

to the north and Quezon to the east. Across the Verde Island Passages to the south is the island of Mindoro and to the west lies the South China Sea. Poetically, Batangas is often referred to by its ancient name Kumintang.

Batangas is one of the most popular tourist destinations near Metro Manila. The province has many beaches

and is famous for excellent diving spots including Anilao in Mabini, Sombrero Island in Tingloy, Ligpo Island in

Bauan, these areas more popularly known as Anilao. Matabungkay in Lian, Punta Fuego in Nasugbu, Calatagan and Laiya in San Juan.

Batangas is also where Taal Volcano, one of the Decade Volcanoes is located. It is also where the Taal Heritage town lies, a small picturesque town that has ancestral houses and structures dating back to the 1800s.

Etymology

The first recorded name of the Province was Kumintang, after the Datu who inherited the dominion from Datu

Balensusa. Its centre, the present day Balayan, was the most progressive town of the Province and the traditional centre of governance. Later, as the eruption of the Taal Volcano destroyed a significant portion of the town,

the provincial centre was transferred to Taal, which was then called Bonbon and the name of the province

was changed after that of the town.

The term batangan means a raft, the people used so that they could fish in the nearby Taal Lake. It also meant

 the numerous logs found in the Calumpang River, the body of water that runs through the northeastern portion

of the town and assumes the shape of a tuning fork.

People

The dialect of Tagalog spoken in the province closely resembles the Old Tagalog spoken before the arrival of the Spanish. Hence the Summer Institute of Linguistics [1] called this province the Heartland of the Tagalog Language. A strong presence of the Tagalog culture is clearly visible to the present day.

Linguistically Batangueños are also known for their unique affectation of often placing the particles eh or ga

(equivalent of particle ba Filipino), usually as a marker of stress on the sentence, at the end of their spoken

sentences or speech; for example: "Ay, oo, eh!" ("Aye, yes, indeed!"). Some even prolong the particle 'eh'

into 'ala eh', though it really has no meaning in itself.

In the recent years, waves of migration from the Visayas had brought significant number of Visayans to the

province. There are also a few who can speak Spanish, since Batangas was an important centre during the

colonial period.

Batangas also has one of the highest literacy rates in the country at 96.5%, wherein the males have a slightly

higher literacy rate at 97.1% than females with 95.9%.

Geography Physical

Batangas is a combination of plains and mountains, including the world's smallest volcano, Mt. Taal, with an

elevation of 600 meters, located in the middle of the Taal Lake. Other important peaks are Mt. Makulot with an

elevation of 830 m, Mt. Talamitan with 700 m, Mt. Pico de Loro with 664 m, Mt. Batulao with 811 m, Mt. Manabo with 830 m, and Mt. Daguldol with 672 m.

The Municipality of Nasugbu is the home of the plantation of Central Azucarera Don Pedro, the Philippines' largest producer of sugar and other sugarcane products.

Batangas also has many islands, including Tingloy, Verde Island(Isla Verde),Fortune Island of Nasugbu.