Bohol - Sublimely Surreal Wonders
Bohol island located between latitude 9°30' and 10°15' North and Longitude 123°40' and 124°30' East.
With a land area of 4117.3 square kilometers, Bohol is the tenth largest island of the Philippines, and lies in the middle of the Visayas. Bohol is surrounded by other islands on all sides, and is thus shielded from the typhoons that often occur in the region, as well as from the heaviest rains.
Bohol is separated from Mindanao by the Bohol sea in the South and the island of Leyte by the Canigao Channel in the East. The Comotes sea in the North separetes Bohol from the Camotes Islands, and the Bohol Strait separates it from Cebu.
Bohol is home to some of the country's sublimely surreal natural wonders. The thousand of almost perfectly coned hills of Chocolate Hills is a source of mystery and speculations to geologists. The coral gardens, the diverse marine life of Panglao Island is a source of awe and wonder to divers and marine biologists. And the Tarsier, the world's smallest primate, capturesthe heart of anyone who sees it.
Tagbilaran City is the capital of the island-province of Bohol, the 10th largest island and is located almost centrally in the Philippine archipelago. The island province is about 556 nautical miles southeast of Manila and about 40 nautical miles south of Mactan Island of Cebu Province.
Bohol is bounded by the islands of Cebu in the northwest, Leyte in the northeast and Mindanao at the south. Tagbilaran City is accessible from Manila by air and by sea, direct or via Cebu City.The population of Bohol Province has reached the million marks in the year 2000. As per Census 2000, Bohol has a population of 1,137,268. It has 209,588 households with an average household size of 5.41. From 1990 to 2000, the Province registered an annual growth rate of 1.83 percent. However, over a span of 5 years (1995-2000), the annual growth rate drastically increased to 2.92 percent, higher than the national growth rate of 2.36 percent. Given the growth rate of 2.92%, the doubling time of Bohol's population is 24 years. Life expectancy at birth for the Boholano is estimated at 68.19 for the males and 72.93 for the females for the period 2000-2005, Compared with the other provinces in Central Visayas, this is lower than that estimated for Cebu but higher compared to Negros Oriental and Siquijor.
The population density of Bohol has rapidly grown by 34 persons square kilometer from 242 in 1995 to 276 in 2000. This figure is comparatively very much higher than the growth of national population density by 2 persons only from 253 to 255 persons per square kilometer during the same period. This means that spatial requirement of the population is also rapidly going higher while the land area of the province remains the same at 4117.3 square kilometers.
