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Brief
Profile
Zamboanga City is the center
of commerce and industry in Western Mindanao. The city is also
the regional center for administration, culture, arts and
education, hosting the various regional offices of government,
private institutions, and a cluster of high-standard
educational institutions.
Zamboanga has been the
historical capital of Mindanao and SuIu. Called the "City of
Flowers", "The Precious Pearl of Mindanao", and "the Land of
Beautiful Women" in poetry and song, the city is a proverbial
melting pot, a product of the blending of many cultures from
Chinese, Malaysian, Spanish, Japanese, Arabic and Caucasian
blood.
June 23,1635 marked
the change of the name of the place from
"Samboangan a to its
present name, ZAMBOANGA. For almost three centuries, the
Spaniards held over what is now Zamboanga City with Fort Pilar
as the center of settlement. The presence of the Spaniards
amidst many Filipino ethnic groupings resulted in the
development of a unique dialect ”chavacano”
a mixture of Spanish and the native dialects, which is still
the predominant medium of communication in the city today.
In 1898, a year after the
Treaty of Paris, the Philippines was ceded to the United
States of America and the Americans occupied Zamboanga City.
From 1903 to 1913, Zamboanga was the capital of the Moro
Province which was the whole of Mindanao, comprising five
districts, namely: Cotabato, Davao, Sulu, Lanao and Zamboanga.
The period led to the construction of our present day City
Hall.
On September 15, 1911,
the governing body of the Moro Province, the legislative
council, passed Act. No. 272 converting the municipality of
Zamboanga into a city with a commission form of government.
This act took effect on January 1, 1912 with the appointment
of American Christopher Frederick Bader as the first City
Mayor Victoriano Tarrosa succeeded as the first Filipino
Zamboangueno Mayor of the city when Bader resigned in 1914.
On October 12, 1936,
Zamboanga became a chartered city under Commonwealth Act. No.
39 with the island of Basilan as part of the territory, thus
making Zamboanga the largest city in the world. It was on
November 22, 1983 when Zamboanga was declared a highly
urbanized city in accordance with the provision of the Local
Government Code of 1983 (BP337). |
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Geographical
Location |
Zamboanga
City is located at the
southernmost tip of the Zamboanga Peninsula in the
island of Mindanao, approximately 460
nautical mile south of Manila, 365NM northeast of kota
Kinabalu (Malaysia), 345NM northeast of Menado
(Indonesia), bounded to the west by the Sulu Sea, on the
east by the Moro Gulf, and on the south by the Basilan
Strait and the Celebes Sea. Its distance from Cebu City
is about 372 nautical mile and from Davao City about 340
nautical mile. |
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Land Area |
142,089.89 hectares
(plus an additional 6,248.60 hectares of island
barangays) |
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Climate |
Falls under the third
and fourth types of climate. Seasons are not very
pronounced, relatively dry from the December to April,
minimal rain from May to August and wet on September and
October. The city Is rarely visited by typhoons. |
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Projected Population |
601,794 (May 1, 2000) |
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Average Growth Rate |
3.56% (May 1, 2000) |
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Population Density |
1,298 persons/sq. km.
(May 1,2000) |
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Congressional Districts |
Lone District of
Zamboanga City |
|
Barangays |
98 barangays (28 urban
barangays and 70 rural barangays) |
|
Major |
Chavacano, Tausug, Samal,
Yakan, Tagalog, Maranao, Cebuano, |
|
Dialects/Languages |
English, Hiligaynon (Ilongo)
and Mandarin |
|
Religions |
Roman Catholic, Islam,
Protestant |
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Churches |
Roman Catholic |
23 |
|
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Islam |
7 |
|
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Protestants |
10 |
|
Literacy Rate |
92.36% (2001) |
|
Employment Rate |
90.6% (2001) |
|
Labor Force (2001) |
Total 15 years old and
over |
369,000 |
|
Persons in the Labor
Force |
182,000 |
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Employed |
163,000 |
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Unemployed |
19,000 |
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Not in the Labor Force |
144,000 |
|
Employment Rate |
90.6% |
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Unemployment Rate |
9.5% |
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Visibly Underemployed
Rate |
1.0% |
|
LF Participation |
54.1% |
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Distance from Major |
CITY |
DISTANCE |
Travel Hours (air) |
|
Cities |
Cebu |
372.57
nautical miles |
45 minutes |
|
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Manila |
460
miles |
1 hr. & 15 minutes |
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Davao |
340.17
nautical miles |
45 minutes |
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