 The Bicol Region or Bicolandia is one of the 17 regions of the Philippines. It occupies the Bicol Peninsula at the southeastern end of Luzon island and some other islands. It consists of six provinces, namely, Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, and Sorsogon. It has one independent component city, Naga City, and six component cities, Iriga, Legazpi, Ligao, Masbate, Sorsogon, and Tabaco. The regional centers are Legazpi City, the region's political and administrative center, Naga City, the region's cultural and religious center. Legazpi City, Naga City, and Sorsogon City are the leading cities in the region in terms of urbanization and also the hub of the region's economic activity. The Bicol Region is located at the Southeastern stretch of Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines, and is surrounded by natural barriers. It is bounded by Lamon Bay on the north, Pacific Ocean on the east, and Sibuyan Sea and Ragay Gulf on the west. It also has access to the rest of Luzon through its neighboring provinnce, Quezon. Of the region's six provinces, four (4) are contiguous - Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, and Sorsogon, while two are island provinces - Masbate, and Catanduanes. It has a total land area of 1, 811,400 hectares or 18,114 square kilometers. Camarines Sur is the largest occupying 526,682 hectares or around 30% of the total, while Catanduanes is the smallest with only 151,148 hectares or 8.6% of the total. Of the region's total land area, around 71% is alienable and disposable while the remaining 29% is public forest areas. Inhabitants, called Bicolanos, speak any one of the several varieties of Bicol, an Austronesian language closely related to other Central Philippine languages such as Cebuano and Tagalog. Bicol varieties include Bicol Rinconada (Iriga-Buhi area), the western Albay dialects Oasnun and Darage�o (Oas, Daraga), Bicol Sorsogon (Sorsogon), Bicol Catanduanes and Bicol Partido (municipalities surrounding Lagonoy Gulf). Standard Bicol is based on the dialect of Naga City and is spoken in a wide area stretching from Camarines Norte, most of Camarines Sur, the entire east coast of Albay (including Legazpi and Tabaco) and northern Sorsogon. Standard Bicol is generally understood by other Bikol speakers and is the regional lingua franca. The Bicol languages are the dominant languages of the region. The Filipino language (Tagalog) is also spoken in northern parts of Camarines Norte as well as in the municipality of Del Gallego, Camarines Sur. Two Visayan languages, Sorsoganon and Masbate�o or Minasbate, are spoken in Masbate and Sorsogon; they are collectively referred to as Bisakol. Bicol is the one of the most secular regions in the Philippines, as only 55% of Bicol Region inhabitants attend church weekly compared to 68% nationwide. However, the region retains Roman Catholicism as the religion of the great majority. The Catholic religion has the highest number of followers than in any other area in the Philippines. Fiestas (festival of saints) are common occurrence, from a simple barrio fiesta, which honors a patron associated for good harvest, to a town fiesta honoring a miraculous saint, or a regional one such as the Pe�afrancia Fiesta, a one week long celebration to honor the Virgin Mary, dubbed as the "Queen Patron of Bicolandia". As a matter of fact, it is widely acknowledged that in Luzon, it is Bicol Region that holds the most number of men entering the seminary for Catholic Priesthood, and women entering the religious life to become Catholic nuns. |