| Content from Wikipedia under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license ⇔ Maps from OpenStreetMap under the ODbL license |
Zamboanga City
Zamboanga
Zamboanga City | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nickname: The Latin City of Asia | |
| Motto(s): ¡Adelante Zamboanga! ("Forward, Zamboanga!") | |
 Map of the Zamboanga Peninsula showing the location of Zamboanga | |
| Coordinates: 6°54′15″N 122°04′34″E / 6.904167°N 122.076111°E | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Region | Zamboanga Peninsula |
| Province | Zamboanga del Sur |
| Founded | c. 1200 (as Jambangan) |
| Incorporation (municipality) | June 23, 1635 |
| Incorporation (city) | February 26, 1937 |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,483.38 km2 (572.74 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 5 m (16 ft) |
| Population (2007) | |
• Total | 774,407 |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (UTC) |
| ZIP code | 7000 |
| Area code | 62 |
| Website | www.zamboanga.gov.ph/ |
Zamboanga is a Philippine city whose metropolitan area has 807,129 inhabitants (2010). The city has an area of 1,414.70 square kilometers. The city was founded in 1635 as a Spanish military fortress against the Moros (Philippines). It is known for its language, Zamboanga Chavacano or Spanish creole. The city has three important universities: the Ateneo de Zamboanga, Western Mindanao State University, and the recently created Universidad de Zamboanga.
Known as Hermosa Zamboanga ("Beautiful Zamboanga") and the Latin City of Asia, it keeps as its mother tongue Chavacano, the name the Spaniards gave to a language, the fruit of mestizaje, with varied Spanish vocabulary and the syntax of the local languages, partially intelligible to monolingual Hispanic speakers because it resembles Spanish much more than English. Those who are bilingual in Cebuano and Spanish will understand Chavacano easily.
The city is a melting pot of peoples. The first settlers were joined by the Malay ethnic groups that settled later, along with the mestizos and descendants of the Spanish colonization.
Geography
Location
It is located on the island of Mindanao, at the very tip of the peninsula of the same name. It borders the Basilan Strait to the south, the Moro Gulf to the east and the Sulu Sea to the west.
Climate
Tropical climate. From November to May the climate is dry and the rest of the year is the wet season. The average temperature is around 27 °C. It rains a great deal, and the average annual rainfall is over 1300 mm.
Islands
List of islands belonging to the municipality:
|
|
|
|
|
|
Barangays
The municipality is subdivided into 98 barangays. According to the 2002 census, the most populous barangays are Talon-Talon and Tumaga and the least populous Landang Gua. This is the complete list:[1]
|
|
|
History
It is believed that around the year 1200 the Subanon founded a settlement on the present site, with the name of Jambangan, the city of flowers in the vernacular language.
Then came the Badjaos and the Samals, of Malay descent, coming from Sulu, who settled along the coast of Jambangan and made contact with the Subanons. The name Samboangan comes from this period.
Later, other Malay peoples appeared here, the Tausugs and the Yakans. Even today the descendants of these peoples are an important part of the population of this city.
Sultanate of Sulu
In the 15th century Islam was introduced throughout this area. The city was annexed to the Sultanate of Sulu.
In November 1596, the Spaniards arrived and remained at Recodo with a small garrison, as a bulwark in their struggle against the Moros of Cotabato. The name of the Captain in command of the Fort of La Caldera: Juan Ronquillo del Castillo.
For three years the Spaniards had to contend with the Moros of Sulu. Their isolation and the fierceness of the islanders forced the Spaniards to burn and abandon the fort in 1598.
Spanish conquest
In the year 1635 Juan Cerezo de Salamanca, Governor General of the Philippines, received reports that the Moros had concentrated in what is today the center of present-day Zamboanga, through Father Juan Bautista Vilancio, who had escaped from Jolo after several years of captivity.
So, to guard against the attacks of the Moro pirates on the northern islands of the archipelago, the governor decided, given the strategic position of Jambangan, to expel the Moros and found a new naval base.
On April 6, 1635, 300 New Spanish soldiers from Mexico, together with 1,000 Cebuanos, under the command of Captain Don Juan de Chaves, landed in the area.
On June 23, work began on the Fortress of San José, located at the southernmost tip of the peninsula, because of its advantageous position on the Basilan straits, to control the pirates of Sulu. This is the origin of the Zamboangueño city.
Although the Moros tried by every means to prevent the fortress from being built, the erection of the fortress and its naval base was a great success and managed to limit the attacks of the island pirates.
The following year, 1636, there was a great victory of the Spanish navy against the pirates of Tagal, who, after having laid waste to the Visayas, were returning loaded with treasure and slaves to Jolo.
The Spanish fleet, having news of the incursion, lying in wait in the straits, attacked the unsuspecting pirate fleet, sinking all the ships with their crews, including their leader, the feared Tagal.
Together with the Spanish garrison came the Jesuit missionaries, who did commendable work, achieving in a short time the conversion to Christianity of the natives of Zamboanga, of the island of Basilan and of certain areas of Mindanao.
But in 1662, the Spanish garrison had to leave the fort of San José, recalled by the governor of Manila, Don Sabiniano Manrique de Lara, in order to concentrate forces in the face of the threat of invasion by the Chinese pirate Koxinga.
The Jesuits and Chavacano
Until 1718 Zamboanga remained without a military garrison, but the colony was maintained, as was the active presence of the Jesuit missionaries. In this period Chavacano, the present-day language of the Zamboangueños, began to take shape.
Fortress of Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza
Without the threat of the naval base, the pirates of Jolo went back to their old ways. So Don Fernando de Bustillo Bustamante y Rueda, the new governor of Manila, decided in 1718 to reoccupy Zamboanga militarily, demolish the fortress of San José and rebuild a new fortress of greater prestige and power, which was named Nuestra Señora del Pilar de Zaragoza.
From 1730 two galleons were kept permanently as coast guards to prevent pirate attacks. An image of the Virgin of the Pillar was placed on the eastern wall in 1719. Soon that image became the object of popular veneration because of various miracles attributed to it, achieving great fame among the devout of the city and its surroundings.
Over time Zamboanga became the headquarters of the Spanish troops and navy in the southern islands of the archipelago. In 1798 an English squadron was repulsed at Zamboanga, the stronghold being saved by its governor Raymundo Español.
In 1831, Zamboanga was opened to international trade after two hundred years of peninsular monopoly.
Republic of Zamboanga
After the Spanish defeat in the war with the Americans, Zamboanga was the concentration base of the Spanish troops, who definitively left the base in May 1899, when the Republic of Zamboanga was proclaimed. Here they left their blood, their language and their customs.
American occupation
In 1901 it was granted municipal status after joining with the former district of Tetuán.
In 1903 the Americans politically organized the island of Mindanao as the Moro Province, with Zamboanga as its capital. At that time the City Hall and the provincial Capitol were built. What endures in the memory of the Zamboangueños from that period is the repression carried out by the then governor, the notorious "Black Jack", General John Pershing.
In September 1911 Zamboanga was made a city, whose first mayor was also American, Christopher Frederick Bader.
Economy
A large part of the population is engaged in agriculture and fishing. It produces coconuts, rice and corn. The derived industries play a fundamental role in the local economy. Its canned fish, especially sardines, is known internationally. It also exports coconut oil and products derived from algae.
Forestry has developed the furniture industry.
It has three universities, the Ateneo de Zamboanga, the Universidad de Zamboanga and the State University, which provide specialized training to a young and active population. This, together with its competitive labor force, makes Zamboanga an ideal city for industrial investment.
Heritage
- Fort Pilar: a majestic Spanish military fortress, the origin of the city, it was the bulwark of the south of the Philippine Islands. Within its grounds is the chapel of Nuestra Señora del Pilar, an image greatly venerated throughout the island of Mindanao.
- Pasonanca Park: the city's greatest tourist attraction. It is a space where countless trees of all species grow, crossed by a charming stream, where more than six hundred different species of orchids can be admired, along with an interesting little house built in a tree.
- Plaza Pershing: another charming Zamboangueño spot. It was called Plaza de Juan de Salcedo, in memory of the conquistador, but its name was changed by the Americans in 1915. The kiosk and the central pergolas stand out.
- Metropolitan Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception: a building of modern construction, inaugurated in 1998. It is the largest construction of this kind on the whole island of Mindanao.
- Plaza Rizal: the main square of Zamboanga. The present City Hall stands there. In its center rises an impressive monument dedicated to the father of the Philippine nation. Among its gardens are some cannons from the Spanish era.
- Abong Abong Park: a park of 72 ha, located 7.5 kilometers from the center. It has impressive views over the whole metropolitan area.
- Pettit Barracks: the barracks built by the American army after the occupation of the city on November 15, 1899.
- Beaches: Bolong or Vista del Mar beach stands out. Another beautiful beach is on Great Santa Cruz Island.
Language
The peninsula lies in the north of Mindanao, in a typically Visayan-speaking area; nevertheless the language most spoken in the streets is the Chavacano of Zamboanga. This language is a Spanish creole with strong Malay influence, considered until the beginning of the 20th century a badly spoken variant of Spanish, hence its name.
Because of the loss of Spanish as a language of culture in the Philippines, clear signs of decreolization are beginning to be noticed in Chavacano.
The use of English and knowledge of Tagalog are also widespread.
Festivals and gastronomy
- Holy Week: processions. The Santo Entierro processions of the barangays of Tetuán and Santa María, held on Good Friday, stand out.
- Las Flores de Mayo: another Spanish festivity. Dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the children bring flowers to the Virgin and processions are held in which the santacruzanos, both girls and boys, compete in beauty.
- The Fiesta del Pilar: held between October 3 and 12. The novena to the Virgin, a trade fair, fireworks, parades with people dressed in regional costumes, regattas and the solemn Mass with the procession of the Virgin of the Pillar accompanied by pilgrims.
- The Immaculate Conception: celebrated on December 8. It is at this feast that children celebrate their First Communion.
Gastronomy
Here are some typical dishes of the Vianda Chavacana:
- Callos a la andaluza
- Puchero
- Pescao en blanco
- Ropa vieja
- Croquetas de patatas
- Bacalao a la vizcaína
- Galantina
- Bagon de Gata
Among the typical sweets are:
- Maja blanca
- Flan con merengue
- Sopa borracha
- Tamales de Zamboanga
External links
References
- ↑ Philippine Standard Geographic Codes as of March 31, 2013: ZAMBOANGA CITY Code 097332000 Archived November 14, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
