Batan Island

{{Short description|Island in Batanes, Philippines}} {{About|the main island of [[Batanes]]|other uses|Batan (disambiguation){{!}}Batan}} {{distinguish|Bataan}} {{Infobox islands | name = Batan Island | native_name =  | sobriquet =  | image_name = KIRKAMON Marlboro Country Racuh a Payaman, Batanes.jpg | image_size = | image_caption = Rakuh A Payaman | image_alt = | map = Philippines Batanes#Luzon#Philippines | map_alt = | map_width = | map_caption = Location within Batanes | map_relief = yes | label = | label_position = | coordinates = {{coord|20|25|17|N|121|57|37|E|type:isle_region:PH|display=inline,title}} | location = [[Luzon Strait]] | archipelago = [[Batanes Islands]] | waterbody = {{unbulleted list | [[Balintang Channel]] | [[Philippine Sea]] | [[South China Sea]] }} | total_islands = | major_islands = | area_km2 = 95.18  | area_footnotes = <ref name = psgc>{{cite web |title=Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC) - Province: BATANES |url=http://nap.psa.gov.ph/activestats/psgc/province.asp?provCode=020900000 |website=nap.psa.gov.ph |publisher=Philippine Statistics Authority |accessdate=17 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180418161140/http://nap.psa.gov.ph/activestats/psgc/province.asp?provCode=020900000 |archive-date=18 April 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> | rank = | length_km = 20 | length_footnotes = <ref name = gvp/> | width_km = 6.5 | width_footnotes =  at its widest | coastline_km =  | coastline_footnotes = | elevation_m = 1009 | elevation_footnotes = <ref name = gvp/> | highest_mount = [[Mount Iraya]] | Country_heading = | country = [[Philippines]] | country_admin_divisions_title = Region | country_admin_divisions = [[Cagayan Valley]] | country_admin_divisions_title_1 = Province | country_admin_divisions_1 = [[Batanes]] | country_admin_divisions_title_2 = Municipalities | country_admin_divisions_2 = {{unbulleted list | [[Basco, Batanes|Basco]] | [[Ivana, Batanes|Ivana]] | [[Mahatao]] | [[Uyugan]] }} | demonym = | population = 14,007  | population_as_of = 2020 est. | population_footnotes = {{Philippine census reference|2015|02}} | density_km2 = {{#expr: 12758 / 95.18 round 1}} | density_footnotes = | ethnic_groups = [[Ivatan people|Ivatans]] | website = | additional_info = {{maplink|frame=yes|plain=yes|center|thumb|type=shape|stroke-width=1|stroke-color=#000000|zoom=10}} }} '''Batan Island''' ({{IPAc-en|b|ɑː|ˈ|t|ɑː|n}} {{respell|bah|TAHN|'}}<ref>''Merriam-Webster's Geographical Dictionary'', 3rd ed. ({{ISBN|0-87779-546-0}}; Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster Inc., 1997), p. 119.</ref>) is the main island of [[Batanes]], an [[archipelago|archipelagic]] [[Provinces of the Philippines|province]] in the [[Philippines]]. It is the second largest of the [[Batanes Islands]], the northernmost group of islands in the Philippines.

==Geography== Batan is a dumbbell-shaped [[volcanic island]], part of the [[Luzon Volcanic Arc]]. The northern part of the island is dominated by the {{convert|1009|m|sp=us|adj=on}} high [[List of active volcanoes in the Philippines|active volcano]], [[Mount Iraya]], which last erupted in 1454.<ref name="gvp">[http://www.volcano.si.edu/world/volcano.cfm?vnum=0704-06- "Iraya"]. [[Global Volcanism Program]]. Retrieved on 2013-04-11.</ref> The lower portion of the island is the [[List of inactive volcanoes in the Philippines|inactive volcano]] Mount Matarem, about {{convert|405|sp=us|m}} tall.<ref>[http://www.phivolcs.dost.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=424:inactive-volcanoes&catid=55&Itemid=117 "Inactive Volcanoes Part 5"]. [[Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology]]. Retrieved on 2013-04-11.</ref><ref>[https://maps.google.com/maps?q=mount+matarem,+Philippines&hl=en&ll=20.39264,121.943914&spn=0.027233,0.046949&sll=27.698638,-83.804601&sspn=13.148142,24.038086&t=t&hnear=Mt+Matarem&z=15 "Mount Mataram"]. Google Maps. Retrieved on 2013-04-11.</ref> A hilly narrow neck of land, about {{convert|4.5|km|sp=us}} long and from {{convert|1.9|to|2.5|km|sp=us}} wide, separates the two volcanoes of the island. At around the vicinity of Mount Matarem, the island is at its widest at about {{convert|6.5|km|sp=us}}.

[[Sabtang Island]], the nearest island to Batan is located about {{convert|4.5|km|sp=us}} southwest of the southern tip of the island. [[Itbayat Island|Itbayat]], the largest island of the archipelago, is about {{convert|32|km|sp=us}} northwest of the central part of Batan.

==Geology== The Batan Volcanic Complex includes the [[Pliocene]] Matarem [[composite volcano]] of [[basalt]] and [[andesite]] flows, 5.8 to 1.7 [[megaannum|Ma]], on the southern part of the island, and the [[Quaternary]] Mt. Iraya [[basalt]] and [[andesite]] [[lava]] flows on the northern part of the island. The central [[isthmus]] has an [[outcrop]] of [[Late Miocene]] andesitic flows, 9 - 7 Ma. Western Mt. Iraya has a [[pyroclastic flow]] deposit dated 1,480 years [[before present|B.P.]] including ash and [[pumice]]. The periphery of Mt. Matarem includes [[lahar]] and [[tuffaceous]] deposits. The [[Miocene]] Batan [[Group (stratigraphy)|Group]] are [[sedimentary]] rocks that includes the Liguan, Caracaran and Bilbao [[formation (geology)|formations]]. The [[Middle Miocene]] Bilbao [[limestone]] overlies the [[Early Miocene]] Caracaran [[siltstone]], which overlies the Liguan limestone. The Liguan and Bilbao include [[coal measures]] up to 300 meters thick.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pena |first1=Rolando |title=Lexicon of Philippine Stratigraphy 2008 |date=2008 |publisher=the Geological Society of the Philippines, Inc. |location=Mandaluyong City |isbn=9789719423119 |pages=45-46,49-50,88,169}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Reyes |first1=Rolando |title=An approach in determining the baseline data on the natural background radioactivity of Natanes Province, its implications to national security |url=https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/39/063/39063298.pdf?r=1 |website=IAEA |publisher=National Defense College of the Philippines |access-date=21 March 2024 |date=2005}}</ref>

==History== === Japanese invasion === The [[Philippines campaign (1941–1942)#Initial landings|Japanese invasion of the Philippines]] began with the [[Japanese invasion of Batan Island|invasion of Batan Island]] by a 490-man naval combat unit and a number of air corps troops aboard two transports escorted by one destroyer and four torpedo boats. This was the first landing on American territory, which transpired on the same day as the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]].<ref>{{cite web|title=The First Landings|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-P-PI/USA-P-PI-6.html|accessdate=18 March 2014}}</ref>

Japanese forces quickly secured the existing small airfield outside Basco without resistance and began expansion work immediately as a forward base of operations against [[Luzon]]. Work was discontinued only a few days later as the success of the Japanese bombing of [[Clark Field]] rendered an airfield in Basco redundant. On 10 December 1941, the naval combat force was redeployed.<ref>{{cite web|title=The First Landings|url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-P-PI/USA-P-PI-6.html|accessdate=18 March 2014}}</ref>

==Governance== Four of the six [[Municipalities of the Philippines|municipalities]] of Batanes are located on the {{convert|20|km|sp=us|adj=on}} long island including the provincial capital of [[Basco, Batanes|Basco]]. The other municipalities are [[Ivana, Batanes|Ivana]], [[Mahatao]] and [[Uyugan]].

==Gallery== <gallery mode="packed"> Image:Batanes Hills.png|The hilly landscape of Batan Island with Mount Matarem in the distant left File:Mount-Iraya.JPG|Mount Iraya </gallery>

==See also== *[[Ivatan language]] *[[List of islands of the Philippines]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * {{Commons inline}}

[[Category:Islands of Batanes]]