MINDANAO

Mindanao is one the larger islands of the Pacific Rim, only slightly smaller than Luzon. It has an area of 38,344 (square miles, more than two thirds the size of Luzon (47,765).

So people should not immediately equate happenings in certain areas of Mindanao as happening in the whole of Mindanao.  This is a very common mistake made by even educated people in the Manila area.

Mindanao is larger than many countries in Europe. It is larger than Austria or Hungary or Portugal or Ireland or Scotland. It is more than twice as large as Denmark or Switzerland; four times larger than Wales. It is very much larger than the combined area of Belgium, Holland and Luxembourg put together.

After Luzon and Mindanao, the 10 largest islands of the Philippines are (in order of size): Palawan, Negros, Samar, Panay, Mindoro, Leyte, Cebu, Bohol, Masbate, Catanduanes.

Like Luzon, Mindanao is divided sharply into regions by mountain ranges. The fertile plains of Cotabato or the Agusan Valley are vastly different from the rugged mountains of the Zamboanga Peninsula. And both are different from the Bukidnon plateau or the coastal plains of northern Mindanao.

Mindanao is a very large island.  And so we would like to reassure you that what you read in the papers and what you see on television these days occur relatively far from ordinary people like us, even in the places where the happenings are depicted.  Thanks be to God we are living relatively in peace, like all people, like you.