About Calabarzon
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CALABARZON has a population of 12.61 million people, the largest of all the regions in the Philippines, with 49.9% being male and 50.1% being female. The population growth rate between 2000 and 2010 of 3.07% decreased from the growth rate between 1990 and 2000 of 3.91%, a trend which coincided with the rest of the nation. Life expectancy for men in CALABARZON is 68.9 years and 75.2 years for women. There are an estimated 356 thousand Overseas Filipino Workers originally from CALABARZON. A vast majority of people living in CALABARZON are Tagalogs. It is estimated that around 5.8 million Tagalogs live in Region IV-A. Taal, in particular, is considered the "Heartland of Tagalog Culture" and is currently the present "center" of Tagalog culture and people. CALABARZON is also home to a sizable amount of people with Chinese and Spanish ancestry on account of Chinese immigration and Spanish colonialization, respectively. Because of this large majority of Tagalog natives, the majority of people living in CALABARZON also speak the Tagalog language. Filipino, being a version of Tagalog, is also predominant in the region. English is also commonly spoken throughout CALABARZON and is the language of business and education. In Cavite, Chavacano, a Creole language is also commonly spoken. The large majority of the population of CALABARZON is a part of the Roman Catholic church which accounts for 80% of the national population. Other Christian denominations present in the region are the Iglesia Ni Cristo, the Philippine Independent Church and Seventh-day Adventist Church. There are also Muslims living in CALABARZON although they are in the minority. |
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| Economy | |||||||||||||||
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CALABARZON is the second largest contributor to the national GDP, accounting for 17% of the gross domestic product. The region boasts a 2.1% inflation rate, lower than the national average of 3%. The region has a 9.2% unemployment rate which is higher than the national average of 7%. CALABARZON, much like the rest of the country, is caught in the middle of being an industrial and an agricultural economy. Due to CALABARZON's proximity to Metro Manila, a large amount of urbanization has taken place over the years. Cavite and Laguna in particular are sites of manufacturing and high-tech industries, with companies like Intel and Panasonic setting up plants in the region. Santa Rosa, Laguna, is home to a host of semi-conductor and automotive companies such as Amkor and Toyota, while Gen. Trias is home to Cavite's largest economic development zone, the PEC Industrial Park. CALABARZON still has a large agricultural base. As of 2002, the region had 282,700 farms, covering 588,500 hectares, or 36.3% of the region's total land area. Cavite alone has almost 70,500 hectares of agricultural land. Laguna is home to the International Rice Research Institute, which can be found within the University of the Philippines Los Baños, whose main goal is find sustainable ways to help rice farmers. Batangas, meanwhile, is home to a large pineapple and coconut industry, which is used to make Barong Tagalogs and native liqueurs such as lambanog and tuba. Quezon is the country's leader in coconut products such as coconut oil and copra. Rizal is known for its piggeries. Region IV-A's agricultural base, however, is slowly decreasing. Due to their proximity to large bodies of water, Laguna and Batangas also have sizable fishing industries. Taal Lake is a large source of fresh water fishes for the country. |
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