Boracay (Boracay Island)
Boracay (often locally shortened to Bora) is a resort island in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines, located 0.8 km off the northwest coast of Panay. It has a total land area of 10.32 km2, under the jurisdiction of three barangays in Malay, Aklan, and had a population of 37,802 in 2020.
Boracay was originally inhabited by the Tumandok and Ati people, but commercial development has led to their severe marginalization since the 1970s.
Apart from its white sand beaches, Boracay is also famous for being one of the world's top destinations for relaxation. , it was emerging among the top destinations for tranquility and nightlife.
Boracay was awarded as the 2012 Best Island in the World by the international travel magazine Travel + Leisure. In 2014, the resort island was at the top of the "Best Islands in the World" list published by the international magazine Condé Nast Traveler. In 2016, Boracay headed the magazine's list of "Top 10 destinations to watch".
In April 2018, the Philippine government under former president Rodrigo Duterte decreed a six-month closure of the island for tourists to undertake major renovation works, especially of the sewage system, which had become obsolete and insufficient. The island was administered by the Boracay Inter-agency Task Force during the closure, then it re-opened in October 2018, with a set of new rules meant to address a variety of issues.
The name Boracay is attributed to different origins. The island's indigenous Ati people say that the name of the island came from the Inati words "bora", meaning bubbles, and "bocay", meaning white. Another theory says that the name is derived from the local word "borac" which means "white cotton," a reference to the color and texture of Boracay's white sugary and powdery sand. Yet another version dating back to the Spanish era says the name is derived from "sagay", the word for a shell, and "boray", the word for seed.
Boracay was originally inhabited by the Tumandok and Ati people, but commercial development has led to their severe marginalization since the 1970s.
Apart from its white sand beaches, Boracay is also famous for being one of the world's top destinations for relaxation. , it was emerging among the top destinations for tranquility and nightlife.
Boracay was awarded as the 2012 Best Island in the World by the international travel magazine Travel + Leisure. In 2014, the resort island was at the top of the "Best Islands in the World" list published by the international magazine Condé Nast Traveler. In 2016, Boracay headed the magazine's list of "Top 10 destinations to watch".
In April 2018, the Philippine government under former president Rodrigo Duterte decreed a six-month closure of the island for tourists to undertake major renovation works, especially of the sewage system, which had become obsolete and insufficient. The island was administered by the Boracay Inter-agency Task Force during the closure, then it re-opened in October 2018, with a set of new rules meant to address a variety of issues.
The name Boracay is attributed to different origins. The island's indigenous Ati people say that the name of the island came from the Inati words "bora", meaning bubbles, and "bocay", meaning white. Another theory says that the name is derived from the local word "borac" which means "white cotton," a reference to the color and texture of Boracay's white sugary and powdery sand. Yet another version dating back to the Spanish era says the name is derived from "sagay", the word for a shell, and "boray", the word for seed.
Map - Boracay (Boracay Island)
Map
Country - Philippines
Flag of the Philippines |
Negritos, some of the archipelago's earliest inhabitants, were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples. Adoption of animism, Hinduism and Islam established island-kingdoms called Kedatuan, Rajahnates, and Sultanates. The arrival of Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer leading a fleet for Spain, marked the beginning of Spanish colonization. In 1543, Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos named the archipelago Las Islas Filipinas in honor of Philip II of Spain. Spanish settlement through Mexico, beginning in 1565, led to the Philippines becoming ruled by the Spanish Empire for more than 300 years. During this time, Catholicism became the dominant religion, and Manila became the western hub of trans-Pacific trade. In 1896, the Philippine Revolution began, which then became entwined with the 1898 Spanish–American War. Spain ceded the territory to the United States, while Filipino revolutionaries declared the First Philippine Republic. The ensuing Philippine–American War ended with the United States establishing control over the territory, which they maintained until the Japanese invasion of the islands during World War II. Following liberation, the Philippines became independent in 1946. Since then, the unitary sovereign state has often had a tumultuous experience with democracy, which included the overthrow of a decades-long dictatorship by a nonviolent revolution.
Currency / Language
ISO | Currency | Symbol | Significant figures |
---|---|---|---|
PHP | Philippine peso | ₱ | 2 |
ISO | Language |
---|---|
EN | English language |
TL | Tagalog language |