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FACTS &
FIGURES |
Land Area : 7,926.10 sq. km
(2004)
No. of Barangays: 661
(As of September 2003)
No. of Municipalities: 19 (As of September 2003)
No. of Cities: 13
(As of September 2003)
Total Population: 2,565,723
(As of May 1, 2000 census)
Population Growth Rates: 1.08 (1995-2000)
Income Class: First
Class
Consumer Price Index (2000=100): 116.4
(2004)
Inflation Rate: 4.1 (2004)
Average Family Income: 73,923
(2000)
Average Family Expenditure: 69,241
(2000)
Telephone Loads: 45,348 (2003)
Telephone Density: 1.6 per 100 population
(2002)
No. of AM Broadcast Stations: 13
(2003)
No. of FM Broadcast Stations: 15 (2003)
No. of Motor Vehicles Registered: 105,127 (2004)
No. of Elementary Schools:
Public: 949
(SY 2003-2004)
Private: 39 (SY
2003-2004)
No. of Secondary Schools:
Public : 200 (SY
2003-2004)
Private: 38 (SY
2003-2004)
No. of Tertiary Schools: 39 (SY2003-2004)
No. of Licensed Hospitals: 22 (2003)
No. of Establishments (3rd Qtr. 2004)
Business Name Registration:
828 |
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Negros Occidental is one of the six
provinces of Western Visayas located in the northwestern portion of Negros Island. It is
in the southeast part of Panay Island and is separated by the Guimaras Strait.
Bacolod City
is the city capital of the province. It lies on the northwestern part of
the province of Negros Occidental and on the western side of Negros Island. It is 50
minutes from Manila and 30 minutes from Cebu by plane. Philippine Airlines has 3 daily
flights to and from Manila and a daily flight to and from Cebu. Bacolod City is also
accessible by boat from Manila, almost 24 hours and from Iloilo only two hours by ordinary
ship. By land from Cebu, Bacolod City is approximately 7 hours.
Negros Occidental's economy was pivoted practically around
one commodity, "Sugar" which made it the country's premier sugar producer.
However, when the world sugar prices plummeted during the early 1980's, the economy of
Negros Occidental was devastated. From that experience, Negrenses learned to diversify
their economy. Large tracts of sugar plantation were converted into more
profitable ventures such as prawn and fish ponds, farms nurturing high value crops and
floral species, as well as livestock fattening projects.
Sugar
still remains as the main agricultural produce of the province with about 56%
of its land
area planted to sugar cane. Sugar farms produce 800,000 metric tons of raw sugar annually.
Rice, corn and coconuts are also planted extensively. Other agricultural produce are corn,
abaca, bananas, mangoes and pineapples. |
