Southern Leyte

Also known as Province of Southern Leyte

province of the Philippines

Key facts

Country: Philippines
Region: Eastern Visayas
Founded: May 22, 1959
Capital and largest city: Maasin
Type: Sangguniang Panlalawigan
Governor: Damian G. Mercado ( Lakas-CMD )
Vice governor: Rosa Emilia G. Mercado ( Lakas-CMD )
Legislature: Southern Leyte Provincial Board Members 1st ProvDist Jonathan Lee P. Maraon Alan Jose K. Aroy Teopisto C. Rojas Jr. Rolito D. Manalo 2nd ProvDist Napoleon P. Regis Rolando Q. Bacoy Roque Damian A. Dator Jason C. Calva
Total: 1,798.61 km (694.45 sq mi)
Rank: 65th out of 82
Highest elevation mount bitanjuan: 965 m (3,166 ft)
Density: 241.504/km (625.493/sq mi)
Component cities: 1 Maasin
Municipalities: 18 Anahawan Bontoc Hinunangan Hinundayan Libagon Liloan Limasawa Macrohon Malitbog Padre Burgos Pintuyan Saint Bernard San Francisco San Juan San Ricardo Silago Sogod Tomas Oppus
Districts: Legislative Districts of Southern Leyte
Time zone: UTC+8 ( PHT )
Idd area code: +63 (0)53
Iso 3166 code: PH-SLE

via Wikipedia infobox

~25 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Southern Leyte (Cebuano: Habagatang Leyte; Kabalian: Habagatan nga Leyte; Waray: Salatan nga Leyte; Tagalog: Timog Leyte), officially the Province of Southern Leyte, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital and largest city is Maasin. Southern Leyte comprised the third congressional district Leyte until it was made into an independent province in 1959. Southern Leyte includes Limasawa, an island to the south where the first Mass in Philippine soil is believed to have taken place and thus considered to be the birthplace of Christianity in the Philippines.

The province ranks as the second least populated in the region, after the province of Biliran. According to the 2024 census, the province has a population of 434,372.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Southern Leyte” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.