LUZON, loo-zon' (Sp. loo-thon'), Philip pines, the largest, most populous and wealthy and with the exception of the Batines and Babuyines groups, the northernmost island of the Philippine Archipelago, lying south-south west of Japan and south-southeast of China. It lies between lat. 12° 32' and 18° 39' N. and between long. 119° 42' and 124° 8' E. On the north is the Bashi Channel, connecting the Pacific Ocean and the China Sea; on the south are the San Bernardino Strait, separating it from Samar, the channels of the Visayas Sea and Tayabas Bay.
The island is very irregular in shape, elongated from north to south and southeast, and much wider at the north than at the south. It narrows at lat. 14° 30', and much more at lat. 14° between Lam6n Bay and Tay abas Bay, where an isthmus unites the larger and northwestern part of the island with the smaller southeastern part; it is thus divided into three territorial divisions, Northern Luzon, Central Luzon and Southern. Luzon. The length of Luz6n is 283 miles from the north coast to Manila, and from there 225 miles south east to Babulgum Point; at its widest point near the centre of Northern Luz6n it is 138 miles wide; at its narrowest point, the isthmus in lat. 14°, eight miles wide; area, 40,969 square miles, with dependent islands, 42,196 square miles. The mountain system of Luzon consists of three large ranges, the nucleus of which is Caraballo de Baler in the province of Neuva Ecija. The Caraballos Occidentales form the water shed of Northern Luzon, and extend about 150 miles near the western coast and parallel with it; the Sierra Madre range, starting at Cara ballo de Baler, extends northeast to Cape Engaiio; the Caraballos Sur, starting at the same point, extends south to Banahao, then turns to the southeast and terminates near the straits of San Bernardino. This range has several important branches, one ending on the south side of the bay of Baler. Among the more important single mountains the following may be mentioned: Data (7,364 feet), and Bur nay (6,376 feet), of the Caraballos Occidentales; Cana (3,830 feet) of Sierra Madre; and Bulusan and MayOn (7,916 feet) of the southern range.
The three last mentioned are volcanoes, of which Mayon is the most active. Luzon is well watered; the longest river is the Rio Grande de Cagayan, running nearly the whole length of Northern Luzon ; three other large rivers traverse this part of the island, and there are numerous smaller streams. The Pasig River, although the shortest of all, is from a human standpoint by far the most important of all. Its length is 15 miles, and it affords communica tion between the Laguna de Bay, the largest of the island's lakes, and Manila Bay. Its importance is mainly due to the great volume of commerce which travels along it and to the fact that the capital of the archipelago is situated at its mouth. This river is tidal in its lower section, and very deep up to Fort Mc Kinley; from that point to the lake it is much narrower and quite shallow in places, and has a very treacherous current. The coastal plains about the island are, as a rule, very narrow, the maximum width being about 10 miles. The mountains are nearly everywhere close to the sea. The dominant features of Luzon, as of other portions of the archipelago, are the enormous coast line and the mountainous char acter of much of its interior.
Roads and There are a number of fine roads in Luz6n, which centre at Manila, connecting it with remote points. In 1917 there were 616 miles of railways in operation. All the staple crops of the archi pelago grow in abundance, and the chief in dustries of the island are agriculture, and the development of the products into the advanced forms of manufacture; the mechanical indus tries are very largely confined to Manila. LuzOn is also rich in forests, having all the woods used in building, as well as the gum producing, medicinal and dye-trees.