PANAY, ph-ni'. One of the Philippine Isl ands, the westernmost of the Visayan group. It lies nearly in the geographical centre of the archipelago, and is bounded On the north by the Visayan Sea, on the east and southeast by the Strait of Guimarils, from 9 to 56 miles separating Panay from Negros. and on the west by the arm of the Sulu Sea known is the Min doro Sea, which on the northwest separates Pa nay from Mindoro (Map: Philippine Islands, G 8).
l'anay ranks fifth in size among the. Philip pine Islands. Its area is 4752 square mile., and with the 118 dependent islands, 5103 square miles, the mainland being thus somewhat larger than the island of Corsica. It is broadly tri angular in shape. Its southern and Western coasts are very little indented. :mil afford no harbors except open roadsteads. on the north east and east coasts, however, there are !omicr ons small bays and sounds with anehorages. shel tered by the adjacent islets. The best harbor is at 11M1o, on the strait of that name separating the island of Gunnar:is from the mainland. Guimaras, the principal dependent island of Panay, has an area of 243 square miles, and lies in the narrowest part of the channel be tween Panay and Negros.
The centre of Panay is the nucleus of its mountain system, which consists of three prin cipal mountain ranges radiating from that point to the three corners of the triangular island. These ranges divide the island politically into its three provinces, and hydrographically into its three main drainage basins. that of the Panay River in the north, the :lalaur in the south east, and the Cadilin in the west. These dividing ranges are very rugged and almost insurmount able. They have a number of peaks exceeding 3001) and 4000 feet, several above 5000. and Mount Madialis in the northwestern range has a height of 7264 feet. In each of the three basin the land descends gradually to the Sea. The southeastern slope is gently undulating, while the western and northern are more rugged, with a numlier of outlying peaks. Extensive forests Cover the uplands, and the lower slopes, espe cially in the southeast, have a pleasant parklike. aspect. The soil is everywhere fertile and well watered; besides the three rivers mentioned there are many smaller streams flowing through every part. of the island. For climate and natural history, see the article on the PHILIPPINE ISL ANDS.
As in the rest of the archipelago. the chief oc cupation is agriculture, and the staple pi-tablets are rice, sugar, and copra. The shipment of
sugar through the port of Iloilo in 1899 amounted to 77,041 tons, and that of copra to 0:0; tolls. Under ordinary conditions. however. as shown by the figures for tti92 (177.467 tons of sugar), the export will be more than twice as great. Other agricultural products are cotton, hemp, corn. coffee, tobacco, cacao. indigo. and pepper. There are large areas of fine grazing land in Panay, especially in Iloilo Province. Be fore the war with Spain there were more than 200,000 head of live stock on the island, con sisting chiefly of carabaos, sheep, and horses. the latter being, highly prized throughout the archi pelago. The mineral wealth has not yet been ex. ploited. hut there are known to he deposits of iron, gypsum. coal, and marble, while gold has been found in various localities. The mann facturin7 industry yields products in sufficient quantity for export. There are numerous looms in operation producing fabrics of pineapple fibre. jusi, swam ay, silk. cotton. and hemp. Coast ing trade and commerce with the rest of the archipelago through the port of Iloilo are also very active.
The natives of Panay offered a spirited resist ance to the authority of the United States from the beginning of the insurrection. The town of lluilo was occupied and garrisoned by United Mates troops on February 11, 1899, but the in -urgents practically held the whole interior of the island until the beginning of active operations in the fall of 1000. The insurgents were then dispersed and driven to the mountains after a number of sharp engagements. The surrender of tolleral Delgado in January, 1901, followed by that of other influential leaders, practically accomplished the pacification of the island. and on April 13, 1901, civil government was inau; gurated. Under the Spanish rule the island was divided into the three provineetc of Antique in the west, Capiz in the north, and 'Iloilo in the ,ontheast, and the Commandancia of Concepcion in the northeast. The last is now incorporated with the Province of Iloilo. The population of Antique was estimated in 1901 at 115,434, that of Capiz at 224.000, and of Iloilo 464,444, giving a total for the whole island of 801,878. The in baldtants are nearly all Visayans, there being only a few thousand savage Mundos and Negritos in the mountains. The capitals are San Jos6 de Buena vista (q.v.) in Antique and CApiz (q.v.) and Iloilo (q.v.) in the provinces of those names.