Palawan is a long and narrow large island in the south westernmost side of the Philippines and trends northeast southwest between the South China Sea and Sulu Seas. It has an area of 11,785 sq/km, a maximum width of 39 km, and a mountainous backbone that runs its entire 434km in length, with Mt Mantalingajan measuring 2,085 m high in the south as its highest peak. There are about 1,800 smaller islands and islets lie near Palawan; the main island groups are the Calamian (north), Cuyo islands (northeast) and the Balabak-Bugsuk (south). Puerto Princesa, on the east central coast of the island, is the capital.
The Balabac-Bugsuk group is originally a remnant of a land bridge that connected Palawan and Borneo during the Pleistocene epoch; for this reason the wildlife and vegetation closely resemble to those of Borneo than to those of other Philippine islands.
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