page_title: Basilan
section_title: Population growth 2000-2007
hierarchical_section_title: Basilan / People / Demographics / Population growth 2000-2007
caption_attribution_description: English: US Ambassador Kristie Kenney with Basilan students from the Datu Bantilan Dance Troupe in traditional Yakan costume.
context_page_description: The Province of Basilan is an island province of the Philippines in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region. Basilan Island is the largest and northernmost of the major islands of the Sulu Archipelago. It is just off the southern coast of the geographic Zamboanga Peninsula.
  Isabela, the former capital, is a component city under the provincial government of Basilan but is administered as part of the Zamboanga Peninsula Region and is listed statistically independent. The provincial capital has since been transferred to Lamitan.
  Basilan is home to three main ethnolingusitic groups: the indigenous Yakans, and the later-arriving Tausugs and Chavacanos. The Yakans and Tausugs are predominantly Muslim, while the Chavacano are mainly Christian. There are also a number of smaller ethnic groups. Although the official languages are Tagalog and English, the main native language is Yakan and lingua franca is Chavacano. Other languages include Tausug, Cebuano, and Sama.
  Basilan, although classified as a 3rd-class province in terms of gross provincial income, has one of the lowest incidences of poverty in the Philippines, ranked 20 among the Philippines' 80 provinces.
context_section_description: Basilan experienced a rapid increase in population; between 2000 and 2007, the population increased by 163,675, from 332,828 to 496,503, which is an annual growth rate of 5.67%, whereas it only rose by 37,263 between 1995 and 2000, an annual growth rate of 2.25%. A corresponding increase in the number of households was also registered, from 55,137 in 1995 to 61,546 in 2000. This resulted to an average household size of 5.4 persons, higher than the national average of five.
  Of the seven original municipalities in Basilan as of May 1, 2000, Isabela, then capital of the province, was the largest in terms of population with 73,032 persons or 21.94% of the provincial total. It was followed by Lamitan (17.64%), Sumisip (15.23%), Tipo-Tipo (14.50%), and Tuburan (12.78%). Lantawan and Maluso, on the other hand, had less than 10% each.
  By 2007, the three biggest local government units (LGUs) saw their shares of the  population fall relative to neighboring communities; Isabela City fell to 17.72% of Basilan's total population despite remaining the most densely populated area on the island. Lamitan is now only at 16.53% (-1.11%). Old Sumisip (two municipalities with a population of 71,807), with the biggest aggregate land area, fell to 14.46% (-0.77%). Meanwhile, Old Tipo-Tipo (three municipalities: 83,249 pop.) rose to 16.75% (+2.25%) and is now bigger than Lamitan, while Old Tuburan (three municipalities: 73,942 pop.) is 14.89% (+2.11%) and is now bigger than Old Sumisip. Old Lantawan (two municipalities: 49,270 pop.) is at 9.92%, while Maluso (48,175 pop.) comprises 9.7% of the total.
  The seven-year increases are widely disparate, which explains the 2000–2007 percentage figures stated above. In Isabela City, the population growth was 20.47% (+2.60% per annum; 73,032 in 2000, to 87,985 in 2007), slower when compared to the newly created Akbar Municipality, scene of many of the latest gun-battles between government troops and Moro separatist groups. The municipality's seven-year population growth was 101.42% (+10.14% per annum; 10,581 in 2000 to 21,312 in 2007). The average aggregate annual population increase in the seven-year period for the ten municipalities and one city that comprise Basilan was 9.12%. By comparison, that of the rest of the Philippines was only 2.3%.
  These figures are derived from the National Statistics and Coordination Board and Philippine Statistics Authority.
  These rapid growth rates have been attributed mainly to the practice of local governments of padding their real population numbers to
  obtain a bigger slice of the Internal Revenue Allotment fund given to Philippine LGUs,
  fulfill minimum requirements set by the Philippine Local Government Code (for the newly created municipalities and Lamitan city)
  as well as a reserve of votes for local political clans from constituencies that "usually" record 100% turn-outs during election periods.
caption: US Ambassador Kristie Kenney with the Datu Bantilan Dance Troupe in traditional Yakan costume.
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