Batanes, officially the Province of Batanes, is an archipelagic province in the Philippines, administratively part of the Cagayan Valley region. It is the northernmost province in the Philippines, and the smallest, both in population and land area. The capital is Basco, located on the island of Batan, and is also the most populous municipality in the province.
The island group is located approximately north of the Luzon mainland and about south of Taiwan (Pingtung County). Batanes is separated from the Babuyan Islands of Cagayan Province by the Balintang Channel, and from Taiwan by the Bashi Channel.
Etymology and nomenclature The name Batanes is the Spanish collective name of the islands. It is the Spanish plural form of Batan, the native Ivatan name of the main populated island of the group.
Older European sources may refer to the Batanes Islands as the "Bashi" Islands (also spelled variously as "Basi", "Bassi", "Basy", "Bashi", "Baschi", "Bachi", "Bashee", and "Bachee"), a name still retained by the Bashi Channel. This name was given collectively to the islands of Batanes by the English explorer William Dampier in 1687. The name is derived from the indigenous alcoholic drink basi of the people of Northern Luzon, specifically the drink palek of the native Ivatan people of the Batanes islands.
History
Early history
The ancestors of the native Ivatan people descended from Austronesians who migrated to the islands 4,000 years ago during the Neolithic period Austronesian Expansion. They lived in fortified mountain areas called idjangs and drank sugar-cane wine, or palek. They used gold as currency and were farmers, seafarers and boatbuilders. Batanes was a major site for the Maritime Jade Road, one of the most extensive sea-based trade networks of a single geological material in the prehistoric world, operating for 3,000 years from 2000 BCE to 1000 CE.Tsang, Cheng-hwa (2000), "Recent advances in the Iron Age archaeology of Taiwan", Bulletin of the Indo-Pacific Prehistory Association, 20: 153–158, doi:10.7152/bippa.v20i0.11751Turton, M. (2021). Notes from central Taiwan: Our brother to the south. Taiwan’s relations with the Philippines date back millennia, so it’s a mystery that it’s not the jewel in the crown of the New Southbound Policy. Taiwan Times.Everington, K. (2017). Birthplace of Austronesians is Taiwan, capital was Taitung: Scholar. Taiwan News.Bellwood, P., H. Hung, H., Lizuka, Y. (2011). Taiwan Jade in the Philippines: 3,000 Years of Trade and Long-distance Interaction. Semantic Scholar.
Spanish colonial era In 1687, the British explorer, privateer, and naturalist William Dampier visited the islands and named them in honour of prominent Dutch and British figures. Itbayat was named "Orange Isle" after William of Orange. Batan was named "Grafton Isle" after Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton. Sabtang Isle was named "Monmouth Isle" after James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth. During his stay in August and September 1687, Dampier made valuable observations about settlement types and subsistence of the inhabitants of the Batanes. He mentioned the existence of terraced and defended settlements on elevated terrain (now known as ijang) and listed various types of types of tubers and vegetables, and pigs and goats as common food sources, but notably no wet rice or cattle.
In 1783, the Spanish claimed Batanes as part of the Philippines under the rule of Governor-General José Basco y Vargas. Batanes was ruled as part of the Provincia de Cagayan. The Bashi Channel was increasingly used by English East India Company ships and the Spanish authorities brought the islands under their direct administration to keep them from falling under British control.Howard T. Fry, "The Eastern Passage and Its Impact on Spanish Policy in the Philippines, 1758–1790", Philippine Studies, vol.33, First Quarter, 1985, pp.3–21, p.18. The Ivatan remained on their idjang castle-fortresses for some time. In 1790, Governor Guerrero decreed that Ivatans were to live in the lowlands and leave their remote idjang. In response, the mangpus, or indigenous Ivatan leaders, headed by the Ivatan hero Aman Dangat, revolted against the Spanish invaders.
Using guns, the Spanish ended the revolution, killing Aman Dangat and several other Ivatan leaders. Basco and Ivana were the first towns established under full Spanish control. Mahatao was then administered by Basco, while Uyugan and Sabtang, by Ivana. Itbayat was not organized until the 1850s, its coast being a ridge. Soon, Ilocanos came to the islands and integrated with the local population.
Roads, ports, bridges, churches and government buildings were built in this time. Limestone technology used by the Spanish spread to the islands, making bridges strong and fortified. Some of these bridges still remain at Ivana and Mahatao. By 1890, many Ivatans were in Manila, and became ilustrados, who then brought home with them the revolutionary ideas of the Katipunan. These Ivatans, who were then discontented with Spanish rule, killed the ruling General Fortea and declared the end of Spanish rule.
American colonial era
Toward the end of the Spanish administration, Batanes was made a part of Cagayan. Due to historical reasons from that time, some segments of Taiwan society argue that the islands should not belong to the Philippines. Batanes was created as a sub-province of Cagayan on August 20, 1907, with the approval of Act No. 1693. On May 20, 1909, the new American authorities organized it into an independent province, with the approval of Act No. 1952. During this time, additional public schools were constructed and more Ivatan became aware of their place in the Philippines.
In 1920, the first wireless telegraph was installed, followed by an airfield in 1930. New roads were constructed and the Batanes High School was instituted around this time as well.
Japanese occupation Because of their strategic location, the islands were one of the first points occupied by the invading Japanese imperial forces at the outbreak of the Pacific War. On the morning of December 8, 1941, the Batan Task Force from Taiwan landed on the Batan Islands, which became the first American territory occupied by the Japanese. The objective of the invasion - to secure the small airfield outside Basco - was accomplished without resistance. Japanese fighters from Basco took part in the raid on Clark Air Base the following day. Over the next several days, the success of the Japanese bombing of Clark Field rendered a base at Basco unnecessary, and on December 10, 1941, the naval combat force was withdrawn to participate in the invasion of Camiguin.
As part of an administrative reorganization, the province of Batanes was downgraded to a municipality of Cagayan from 1942 to 1944."Pursuant to the authority conferred upon me as Head of the Central Administrative Organization by Order No. 1 in connection with Order No. 3 of the Commander in Chief of the Imperial Japanese Forces in the Philippines and upon the recommendation of the Executive Commission it is hereby ordered that— The Province of Batanes is abolished and the comprising the same as well as the territory thereof shall be annexed to the Province Cagayan. The municipalities of Baler and Casiguran, Province of Tayabas, and the territories thereof are segregated from said province and shall be annexed to the Province of Nueva Ecija. The municipality of Infanta, Province of Tayabas, and the territory thereof are segregated from province and shall be annexed to the Province of Laguna. The Province of Marinduque is abolished and municipalities comprising the same as well as territory thereof shall be annexed to the Province of Tayabas. The Province of Romblon is abolished and the municipalities comprising the same as well the territory thereof shall be annexed to the of Capiz." Upon its restoration, Victor de Padua, an Ilocano who was one of the first School Superintendents on Batan, was made Provincial Governor. Early in 1945, the island was liberated by the Philippine Commonwealth forces of the 1st and 12th Infantry Divisions of the Philippine Commonwealth Army.
Philippine independence and contemporary era Philippine independence saw the restoration of Batanes as an independent province, and also gradually restored its connections to the rest of the Philippines, which had been largely severed by the Japanese destruction of infrastructure during the war.
Batanes was briefly marred by political violence during the 1969 presidential elections, when the Philippine Constabulary's Special Forces allowed motorcycle-riding goons dubbed the "Suzuki boys" to secure the victory of Rufino Antonio Jr., an ally of President Ferdinand Marcos, as representative of the Lone District of Batanes in the House of Representatives of the Philippines through a campaign of terror and intimidation. The resulting outcry led to the Supreme Court decrying the "rape of democracy" in the province, and annulled Antonio's victory in 1970 in favor of his rival, Jorge Abad.
In 1984, Pacita Abad, the foremost Ivatan visual artist, became the first woman to be awarded the Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) award, breaking 25 years of male dominance. In her acceptance speech, she said, "it was long overdue that Filipina women were recognized, as the Philippines was full of outstanding women" and referred proudly to her mother.
In 1993, the Batanes Protected Landscape and Seascape, which encompassed the entire province, was listed in the Tentative List of the Philippines for UNESCO World Heritage Site inscription in the future.
In 1997, the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) was passed in Congress. The law paved the way for the indigenous territorial rights of the Ivatans. The province has since promoted its Ivatan roots. Part of the Ilocano population has returned to mainland Luzon. On December 7, 2004, Pacita Abad died after finishing her last international artwork while suffering from cancer.
21st-century geopolitics A minor dispute between the Philippines and Taiwan erupted in 2007, after Taiwan Times published an editorial written by Tamkang University professor Chen Hurng-yu, claiming that Taiwan has territorial claims over Batanes and encouraging the Taiwanese government to take over the province. He asserted the province laid outside the 20° latitude line, which he claimed was not covered by both the 1898 and the 1900 treaties. This, despite the islands being first claimed by Spanish Philippines in 1783 and later incorporated and administered by the Philippines without any contesting nation since the 18th century.
In 2025, the Mahatao Forward Operating Base, a military facility operated by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, was established in Mahatao.
In June 2026, the Tao people of Taiwan's Orchid Island formally made their first ocean voyage in more than 300 years from their island to meet the Ivatan people of Batanes through traditional boat travel. The move was welcomed by the Ivatans of Batanes, and a similar voyage was also planned towards Orchid Island.
Chinese territorial claim on Batanes
On June 30, 2026, Jinan University in Guangzhou hosted an event for researchers from various Chinese universities who claimed that the Philippines does not have historical and legal sovereignty rights to Batanes. They asserted that the islands are "a natural geographical extension" of their claimed province of Taiwan and therefore subject to the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China. Philippine officials condemned these statements, and the National Historical Commission of the Philippines released a rebuttal based on Batanes geography and historical events. Jinan University eventually withdrew the study session on July 15.