• Even though it is constantly swept by wind and rain because it lies along the typhoon belt, Batanes has stood tall and remained as one of the most beautiful and culturally rich provinces in the Philippine Republic.

Above: Batanes is also famous for its lighthouses

• Also called Batanes Islands as it is composed of ten islands and islets, the province of Batanes is located between the Babuyan Islands and Taiwan. It is known for being the smallest (in terms of population and land area) and the northernmost province of the Philippine archipelago.
• Batanes does not have a pronounced wet or dry season because of its location, and it rains any month of the year (at least 8 days a month), leading to it being mistakenly believed to be constantly battered by typhoons.
• As it is situated in the vast waters of Bashi and Balintang Channels, where the Pacific Ocean meets the China Sea, most of the islands that consist the Batanes islands are not being inhabited; only three islands (Batan, Itbayat, and Sabtang) were being occupied by the Ivatans, the indigenous people of Batanes.
• The Ivatans of today, whose dialect is also called Ivatan (another dialect is Ichbayaten, spoken primarily by dwellers of Itbayan island), are believed to be the descendants of the Austronesians who migrated to Batanes about 4,000 years ago.

Above: A typical ivatan

• Lately, anthropologists are putting much attention to the wealth of the Ivatans, and that is their distinctively rich indigenous culture and traditions, which include their unique literary works—humorous anecdotes and tales (sisyavak), a lyric song (laji), working songs (kalusan), riddles and proverbs (kabbuni and pananaban, respectively).
• Captured by the extraordinary beauty of Batanes, Filipino film makers created a romantic movie featuring the beautiful province. The movie starring the prime Filipina actress Iza Calzado and Taiwanese superstar Ken Zhu was shown December last year and was a huge success. Calzado and Zhu were then officially adopted as new members of the Ivatan community, granted with official testimonials and a vacul (for Iza) and a kanaye (for Ken) as tokens.

Above: Iza Calzado and Ken Zhu wearing a vacul and a kanaye