Camarines Norte

A generally rugged province with rolling hills, mountains, fertile plains and small valleys dotting the coastal portions. Camarines Norte is in fact the northern half of what used to be Ambos Camarines province. The boundaries of this province are in the southwest Quezon province, in the north and northeast the Pacific Ocean, and in the southeast Camarines Sur. With a land area of just over 2000 it is a rather small province, its southern neighbor Camarines Sur is more than twice its size. Population density is 185 /sq. kms. Which makes it a rather sparsely populated province. The largest town is Labo with hardly 70,000 inhabitants. Second largest is provincial capital Daet, with 65,000 inhabitants. The economy of Camarines Norte is based on agriculture and fishing. Most of the farming in the province is of subsistence type. There is some commercial farming with abaca and camotes as major cash crops. The seaside town of Mercedes just 7 kms from Daet is one of the most prosperous fishing communities in the country. Most of the fish and shrimps sold in Pangasinan -- fresh or salted - come from Mercedes. There is hardly any industry except for gold and iron mining. It was actually the discovery of rich gold bearing quartz veins, in the area of the small town of Paracale, about 30 km. northwest of Daet, that triggered interest of the late 16th century Spanish settlers. There were excellent hardwoods to be found here as well, quite suitable for the building of Spanish galleons. Today there is little hardwood left. Larap Peninsula, some 45 kms. northwest of Daet, is one of the few places in the Philippines with good quality iron ore deposits. Camarines Norte still houses large communities of local Negrito tribes. They are particularly concentrated in the foothills of Mount Cadig, some 80 kms. west of Daet. Source: living in the philippines.