Mindoro Island – How The Island Got Its Name? (Answer)

Mindoro Island – How The Island Got Its Name? (Answer)

MINDORO ISLAND – In this topic, we will now know how the Mindoro island, the seventh largest island in the Philippines, got its name.

MINDORO ISLAND
Image from: ABS-CBN News

As mentioned, it is the seventh largest island in the Philippines with a land area of 10,571 kilometer squared or 4,082 square miles. It has a population of about 1.3 million people, as of 2015.

It is composed of two provinces:

  • Occidental Mindoro
    • The western half of the island
  • Oriental Mindoro
    • The eastern half of the island

How it got its name?

It was formerly called the island of Ma-i or Mait by the Chinese traders. It was an ancient sovereign state and the first ever to be mentioned in any foreign account. The Sung Dynasty in the year 972 mentioned the island as a state that traded with the Chinese.

The products the the residents trade to the Chinese are:

  • beeswax
  • cotton
  • true pearls
  • tortoise shell
  • medicinal betelnuts
  • yu-ta cloth

The indigenous group living in the island are called Mangyans. When the Spaniards came, they called the island Mina de Oro, which translates to gold mine in English. The island was eventually called Mindoro.

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