View source for Homonhon

{{Short description|Island in Eastern Samar, Philippines}}
{{Infobox islands
| name                            = Homonhon
| native_name                     = 
| etymology                       = 
| sobriquet                       = {{smaller|''Magellan's First Landing Site''}}
| image_name                      = Homonhon Island, Guiuan, Eastern Samar at sunset.jpg
| image_size                      = 
| image_caption                   = Homonhon Island, Guiuan, Eastern Samar at sunset (view southwest from Guiuan Integrated Transport Terminal)
| image_alt                       = 
| map                             = Visayas#Philippines
| map_alt                         = 
| map_width                       = 
| map_caption                     = Homonhon ([[Visayas]])
| map_relief                      = yes
| label                           = 
| label_position                  = 
| coordinates                     = {{coord|10|45|20|N|125|44|21|E|type:isle_region:PH|display=inline,title}}
| archipelago                     = 
| waterbody                       = {{unbulleted list | [[Leyte Gulf]] | [[Philippine Sea]] }}
| location                        = 
| area_km2                        = 105.2
| area_footnotes                  = <ref name=unep>{{cite web |title=Islands of Philippines |url=http://islands.unep.ch/IHE.htm#864 |work=Island Directory |publisher=United Nations Environment Programme |access-date=3 October 2017 |archive-date=25 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425105340/http://islands.unep.ch/IHE.htm#864 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
| coastline_km                    = 57.5
| coastline_footnotes             = <ref name = unep/>
| elevation_ft                     = 1,227
| highest_mount = [[Homonhon Peak]]
| elevation_footnotes             = <ref name = unep/>
| Country_heading                 = 
| country                         = [[Philippines]]
| country_admin_divisions_title   = Region
| country_admin_divisions         = [[Eastern Visayas]]
| country_admin_divisions_title_1 = Province
| country_admin_divisions_1       = [[Eastern Samar]]
| population = 4,722
| population_as_of = 2024
| density_km2                     = {{#expr: 4413 / 105.2 round 1}}
| country_largest_city = [[Casuguran]]
| country_largest_city_population = 1,032
| country_admin_divisions_title_2 = Municipality
| country_admin_divisions_2       = [[Guiuan, Eastern Samar|Guiuan]]
| additional_info = 
}}

'''Homonhon Island''' is an island in the [[Provinces of the Philippines|province]] of [[Eastern Samar]], [[Philippines]], on the east side of [[Leyte Gulf]]. The {{convert|20|km|adj=on}} long island is part of the [[Guiuan, Eastern Samar|municipality of Guiuan]], encompassing eight [[barangays]]: Bitaugan, Cagusu-an, Canawayon, Casuguran, Culasi, Habag, Inapulangan, and Pagbabangnan.

Mantoconan, an islet just off the northwest corner of Homonhon, is also part of the approximately 7,500 islands comprising the Philippine Archipelago. The island is one of the early Pacific contact sites between the East and the West.

==History==
During the first [[circumnavigation]] of the [[Earth|globe]], [[Ferdinand Magellan]]'s three surviving vessels passed the [[Marianas]], but did not land,<ref>W.D. Brownlee (Master Mariner), 1974. ''The First Ships Around the World'' {{ISBN|0-8225-1204-1}}, p.44.</ref> even though he was out of food after crossing the [[Pacific Ocean]]. Yet he landed on the island of Homonhon on March 16, 1521.<ref>Richard Humble, ''The Voyage of Magellan'', Franklin Watts [1988] {{ISBN|0-531-10638-1}} p.20.</ref> Despite Homonhon being uninhabited at that time, he was detected by the fishing boats of nearby local settlements in [[Suluan]]. The local leaders arrived in more boats, receiving him warmly and trading food and supplies with Magellan's crew. Magellan later left for [[Limasawa Island]].<ref>Laurence Bergreen, ''Over the Edge of the World : Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe''  HarperCollins Publishers [2003] {{ISBN|0-06-621173-5}}</ref>

Up to the early Spanish period, Ibabaonon (bygone term for [[Waray people|Bisaya]] of the eastern and northern Samar coast) revered the island as the sacred residence of [[Makapatag]], the male aspect of the supreme [[Anito|diwata]] [[Laon (deity)|Malaon.]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Borrinaga |first=George Emmanuel |date=2022 |title=Wrath of the Diwata: Crises and Bisayan Responses to Jesuit Evangelization in Leyte, Samar, and Bohol from 1595 to 1650 |url=https://www.academia.edu/103598926/Wrath_of_the_Diwata_Crises_and_Bisayan_Responses_to_Jesuit_Evangelization_in_Leyte_Samar_and_Bohol_from_1595_to_1650 |journal=The Journal of History |volume=68 |pages=135-136 |via=Academia}}</ref>

==Barangays==

List of Barangays in Homonhon island by population (2020 census)
{| class="wikitable"
|+
! Barangay
! Population
|-
| Bitaugan 
| 445
|-
| Cagusu-an
| 707
|-
| Canawayon
| 427
|-
| Casuguran
| 964
|-
| Culasi
| 446
|-
| Habag
| 317
|-
| Inapulagan
| 548
|-
| Pagbabangnan
| 550
|-
| '''Total'''
| '''4,413'''

|}

==Economy==
The island hosts four large-scale mining operations that are involved in extracting [[nickel]] and [[chromite]] since the 1980s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.rappler.com/nation/visayas/advocates-urge-national-historical-commission-philippines-save-homonhon-island-mining/ |title=Advocates urge NHCP to save Homonhon Island from mining |date=April 25, 2024 |accessdate=April 25, 2024 |publisher=Rappler}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Islands of the Philippines}}

[[Category:Islands of Eastern Samar]]
[[Category:Guiuan]]


{{EVisayas-geo-stub}}