Topography and Land Classification
From the vast tracks of rice land along the coastal areas, twelve municipalities and three cities are located. The terrain is rising gently towards the hilly and rolling land westward to Mount Malindang and Mount Ampiro where two municipalities are situated. The soil in the rugged interior are suited to coconuts which is the chief crop grown in this province. The second major crop is rice. Other crops like corn, abaca and cacao also thrive in flat and rolling lands.
Under the present land classification system, lands of public domain with slopes of more than 18% (approximately 10 degrees) are retained for permanent forest purposes.
Those with 18 % slope and below classified as alienable and disposable (A and D) lands. Those lands may be released for non-forest purposes (agriculture, industrial and residential) subject to additional conditions such as contiguity of area and environmental considerations.
Land Classification
|
Area (has.) |
% |
||
|
|
|
||
|
Alienable and Disposable Land |
139,159.54 |
67.50 |
|
|
Titled |
108,825.24 |
||
|
Untitled |
30,694.30 |
||
|
Forest Land |
66,002.46 |
32.50 |
|
|
Production Forest |
31,308.46 |
||
|
34,694.00 |
|||
|
TOTAL LAND AREA |
205,522.00 |
100 % |
|
Soil Type
Soil of the uplands consisting of 64.65% of the total area is composed mostly of Adtuyon Clay Loam and Guimbaloan Clay Loam. Other types were Adtuyon Loam, Baliangao Clay Loam, Castella Clay Loam, Jasaan Clay Loam.
The 6.316% of the total area were soil of lowlands which type belongs to Bantog Clay, Kabacan Clay, Mabini Sandy Loam, Pulopandan Sandy Loam and Quingua Silt Loam. The miscellaneous type which consist of 28.93% were of Beach Sand, Hydrosol Mountain soils and a 0.21% unsurveyed.
Climate and Rainfall
The climate of this province belongs to the fourth type where rainfall is more or less fairly distributed throughout the year. The rainiest month is November and the driest month is February. The entire province is outside the typhoon belt, but it is sometimes affected by freak storms.
Demography
Misamis Occidental has a population of 531,680 as of 2007 census. This was higher by 44,957 persons compared to the 2000 figure. Its population density increased from 237 persons /sq.km. in 2000 to 259 in 2007. It is growing at an average rate of 1.23 percent between the two censal periods which is lower than the previous censal period (1990-2000) of 1.38 percent. If the trend of the average growth rate remains the same, it is expected that the population will double in 56 years.
Based on the 2000 Census of Population, the province is dominated by 5 -9 age group which constitutes 12.31% of the provincial population. This implies a higher need for early childhood care services. The male population slightly outnumbers the female with sex ratio of 101.8 or approximately 102 males for every 100 females.
With an average annual population growth rate of 1.27%, the province’s population is projected to reach as high as 592,900 by 2013. This would translate to a population density of 258.7 persons per square kilometer from a population density in 2000 which is only 236.82.