FACTOID #151: The five countries with the highest coffee consumption are also the five countries whose citizens trust one another the most. Coincidence? Probably.
The Ivatan or Ibatan language is spoken exclusively in the Batanes Islands in the most northern reaches of the Philippines. There are approximately 30,000 speakers.
Early Ivatan culture was essentially documented by Spanish missionaries and state officials whose goal was to obliterate the indigenous culture, especially the indigenous belief system and socio-political structure.
September 18 was the day the Ivatans regained their freedom, a date akin to June 12, that celebrates the declaration of Philippine Independence on June 12, 1898.
Ivatan culture has developed into a stronger strain and a more vibrant and dynamic synthesis, even as the indigenous culture permeates and pervades their lives.
The northern half of the Ivatan homeland, Formosa and Orchid Island which were formally part of the Viceroyalty of New Spain, fell to the Dutch who were in turn expelled in 1662 by forces of the Chinese Ming Dynasty, led by the Chinese pirate Koxinga who then set himself up as The King of Taiwan.
The southern half of the Ivatan homeland, the islands of the Batanes, was reinforced and fortified by Spanish refugees from Formosa before being formally joined in the 18th century with the Spanish government in Manila.
The main languages spoken in Batanes are Ivatan, which is spoken on the islands of Batan and Sabtang, and Ichbayaten, which is spoken primarily on the island of Itbayat.
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