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Davao-at-a-Glance |
Population
Davao City is home to over a million people.
Daytime population (which includes transients)
is estimated to reach almost 2 million since it
is the center of trade, commerce, and services
in Southern Philippines. Its population growth
rate is 2.83% while density is at 540 persons
per square kilometer. Urban density however is
higher at 2,555 people per square kilometer.
Labor Force
About 48% of the total population is of working
age. Of this, a little over 88% are employed.
Davaoeños like their fellow Filipinos, are
English-speaking and highly trainable. Most are
known to have a natural inclination towards arts
and creativity, the reason why many have been
successful in design and related enterprises.
Geography
Davao City is the capital of the Davao Region
(or Region XI). It is strategically located at
the Southeastern part of Mindanao with latitude
of 6º58’ to 7º 34’ North and a longitude of
125º14’ to 125º40’ East.
Its boundary line passes through the top of the
country’s highest peak, the Mt. Apo. On the
north, Davao del Norte bound it, while on the
east, partly by Davao del Norte and the Davao
Gulf.
The city’s strategic location makes it the
center of trade not only in the Southern
Mindanao region or the whole of Mindanao but
also in the East ASEAN Growth Area (EAGA).
Accesibility
Davao City is very accessible. As your gateway
to the Philippine South, it has regular air,
sea, and land linkages to major points in the
country. It is one (1) hour and 40 minutes away
from Manila (the country’s capital) by plane and
only 40 minutes away from Cebu City. It has 4
times weekly flights to Singapore and twice
weekly flights to Manado Indonesia.
Land use and area
Total land area of Davao City is 2,443.61 square
kilometers. In terms of land area, it is
considered as one of the largest cities in the
world. It is divided into 3 congressional
districts with barangays (smallest political
villages) totaling to 180.
Almost 50% of its total land area is classified
as timberland or forest. Agriculture utilizes
about 43%. This is reflective of the fact that
agriculture is still the largest economic
sector. Big plantations that produce banana,
pineapple, coffee, and coconut eat up a large
chunk of the total land area.
Presently, built-up areas used for residential,
institutional, commercial, and industrial
purposes represent about 10% of the total land
area. Under the approved land use plan built-up
and settlement area will cover 15% of the total
area while agricultural will be maximized with
67.19%. The remaining 17.68 will be devoted for
forest and conservation.
Climate
Davao City is typhoon-free. The city enjoys a
weather that remains balmy all year round. It is
characterized by a uniform distribution of
rainfall, temperature, humidity, and air
pressure.
It has no pronounced wet or dry season. Weather
predictability makes it highly conducive to
agro-crop production. Temperature ranges from 20
to 32 degrees Celsius and average rainfall is up
to 2,000 mm yearly.
Dialects/Languages
Cebuano is the most widely spoken dialect. The
Filipino language comes a close second. English
is the medium of instruction in schools and is
widely understood and spoken especially in the
business community.
Religion
The most dominant group is the Roman Catholic at
83.83%, other Christian groups comprise 15% and
the remaining 1.17% belongs to other
non-Christian faiths (Islam, Buddhism, etc).
Physical Infrastructure
The presence of basic infrastructure within the
City such as airport, seaports, roads, bridges,
and telecommunications has sustained the
economic growth in the last 10 years.
Due to the City’s unprecedented growth, a clamor
for higher capacity infrastructures resulted to
a number of modernization projects now ongoing
to meet the demands of the new millennium.
Airport_small1.jpg)
The Davao International Airport is the busiest
airport in Southern Philippines. Expansion and
modernization began in 1998. Today, the DIA has
begun accommodating wider-bodied jets such as
Boeing 747’s.
Roads and Bridges
Construction of more roads and bridges are also
underway. The construction of the City’s third
major road - the Buhangin underpass was
completed in the 1st quarter of 2003.
A Traffic Management and Computerization Scheme
is also being planned. Davao City is ranked no.
5 among cities in Asia with better traffic flow
based on vehicles per kilometer of city road.
Seaports
Presently, there are 2 government seaports (the
Sasa Wharf and the Sta. Ana Pier) and 9
privately owned ports. The City Government is
currently in the process of taking over the
management of the seaports to modernize
facilities and expand capacity.
In addition, the city has a fish port called the
Toril Fish Port Complex to accommodate small and
large-scale fishing activities as well as
provide among others cold-storage facilities.
Telecommunications
Communication links within the key business
areas are adequate. With the deregulation and
privatization policies of the Philippine
Government, the number of telecommunications
player is projected to increase as well as offer
affordable telecommunications services to
subscribers/clienteles.
Mobile Phone operators, Internet service
providers, Internet café’s, and cable-TV
operators have now proliferated in the city and
even in the rest of the localities within the
country to keep the people in-touched and
informed of the latest developments around the
globe.
Cable-TV Operators
In Davao City, you can enjoy the best of cable
TV, your choice of movies, 24-hour world news
reports, documentaries, sports, and coverage of
significant events, all for as low as US$
8.00/month.
Internet Service Providers
There are 6 Internet Service Providers operating
in Davao City offering dial-up, dedicated and
DSL types of service. The City has over a
hundred Internet cafés operating in strategic
areas where one can surf, chat, play games, send
and view e-mails, and engage in e-commerce using
the latest computer innovation and technology.
Socio-cultural environment
Education
Filipinos value education so much. They consider
a diploma or a college degree as a passport to
better opportunities. The government provides
free education at the primary (grade school) and
secondary (high school) levels. Government
scholars can enjoy free college education in
state-run universities such as the University of
the Philippines. The literacy rate of the
country is 93.9%. Davao City on the other hand
has a higher literacy rate of 95.17%.
The City has largely contributed to the
country’s ever increasing pool of masters and
doctorate degree holders helping the Philippines
gained the distinction of having one of the
highest numbers of Masters in Business
Administration (MBA) graduates in the world.
The City is considered the Center for Learning
and Education in the Mindanao Island. Currently,
it has 374 elementary schools, 107 secondary
schools, and 41 colleges and universities.
Health and Hospital
The average life expectancy of Davaoeños is
70 for females and 65 for males.
There are about 31 hospitals with a total of
1,763 beds in Davao City. Very affordable
medical services are made available to poor
residents through the Davao Medical Center,
which has the most number of hospitals beds at
400.
Banks
Currently, there are around 141 banks (including
branches), 37 financing companies, and
466lending firms operating in the city. These
can handle financial/monetary transactions from
the most basic to_small1.jpg) the most complicated.
Cargo and courier forwarders
Postal requirements are served by 18 post
offices citywide. Forwarders, truckers, custom
brokers, international couriers, and
messengerial companies offer overnight mail and
freight/cargo services.
The PRESS
Aside from the 24 national daily newspapers
available, Davao City has also 20 local
newspapers, 11 broadcast TV stations, 15 AM-band
radio stations, and 25 FM-band radio stations.
These numbers reflect the extent of press
freedom being enjoyed by the print and broadcast
media as well as provide wide range of choice
for residents and visitors alike. |
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