Abra is landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) in the northern part of Luzon.  Its capital is Bangued and it borders Ilocos Norte and Apayao on the north, Ilocos Sur and Mountain Province on the south, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos on the west, and Kalinga and Apayao on the east.

Abra’s inhabitants are mostly descendants of Ilocano settlers and members of the Tingguian tribe.  As of 2005, the population of the province is 211,095.

The predominant languages are Ilocano, and Itneg.  Based on the 1995 census survey, Ilocano is generally spoken by 73.65% of the region’s total population.  25.18% speak Itneg, 0.16% speak Tagalog, and the remaining 0.54% speak other dialects.

As of 1990, there were 743 cottage industries in Abra, of which 208 are registered with the Department of Trade and Industry.  59% are engaged in bamboo and rattan craft making, both leading industries in the area.

In 1992, the Natural Dye Industry, together with Loom Weaving and Embroidery, were revived by former Governor Ma. Zita Claustro-Valera, the first woman governor of Abra.

With 27 municipalities and 303 barangays, Abra’s economy is agriculture based.  Its major crops are rice, corn and root crops and commercial produce are coffee, tobacco, and coconut.  Extensive grassland and pasture areas are used for livestock production.

Abra is hemmed-in by the towering mountain ranges of the Ilocos in the west and the Cordillera Central in the east.  It has an extremely rugged terrain, with mountains and hills rising along its perimeter and interior.  The plains are drained by the Abra River, which flows northward from Mt. Data in the Mountain Province.

The first inhabitants of Abra were the ancestors of the Bontocs and the Ifugaos.  These inhabitants eventually left to settle in the old Mountain Province.  Other early settlers were the Tingguians of Itnegs.

In 1598, a Spanish Garrison was established in Bangued to protect the Ilocanos, who converted to Christianity, from Tingguian raids.  During the British invasion, Gabriela Silang and her army fled to Abra from Ilocos and continued the revolt begun by her slain husband, Diego Silang.  She was captured and hung by the Spaniards in 1763.

In 1818, the Ilocos Region, including Abra, was divided into Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur.  In 1846, Abra was created as a political-military province with Lepanto as a sub-province.  It remained so until the arrival of the Americans in 1899.

In 1908, the Philippine Commission, once again annexed Abra to Ilocor Sur in an attempt to resolve Abra’s financial difficulties.  But on March 9, 1917, the Philippine Assembly re-established Abra as a province.

The revolutionary priest, the late Conrado Balweg, who fought for the rights of the Cordillera tribes, began his crusade in Abra.  After successfully negotiating a peace accord with Balweg’s group in 1987, the Philippine Government created the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), which included Abra.

Touring the District

Governor’s Monthly Letter – July 2008