Abra

Abra is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. It's capital is named Bangued, and it borders Ilocos Norte and Apayao on the north, Ilocos Sur and Mountain Province on the south, Ilocos Norte and Ilocos Sur 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. The predominant languages being Ilocano and Itneg.

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 inhabitants were the Tingguians, or the Itnegs as they are also known.

In 1598 a Spanish garrison was established in Bangued to protect the Ilocanos who converted to Christianity from Tingguian raids. During the British Occupation of the Philippines, Gabriela Silang and her army fled to Abra from Ilocos and continued the revolt begun by her slain husband, Diego Silang who conspired with the British forces to overthrow the Spaniards and establish an indepdant Ilocano Nation in Northern Philippines.

Diego Silang at 33 years of age, was assasinated in Manila May 1763 by one of his friends, a Spanish-Ilocano mestizo named Miguel Vicos who being paid by the church to do so.

Gabriela was captured and hung by the Spanish in September of the same year, she was 32 years of age. Ilocos Sur's provincial hospital is named Gabriela Silang General Hospital in her memory

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. It remained so until the arrival of the Americans in 1899.

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

In 1942, the Japanese forces occupied Abra. The Allied Philippine Commonwealth forces along with local guerrillas liberated Abra after a decisive victory over the Japanese in 1945 during the Battle of Abra.

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 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.