Samar Map

Western Samar, formerly Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its

capital is Catbalogan City and covers the western portion of Samar island as well as several islands in the

Samar Sea located to the west of the mainland. Catbalogan City and Calbayog City, two of the three cities of

Samar Island, are located in the province of Samar. Bordering the province to the north is Northern Samar and

to the east is Eastern Samar. Samar is connected to Leyte via the San Juanico Bridge, which spans the San

Juanico Strait, the narrowest strait in the country. To the south of the province is the Leyte Gulf.

The province of Samar is a member of the Samar-Leyte (Waray Group), the sixth largest cultural-linguistic

group in the country. The majority (90.2%) of the total household population speaks the Waray dialect. The

remaining 9.8 percent speaks Cebuano (8.1%), Boholano (0.07%), Tagalog (0.5%) and other dialects. Other

languages used are English and Chinese.

Samar province has her share of nature���s bounty. Among the nature���s jewels which enchantingly lure tourists

and local folks includes unexplored mountains and caves which are inhabited by exotic wildlife, pristine shores

rimmed by unspoiled coral reefs, cloud-hidden lakes of blue surrounded by multi-colored flowers and beautiful

beaches and waterfalls nestled beside a mountain.