Balabac Island is the southern-most island of the Palawan

Palawan

Palawan is an island province of the Philippines located in the MIMAROPA region or Region 4. Its capital is Puerto Princesa City, and it is the largest province in the country in terms of total area of jurisdiction. The islands of Palawan stretch from Mindoro in the northeast to Borneo in the...

 province in the Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, only about 50 kilometres (31.1 mi) north from Sabah

Sabah

Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...

, Malaysia, across the Balabac Strait

Balabac Strait

Balabac Strait is a strait in the South China Sea, at . It separates the Balabac island , Philippines from the Banggi Island north of Borneo that are a part of Malaysia's Sabah state....

.

Administratively, the island forms the main part of Balabac Municipality

Balabac, Palawan

Balabac is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Palawan, Philippines, off the southern end of Palawan Island. According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 25,257 people in 4,723 households...

 and is divided into 14 barangay

Barangay

A barangay is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district or ward...

s:

Agutayan Indalawan Catagupan Malaking Ilog Melville Pasig Rabor

Salang Poblacion I Poblacion II Poblacion III Poblacion IV Poblacion V Poblacion VI

Balabac Island is home to various endemic species. It is the home of birds like Grey Imperial Pigeon (Ducula pickeringii), Philippine Cockatoo (Cacatua haematuropygia), Blue-headed Racket-tail (Prioniturus platenae), and the Palawan Hornbill

Palawan Hornbill

The Palawan Hornbill , known locally as Talusi in Filipino language, is a smallish forest-dwelling bird. Its plumage is predominantly black with a white tail, a dark green gloss on its upper parts and a large creamy-white beak with a casque typical of the hornbill family...

 (Anthracoceros marchei). The Philippine Mouse-deer

Philippine Mouse-deer

The Philippine Mouse-deer , also known as the Balabac Chevrotain or Pilandok , is a small, nocturnal ruminant, which is endemic to Balabac and nearby smaller islands south-west of Palawan in the Philippines. It has traditionally been considered a subspecies of the Greater Mouse-deer...

, a subspecies of the Greater Mouse-deer

Greater Mouse-deer

The Greater mouse-deer, Greater Malay chevrotain or napu is a species of even-toed ungulate in the Tragulidae family. It is found in Sumatra, Borneo and smaller Malaysian and Indonesian islands, and in southern Myanmar, southern Thailand and peninsular Malaysia...

 (Tragulus napu) can only be found in this island.

The Molbogs, a Muslim ethnolinguistic group, is concentrated in this island. Their livelihood includes farming, fishing and barter

Barter

Barter is a method of exchange by which goods or services are directly exchanged for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. It is usually bilateral, but may be multilateral, and usually exists parallel to monetary systems in most developed countries, though to a...

 trading with the nearby Sulu

Sulu

Sulu is an autonomous island province of the Philippines located in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao . Its capital is Jolo and occupies the middle group of islands of the Sulu Archipelago, between Basilan and Tawi-Tawi...

, Bangsamoro

Bangsamoro

The term Bangsamoro refers to a people who are natives or original inhabitants of the island of Mindanao and its adjacent islands in the Philippines, including Palawan and the Sulu archipelago at the time of conquest or colonization...

, and Sabah

Sabah

Sabah is one of 13 member states of Malaysia. It is located on the northern portion of the island of Borneo. It is the second largest state in the country after Sarawak, which it borders on its southwest. It also shares a border with the province of East Kalimantan of Indonesia in the south...

market centers.