Southern Leyte

Southern Leyte (Cebuano: Habagatang Leyte, Filipino: Timog Leyte) is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayasregion. Its capital is the city of Maasin. Southern Leyte was a sub-province of Leyte until it was made into an independent province. Southern Leyte includes Limasawa, an island to the south where the first Roman Catholic Mass in Philippine soil is believed to have taken place and thus considered to be the birthplace of Roman Catholicism in the Philippines. 

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The province ranks as the second least populated in the region. According to the 2015 census, the province has a population of 421,750.

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Southern Leyte's geological features created several issues in the province after the flooding of the Subangdaku River and the 2006 mudslide in Guinsaugon. Organizations warned the province it was susceptible to natural occurrences like landslides and floods.[4][not in citation given]

Southern Leyte forms an important part of the inter-island transportation system of the country, with ferries transporting people and goods between Liloan and Surigao del Norte in Mindanao. The province is well known for its quality abaca products and is the country's major producer of abaca fiber.