Batan Islands

Batanes, officially the Province of Batanes, is an archipelagic province in the Philippines, administratively part of the Cagayan Valley region. It is the northernmost province in the country, and also the smallest, both in population and land area. The capital is Basco, located on the island of Batan.

The island group is located approximately 162 kilometres north of the Luzon mainland and about 190 kilometres south of Taiwan, separated from the Babuyan Islands of Cagayan Province by the Balintang Channel, and from Taiwan by the Bashi Channel. The entire province is listed in the UNESCO tentative list for inscription in the World Heritage List. The government has been finalizing the site's inscription, establishing museums and conservation programs since 2001. Seven intangible heritage elements of the Ivatan have been set by the Philippine government in its initial inventory in 2012. The elements are undergoing a process to be included in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.