PUERTO PRINCESA

city, east-central Palawan, Philippines. It is an important port on a sheltered inlet of the Sulu Sea, south of Honda Bay, and it has an airport. The city was formerly called Cuyo. The site of a penal colony during the Spanish regime, Puerto Princesa has become one of several resettlement sites on the island for migrants from Luzon and the western Visayan region. Copra, lumber, rattan, and livestock are exported from the port. The only Philippine deposits of cinnabar (an ore from which mercury is extracted) are worked at the nearby village of Tagburos; metallurgical-grade chromite is also produced. Puerto Princesa is the centre of large fishing operations and has scattered sawmills. It is the site of Palawan Teachers College (1972), and Palawan National Agricultural College (1910) is at Aborlan to the south. A game refuge and bird sanctuary are located near the city. Pop. (1990 prelim.) 92,000.