SULTAN KUDARAT

province, southwestern Mindanao, Philippines. It has an area of 1,656 sq mi (4,288 sq km) and is one of three new provinces into which the former Cotabato province was divided in 1973. It is bounded on the south by South Cotabato (created earlier), on the east by Davao del Sur, and on the north by the newly created Maguindanao and North Cotabato provinces. On the west it fronts the Moro Gulf of the Celebes Sea. Its western highlands (the Kulaman Plateau) rise to an elevation of 6,247 ft (1,904 m). Central Sultan Kudarat is drained to the northwest by the Buluan River (a tributary to the Mindanao River), flowing out of Lake Buluan, one of the larger lakes in Mindanao. To the east are the Alip Mountains. The region became part of a Muslim stronghold in the 15th century and remained an independent sultanate until 1850. The highlands are forested, and in the valleys rice, corn (maize), coconuts, abaca (Manila hemp), and bananas are grown. The population consists mostly of Muslims (Moros) and Roman Catholic Visayans; Cotabato Manobo people inhabit the Kulaman Plateau. Isulan, the provincial capital, is located near the south central border of the province. Pop. (1980) 303,784.