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LOCATION and PHYSICAL SUBDIVISIONS Antique is one of the 6 provinces comprising Western Visayas or Region VI, and one of the 4 provinces in the island of Panay. It is an elongated stretch of land occupying the whole length of the western side of the island. It is bounded by the rugged mountains of Panay, composed of the provinces of Aklan in the northeast, Capiz on the east, Iloilo in the southeast and a body of water called the Cuyo East Pass, part of China Sea, on the west. It has a land area of 252,200 hectares or 252.2 square kilometers.. This accounts for 12.57% of the total land area of Western Visayas or Region VI. It has 18 municipalities, 14 of which are found along the coast, 3 are inland and 1 island municipality composed of 6 small islets. It is further subdivided into 590 barangays. CLIMATE The climate of Antique is composed of two pronounced seasons, (wet and dry) dry from November to April and wet the rest of the year. The maximum rainfall are experienced from June to September, while February to April are considered the dry months. December to January is the cold months while April and May are humid. The mean temperature in Antique is 27 degrees centigrade. The relative humidity is high at all times. The north and northeast wind occur from November to May and southeast wind from June to October. On the average, 3 to 5 tropical typhoons occurs in a year in the Province of Antique. TOPOGRAPHY Antique has a mountainous terrain with 82.81% of its land classified as upland having a slope of more than 8%. The narrow coastal and the interior plains account for 17.19% and are classified as lowland having a slope of 0-8%, this comprises the total land area. The municipalities with large lowland areas are Sibalom, San Jose de Buenavista and Hamtic. It is considered as the rice bowl of the province while on the central part, Patnongon and Bugasong, up north the municipalities of Barbaza, Tibiao and Culasi, also contribute to the palay production (4 croppings/year) of the province due to their abundant source of water for irrigation coming from rivers and springs brought about by its mountainous terrain. The municipalities of Valderrama, Bugasong Laua-an, Tibiao and Culasi account for about 24% of the very steep land of the province having slopes greater than eight percent 8%. The mountain range stretching from Valderrama to Culasi in the north has a peak above 1,900 meters. Other mountain ranges from Sebaste to Libertad and Patnongon to Anini-y have elevation from 500 to 1,300 meters.The province is dissected by many river systems (162 rivers and creeks), with 7 major rivers, the largest of which is Sibalom River, it feeds the largest irrigation system in the province. There are seven 7 major watersheds, which are eroded in varying degrees of severity resulting to flash floods whenever rainy season comes which causes erosion and siltation of the major seven estuaries also with varying degrees of severity including the coastal areas where corals and sea grasses are greatly affected. SOIL TYPE The soils of the province are classified under three general groups, namely:- Soils of the plains and valleys- Soils of the hills and mountains- Miscellaneous land types There are 7 soil types under the first group, one soil type and soil complex under the last group. SOIL CAPABILITY In general, the soils of the plains and the valleys fall under Class A and Class B land. Class A lands nearly level deep alluvial soils that are drained easily and can be cultivated safely by using good farming methods. In addition to good farming practices, drainage is necessary for Class B land. These two classes totalled to seventeen point thirty percent 17.30% of the total land area of the province and is best suited for agricultural use.LAND CLASSIFICATION About 53% of the land area of Antique is classified as alienable and disposable. Although a significant part, 47% is still classified as forest land. LAND USE Agricultural land of the province comprises 45,200 hectares or .90% of the total provincial land area. Some 121,400 hectares or 48.13% the largest of the provincial land area is not under cultivation and is covered by grasses, mainly cogon and shrubs. Forest land accounts to only 118,635 hectares or 47.04% of the total land area.FOREST COVER The province has 23,896 hectares of primary and secondary forest, equivalent to 9.5% of the provincial area. This natural forest is distributed along the less accessible, mountainous interior of eastern Antique.
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Map & Location 
