Tawi-Tawi 4

Tawi-Tawi is an island province in the Philippines located in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao . The capital of Tawi-Tawi is Bongao, per Batas Pambansa Blg. 24 enacted on April 4, 1979.It is the southernmost province of the country, sharing sea borders with the Malaysian state of Sabah and the Indonesian North Kalimantan province, both on the island of Borneo to the west. To the northeast lies the province of Sulu. Tawi-Tawi also covers some islands in the Sulu Sea to the northwest, the Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi Island and the Turtle Islands, just away from Sabah.EtymologyProvince was named after its main island. Tawi-Tawi is the Sinama form of jawi-jawi, Malay for "banyan tree;" the island is known for having an abundance of this tree. Early Spanish accounts give the name of the island as Tauitaui, Tavi-Tavi or Tavitavi.HistoryEvidence of human presence in Tawi-tawi was carbon-dated to be 8,810 to 5,190 years old, signifying one of the earliest known evidence of human presence in Southeast Asia. The bones, jars, shells, and other artifacts and fossils were found in the Bolobok Rock Shelter Cave Archaeological Site, which has been declared as an Important Cultural Treasure by the government in 2017.