Land Area & Location

Land Area Aurora Province has a total land area of 323,954 hectares, representing about one percent of the country's total land area. Location Aurora Province is located on the East-Central side of Luzon Island. It is the north-eastern most province of Central Luzon (Region III). It is bordered on the north by the provinces of Isabela and Qurino, on the west by Nueva Ecija and Nueva Viscaya, on the south by Bulacan and Quezon, and on the east by the Pacific Ocean. The province's main link to the rest of Luzon is through a narrow mountain gravel road that twists through the Sierra Madre Mountain Range. The road is located between Baler and Bongabon, Nueva Ecija.

Topography
The province of Aurora covers the eastern portion of the Sierra Madre Mountains, hence it is generally mountainous. There are flat lands unevenly distributed throughout the province. Its coastline spans 332 kilometers in length. The municipality of Dingalan, in the south, has the most irregular topography. The main drainage systems of Aurora consist of six rivers: Aguang River, Baler Calabgan River, Casiguran Ditale River, Dipaculao Dibatuan River, Dipaculao Ibuna River, Dingalan Sinagnuan River, Dingalan

Climate
Rainfall Aurora's climate is characterized by rainfall that is evenly distributed throughout the year, since Aurora faces the Pacific Ocean and has no barriers to shield it from typhoons coming from the east. Tropical cyclones are also a seasonal occurrence. The average monthly rainfall is 273.9 millimeters. Rainfall is heaviest during the months of January, February, April, October, and November, while August is the driest month.

Wind Current The province experiences two main wind currents. From November to April, the trade wind generally reaches the province from an easterly direction. The wind then moves in a southwesterly direction for the rest of the year. In Casiguran, the wind comes from the north from October to March and the South from April to September. The average annual wind speed is four knots. Temperature The mean monthly temperature of Aurora is 25.3 degrees Celsius. The coldest months are January and February, with a temperature ranging from 19.3 to 20.4 degrees Celsius. The warmest months are from June to July, with temperature from 30 to 33 degrees Celsius.

HISTORY
The Province of Aurora, with Baler as its capital, was founded by President Ferdinand E. Marcos in August 13, 1979 by virtue of Batas Bambansa Blg. 7. This act was the fulfillment of the prayers of the people of the former Municipalities of Baler and Casiguran to be truly independent from the Province of Quezon for the first time since the Spanish occupation. Early History In 1572, the Spanish explorer Juan de Salcedo became the first European to visit the region that would be known as Aurora while he was exploring the northern coast of Luzon. Salcedo reportedly visited the towns of Casiguran, Baler and Infanta. In the early days of the Spanish colonial period, Aurora was ecclesiastically linked to Infanta, which today rests further south in the Province of Quezon. The earliest missionaries in the province were the Franciscans, who had established missions in Baler and Casiguran in 1609. Due to lack of available personnel, the region was given to the jurisdiction of the Agustinians and Recollects in 1658, but was returned to the Friars Minor in 1703. Other early missions included Dipaculao, established in 1719, and Casiguran, in 1753. The early history of Aurora is linked to Quezon Province, of which it originally formed a part, and Nueva Ecija. In 1591, Quezon (then named Kalilaya) was organized into a district that included a good portion of what now constitutes the Provinces of Laguna and Nueva Ecija. The original capital of Quezon was Kalilaya, now known as Unisan. In 1701, Nueva Ecija was split from Kalilaya Province. Around 1749, the provincial capital was transferred from Kalilaya to the town of Tayabas. The entire province then took on the name of Tayabas as well.

1800s to American Occupation In 1818, Nueva Ecija annexed the towns of Palanan from the Province of Isabela, as well as Baler, Casiguran, Infanta and Polillo Island, from Tayabas. Between 1855 and 1885, Aurora (then named El Principe) was declared a comandancia politico-militar, with its capital at Baler. During the Philippine Revolution of 1898, a provincial revolutionary government was instituted briefly in El Principe. During this period, Bondo, formerly under the municipal jurisdiction of Mulanay, was made a separate municipality. With the arrival of the Americans in the 1890s, a short-lived military government was established, followed by a civil government for this "district", established on June 12, 1902. In concert with the installation of the latter civil provincial government, the district of El Principe was transferred from the administrative jurisdiction of Nueva Ecija, which had controlled it since 1818, and placed under the jurisdiction of Tayabas.

The Birth of a Province It wasn't until after World War II, however, that this part of Quezon Province languished in extreme isolation from neighboring provinces and cities. It was Mayor Pedro V. Guerrero, with the prodding of Doa Aurora Aragon Quezon, who sought the creation of a SubProvince of Aurora, named in honor of Doa Aurora, as a stop-gap measure to pave the way for the eventual creation of an independent province when the required number of municipalities was attained. Guerrero was appointed Lieutenant Governor in recognition of his accomplishment. In 1951 the municipalities of Baler, Casiguran, Dilasag, Dipaculao, Dinalongan, Dingalan, Maria Aurora and San Luis were officially formed into the Sub-Province of Aurora by virtue of Republic Act 646. The dream of converting the Sub-Province into a regular province was indefatigably pursued by Atty. Luis S. Etcubaez, who has the distinction of being the last Lieutenant Governor of the Sub-Province of Aurora. Etcubaez was appointed as the first Governor of Aurora when it became the 73rd province of the country in 1979. Etcubaez issued an Executive Order declaring February 19 of each year Aurora Foundation Day in honor of the late Doa Aurora Quezon.