Masbate is an
island province in the
Philippines located near the middle of the Philippine archipelago. Its capital is
Masbate City and consists of three major islands:
Masbate,
Ticao and
Burias. Masbate is at the crossroads of two island groups:
Luzon and
Visayas. Being administratively assigned to the
Bicol Region, it is politically part of the Luzon island group. However, from a biogeographic and sociolinguistic perspective, Masbate has stronger affiliation with the Visayas.