Furthermore, for almost 200 years, the province is home to one of the oldest religious festivals of the country, the Moriones celebrated annually every Holy Week.

The most accepted theory of the etymology of the province's name is a Hispanized corruption of either malindig or malindug, which means "stand tall" or "elegant", in reference to a potentially active volcano in the southern section of the island, the Mount Malindig.

Robertson)[4] Spain 1521–1898 United States of America 1898–1942 Japan 1942–1945 Philippines 1946–present The island was called Malindig in Tagalog and Malindog in Visayan languages.

It was likely a constituent of the Kingdom of Luzon, due to the immediate Spanish claims to the island after the fall of Manila in May 1570.

In 1571, Governor-General Miguel López de Legaspi had entrusted (encomienda) Marinduque to Fr.

Antoine-Alfred Marche, a French naturalist, carried out an archaeological investigation in Marinduque from April to July 1881.

The finds also included an image of wooden polytheistic religious statues (anito) which at the time were already called pastores by Marinduqueños.

Marinduque, governed through the province of Mindoro, was a constituent of the first Philippine Republic from January 1899 to April 1901 under Pres.

[5] In the Battle of Pulang Lupa, under the direction of Colonel Maximo Abad, 250 Filipino soldiers defeated 54 American infantrymen.

Four months later, on the 10th of November, Marinduque was annexed to the province of Tayabas (now Quezon) by virtue of an Act No.

[7] According to Henry Otley Beyer, an American anthropologist, while many other accidental discoveries and finds have been recorded from time to time and European and Filipino scientists had casually explored a few burial caves and sites, no systematic work had been done anywhere else prior to these explorations.

After Marche, the next important archaeological work was undertaken by Dr. Carl Gunthe in the Visayas Island Group in 1922.

[citation needed] The province is a "heart-shaped" island with a total land area of 952.58 square kilometres (367.79 sq mi)[10], situated between Tayabas Bay in the north and Sibuyan Sea to the south.

Marlanga), a potentially active stratovolcano with an elevation of 1,157 metres (3,796 ft) above sea level, located at the southern tip of the island.

[citation needed] The Iglesia Filipina Independiente has 25% of the population [citation needed] and the rest belongs to the different denominations such as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Iglesia ni Cristo, and various Mainline Protestant denominations which include Assemblies of God, Baptists, JIL, Methodists, Presbyterian, Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA), and the non-denominational Evangelical churches also known as Born-Again Christians.

If this linguistic theory is accurate, Marinduque's Tagalog has contributed significantly to the development of the official Philippine national language.

The following is a verb chart which outlines the conjugation of the Eastern Marinduque dialect of Tagalog: (gumawa) (future actions) (mágawâ) (nágawâ) (gumawa) (gawa) (magbigay) ([ma]gabigay) (nagabigay) (nagbigay) (pagbigay) (kainin) (akainin) (inakain) (kinain) (kaina) (isulat) (asulat) (inasulat) (isinulat) (sulatan) (tawagan) (future actions) (atawagan) (inatawagan) (tinawagan) (tawagi) Linguist Christopher Sundita observed that some of the affixes in Marinduque Tagalog, particularly "a-" and "ina-," are affixes used in Asi (Bantoanon), a Visaya language spoken in Romblon, just south of Marinduque.

Locally, live butterflies are released in celebration on different occasions, such as birthdays, weddings, and some corporate events.

In Santa Cruz, Gasan, Boac, and Mogpog, a parade of people dressed as "Moryons" can be seen on the main road connecting the towns of the island.

Boac and Santa Cruz, the biggest towns in the province, shows a reenactment in the evening of the actual event when Longinus, a blind soldier, punctures Jesus with his spear and blood droplets from the wound restores Longinus's sight.

[citation needed] Marinduque is home to the kalutang, a musical instrument made of two pieces of wood that produce different note ranges depending on its size.

There is also a daily boat trip from General Luna in Quezon province to Santa Cruz and vice versa which stops at Maniwaya Island to drop off cargo and passengers.

The online news website which was founded by Romeo Mataac, Jr. in 2016 is located in Boac, Marinduque.