Balabac Strait Explained

Balabac Strait
Location:	Palawan, Philippines Sabah, Malaysia
Pushpin Map:	Philippines
Pushpin Label Position:	left
Pushpin Map Caption:	Location within the Philippines and Malaysia
Coordinates:	7.6667°N 117°W
Type:	Strait

The Balabac Strait (Filipino; Pilipino: Kipot ng Balabak; Malay: Selat Balabak)^[1] is one of the straits that connects the South China Sea with the Sulu Sea. It separates Balabac Island (Palawan province), Philippines, from Balambangan and the Banggi Islands north of Borneo that are a part of Malaysia's Sabah state.^[2]

The strait is about 50km (30miles) wide with a maximum depth of around .^[3] It was therefore likely to have been below sea level before the last ice age and archaelogica; records indicate that there was an exchange of flora and fauna such as the Bornean tiger#Archaeological records between Borneo and the Palawans.^{[4] [5] [6] [7] [8]}

See also

• Malaysia–Philippines border – the border between the two countries.
• Mindoro Strait – another strait connecting the South China Sea with the Sulu Sea.

References

1. Book: Hanizah Hj. Idris. Perdagangan pelabuhan di Borneo. Trade port in Borneo. 2006. ms. Penerbit Universiti Malaya. 3.
2. Web site: Balabac Strait: Philippines. Geographical Names. Geographic.org. 28 October 2013.
3. Book: Pinxian Wang. Qianyu Li. The South China Sea: Paleoceanography and Sedimentology. 27 May 2009. Springer Science & Business Media. 978-1-4020-9745-4. 26.
4. Rohling . E. G. . Fenton . M. . Jorissen . F. G. . Bertrand . P. . Ganssen . G. . Caulet . J. P. . 1998 . Magnitudes of sea-level lowstands of the past 500,000 years . . 394 . 6689 . 162–165 . 10.1038/28134 . 1998Natur.394..162R . 4421184 .
5. Waelbroeck . C. . Labeyrie . L. . Michel . E. . Duplessy . J. C. . McManus . J. F. . Lambeck . K. . Balbon . E. . Labracherie . M. . 2002 . Sea-level and deep water temperature changes derived from benthic foraminifera isotopic records . . 21 . 1 . 295–305 . 10.1016/S0277-3791(01)00101-9 . 2002QSRv...21..295W .
6. Bintanja . R. . Van de Wal . R.S.W. . Oerlemans . J. . 2006 . Modelled atmospheric temperatures and global sea levels over the past million years . . 437 . 7055 . 125–128 . 10.1038/nature03975 . 16136140 . 4347450 .
7. Piper . P. J. . Ochoa . J. . Lewis . H. . Paz . V. . Ronquillo . W. P. . The first evidence for the past presence of the tiger Panthera tigris (L.) on the island of Palawan, Philippines: extinction in an island population . Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology . 2008 . 264 . 1–2 . 123–127 . 10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.04.003 . 2008PPP...264..123P .
8. Piper, Philip J. . Ochoa, Janine . Robles, Emil C. . Lewis, Helen . Paz, Victor . Palaeozoology of Palawan Island, Philippines . Quaternary International . . 233 . 2 . 142–158 . 10.1016/j.quaint.2010.07.009 . 2011-03-15 . 2011QuInt.233..142P .