Dagupan

Dagupan, a town and the most important commercial centre of the province of Pangasinán, Luzon, Philippine Islands, on a branch of the Agno river near its entrance into the Gulf of Lingayen, 120 m. by rail N.N.W. of Manila. Pop. (1903), 20,357. It is served by the Manila & Dagupan railway. Dagupan has a healthy climate. It is the chief point of exportation for a very rich province, which produces sugar, indigo, Indian corn, copra, and especially rice. There are several rice mills here. Salt is an important export, being manufactured in salt water swamps and marshes throughout the province of Pangasinán (whose name, from asin, “salt,” means “the place where salt is produced”). In these, marshes grows the nipa palm, from which a liquor is distilled—there are a number of small distilleries here. Dagupan has a small shipyard in which sailing vessels and steam launches are constructed. The principal language is Pangasinán.

* * *