Sulu Archipelago, archipelago comprising hundreds of volcanic and coral islands and numerous rocks and reefs in the southwestern Philippines. A double island chain, it extends 170 miles (270 km) southwest from Basilan island off southwestern Mindanao and ends near the eastern shores of Sabah (East Malaysia). The islands, the most important of which are Jolo, Tawi Tawi, Sanga-Sanga, Sibutu, Siasi, and Cagayan Sulu, form a rampart between the Sulu (northwest) and Celebes (southeast) seas. The islands are thickly forested, and their fertile soils support some rice, cassava, coconuts, and fruit. Marine-based activities, however, are the economic mainstay.
The Sulu “sea world” has had a tempestuous history. Its people have been characterized by a fierce sense of cultural and political independence. The islanders were converted to Islam by the missionary adventurer Abū Bakr in the mid-15th century. He married a local princess, inherited the title of sultan, and turned his island principality into a regional Muslim state. The Spanish never subdued the inhabitants, whom they called Moros. The Muslim territory was a meeting ground for sea traders, shell and coral producers, fishermen, pirates, and slave traders, and the residents had extensive regional contacts and raided areas as far away as Malaysia and northern Luzon.
