Talk:Samar

Samar is currently a Geography good article nominee. Nominated by 🍗TheNuggeteer🍗 (My "blotter") at 14:10, 25 October 2025 (UTC) An editor has indicated a willingness to review the article in accordance with the good article criteria and will decide whether or not to list it as a good article. Comments are welcome from any editor who has not nominated or contributed significantly to this article. This review will be closed by the first reviewer. To add comments to this review, click discuss review and edit the page.

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Requested move (January 2014)

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: moved. See also Talk:Leyte (island)#Requested move. DrKiernan (talk) 16:39, 30 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

---

• Samar island → Samar
• Samar → Samar (province)

– The island is the WP:PRIMARYTOPIC for the term "Samar". The province is normally referred to as Samar Province or even Western Samar province and is only one of three local government units in the island.--RioHondo (talk) 07:45, 2 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• Support. Looking at the news articles related to Typhoon Haiyan, the term "Samar" by itself generally refers to the island, not the province. --seav (talk) 11:18, 2 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
• Alternative: "Samar" as disambiguation page. I don't think that any Samar is as well-known as to be useful for our readership that we consider it a clear primary topic and thus channel said readers in its direction. I think that in this case our readers would be better served by having "Samar" as the disambiguation page, and all specific content just one click away. — Such an arrangement would have the added advantage of facilitating the work of editors and general maintenance (checking Special:WhatLinksHere/Samar would suffice to know which wikilinks need correction), thus further aiding in ensuring that our readership gets a better content across Wikipedia, and not just in this specific article. --Ev (talk) 00:09, 3 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • Re I have added the Samar (disambiguation) page in the article. The kibbutz in Israel is not as notable as the island, and neither are those Indian films. The Battle off Samar, Samar Sea, and the three provinces pertain to locations in or near the island, the clear primary topic.--RioHondo (talk) 04:48, 3 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
• Comment in any case, the current name, result of a November 2013 move, is wrong. It should either be Samar Island as it was in October 2013, or Samar (island) as it was in July 2010, if it were to keep "island", and not the current title of "Samar island" -- 76.65.128.112 (talk) 05:06, 3 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
• Semi support Samar province should be renamed, but instead the disambiguation page should be moved to "Samar". This article should be called either "Samar Island" or "Samar (island)" -- 76.65.128.112 (talk) 05:06, 3 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
• Question: What happens to some categories that has the "Samar" name, like Category:People from Samar, on it? Would they stay there, be moved, or would their focus be changed (instead of pertaining to the province, it'll be about the island)? –HTD 09:58, 17 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • Re Category:People from Samar stays as it is a subcat of Category:People by island in the Philippines. So does Category:Flora of Samar under Category:Flora of the Visayas. (Basically, geographical categories in which the "Samar" name have already been used clearly in reference to the island and not the province.) What would change would only be the political/governmental categories: Category:Samar itself, Category:Populated places in Samar and subcats. --RioHondo (talk) 14:41, 17 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
    • But the category is also a subcat of Category:People by province in the Philippines, and was originally made under that intention. Would Category:People from Eastern Samar be a subcat of Category:People from Samar, for example? Or are we going to create a new category for a provincial classification (like Category:People from Samar (province)), then Category:People from Samar is permanently diffused into the three provinces (although Category:People from Northern Samar still doesn't exist) that have jurisdiction on the island? And how about notable people born on places such as Homonhon, for example? –HTD 10:27, 18 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
      • Ideally, these two categories should be separate, and there are no sharing of categories. Unfortunately we dont have enough articles to be that specific so Category:People from Mindoro has its two provinces under it in the time being. Eventually, a separate Category:People from Lubang and Category:People from Ilin Island would be made once we get notable persons from those other islands in the Mindoro group. Former Vice-President Noli de Castro would then be categorized under both Category:People from Oriental Mindoro and Category:People from Mindoro (or Kabilang Ibayo or some other island in Pola if he's not from the main island.) One jurisdictional, and one geographical :) --RioHondo (talk) 20:03, 18 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
        • That would be a good way to do it, but once there's a category for people from Pola that would be the category used instead of per island, province or region category as that would be overcategorization. –HTD 05:03, 20 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
• After looking it over, support move and the conversion of the island's article into a WP:CONCEPTDAB page. Red Slash 00:26, 29 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
• See related discussion at Talk:Leyte (island)#Requested_move --RioHondo (talk) 05:03, 29 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
• Support per Red Slash. Generally, a reader coming across a dab constitutes a failure on our part. Sometimes there's just no way to tell what they're looking for, so that's acceptable. But when there's a good commonsense WP:CONCEPTDAB we can put at that base title instead, we should. --BDD (talk) 19:24, 29 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]
• Semi Support. Better: Samar - as a dab and then Samar (province) and Samar Island. Androoox (talk) 07:03, 30 January 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Note: This move happend, despite the fact, that there was no majority for the move of the island to the title "Samar". Androoox (talk) 11:44, 12 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move (February 2014)

The following discussion is an archived discussion of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the proposal was not moved. --BDD (talk) 19:31, 19 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Samar → Samar IslandSamar Island – Fails WP:PRIMARYTOPIC: A topic is primary for a term, with respect to usage, if it is highly likely—much more likely than any other topic, and more likely than all the other topics combined—to be the topic sought when a reader searches for that term.. While there was clear support for Samar->Samar (province), there was not that much for having the plain name be associated with the island. It was not at all discussed the importance of items from India or Israel. There are many people named Samar. Some links:

• Samar (name)
• Samar, Israel
• Samar (1999 film), a Hindi/Urdu film
• Samar (2013 film), an Indian Tamil film
• Samar (yacht), one of longest motor yachts
• Samar cobra (Naja samarensis)

If until recently the province was thought of to be primary, then it probably was close in importance to the island. But if the two are close and many others exist, how can it be assured the current name does not violate WP:PRIMARYTOPIC? I will inform WikiProject India and Israel. Androoox (talk) 23:53, 1 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• Quick comment: we just had a requested move about this, directly above. Red Slash 02:56, 2 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • There does not appear to have been consensus for the outcome that the above RM ended with, since there doesn't appear to be the necessary support for "Samar island" to move to "Samar", so the outcome appears to be in error. -- 70.50.148.248 (talk) 06:46, 2 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
• Oppose. The 40th largest island in the world with population close to 2million is obviously more notable than a community of "50 to 100 families". And populated places are always more notable than films, especially if its not Hollywood. :) The primarytopic has always been Samar in the Philippines. --RioHondo (talk) 03:32, 2 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • Two million. LOL. How ignorant. How many people know the name Samar? Androoox (talk) 20:36, 2 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
• Oppose. For one we just had a recent RM. Second, yes, we can discuss the relative importance of various topics in order to determine what the primary topic is, but doing it as a move request is not appropriate. —seav (talk) 04:24, 2 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• Support per nom. The Arabic name would be a very likely topic, as it is very common. A disambniguation page should exist at "Samar". -- 70.50.148.248 (talk) 06:39, 2 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

• Oppose, too broad and in this case unnec. and too soon after previous discussion. Hell In A Bucket (talk) 08:33, 2 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • The previous discussion didn't even support the outcome. This is topic hijacking by some Philippine-phil editors. Androoox (talk) 20:43, 2 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
• Strong oppose and speedy close. Note to closing admin, we've already discussed the previous RM before and certainly follows WP:TAMBAY and WP:MOSPHIL standards. ApprenticeFan ^work 23:20, 2 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • Those standards would only count if the entire world were just the Philippines. We also need to determine if the island is the primary topic. The previous move request does not indicate such a result. -- 70.50.148.248 (talk) 00:51, 3 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]
  • A group of Philippine-phil editors seems to make fun of the English Wikipedia. That is very bad for the reputation of this website. Editor numbers are already shrinking - despite more people having access to the internet. Androoox (talk) 11:40, 12 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the proposal. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Island area

There is uncertainty about the land area of Negros and Samar, and depending on the source, one is larger than the other. See Talk:Negros (island)#Island area for discussion. -- P 1 9 9  ✉ 18:06, 14 December 2015 (UTC)[reply]

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

• Huraw.jpg

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 22:32, 8 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

GA review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Samar/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: TheNuggeteer (talk · contribs) 14:10, 25 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Reviewer: Mb2437 (talk · contribs) 03:00, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hiya, from WP:GARC, I will be reviewing this article over the next few days. Feel free to contact me at any point during the review process. MB2437 03:00, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Immediate checks

1. It is a long way from meeting any one of the six good article criteria
2. It contains copyright violations Passes Earwig.
3. It has, or needs, cleanup banners that are unquestionably still valid. These include {{cleanup}}, {{POV}}, {{unreferenced}} or large numbers of {{citation needed}}, {{clarify}}, or similar tags (See also {{QF}})
4. It is not stable due to edit warring on the page
5. It has issues noted in a previous GA review that still have not been adequately addressed, as determined by a reviewer who has not previously reviewed the article

MB2437 03:06, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Criteria

1. Well-written:
   1. the prose is clear, concise, and understandable to an appropriately broad audience; spelling and grammar are correct;
   2. it complies with the Manual of Style guidelines for lead sections, layout, words to watch, fiction, and list incorporation.
2. Verifiable with no original research:
   1. it contains a list of all references (sources of information), presented in accordance with the layout style guideline;
   2. reliable sources are cited inline. All content that could reasonably be challenged, except for plot summaries and that which summarizes cited content elsewhere in the article, must be cited no later than the end of the paragraph (or line if the content is not in prose);
   3. it contains no original research;
   4. it contains no copyright violations or plagiarism.
3. Broad in its coverage:
   1. it addresses the main aspects of the topic;
   2. it stays focused on the topic without going into unnecessary detail (see summary style).
4. Neutral: it represents viewpoints fairly and without editorial bias, giving due weight to each.
5. Stable: it does not change significantly from day to day because of an ongoing edit war or content dispute.
6. Illustrated, if possible, by media such as images, video, or audio:
   1. media are tagged with their copyright statuses, and valid non-free use rationales are provided for non-free content;
   2. media are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions.

Comments

Good Article review progress box Criteria: 1a. prose () 1b. MoS () 2a. ref layout () 2b. cites WP:RS () 2c. no WP:OR () 2d. no WP:CV () 3a. broadness () 3b. focus () 4. neutral () 5. stable () 6a. free or tagged images () 6b. pics relevant () Note: this represents where the article stands relative to the Good Article criteria. Criteria marked are unassessed

Criterion 1a

Woop, woop, that's the sound of the grammar police.

"Philippine-American War" should be "Philippine–American War", separated by an en dash. MB2437 03:08, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Fixed.

Adding date ranges to the subheadings in "History" would be clearer e.g. 1565–1899, 1899–1902, 1902–1945, 1945–present. MB2437 03:24, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Fixed.

Colonialization is a far less-common term for "colonization", but not strictly incorrect. MB2437 05:04, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Changed.

Filipinas should be italicised for consistency. MB2437 05:04, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Fixed.

mistaking the name of a lord—which lord specifically, are they notable enough for a mention or piped wikilink under "a lord"? MB2437 05:04, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• I do not know since I do not have access to the source given: somebody else added it.

On September 28, 1901, Eugenio Daza, Area Commander of Southeastern Samar and Valeriano Abanador, the town's police chief, [...] is a bit messy. There should at least be a comma separating Area Commander of Southeastern Samar and and Valeriano Abanador, but I would probably place the former between em dashes. MB2437 05:04, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Fixed.

ordered his men to "kill and burn". Further stating that [...] The latter sentence makes no sense on its own—should be "He further stated" or separated by a comma rather than a full-stop. MB2437 05:04, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Fixed.

In his history of the war [...] "In his historical account" would be clearer. MB2437 05:08, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Fixed.

More revolts were made from religious associations—"from" or "by"? MB2437 05:08, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Fixed.

Forty-five men, women and children were killed [...] So, 45 were killed? The list is unnecessary. MB2437 05:15, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Fixed.

Since then, the island had numerous humans' rights cases from the New People's Army rebellion. "Human rights" is more widely used and I am assuming the cases were not filed by the rebellion. A more clarifying preposition than "from" could be used. MB2437 05:15, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• Fixed.

The Samar Island Natural Park is a 300,000 hectares (740,000 acres) forest [...] "300,000 hectares" (plural) should not be used as an adjective here. In the isle is superfluous later in the sentence. MB2437 05:15, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

• I do not know if I can do that with {{convert}}.

Doesn't need the template given its a routine calculation; will tick off 1a anyway. MB2437 19:30, 13 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Criterion 1b

The lead could be trimmed fairly extensively to get to a more appropriate length:

• The island is divided into three provinces: Western Samar, Northern Samar, and Eastern Samar. On June 19, 1965, through a law, Samar was divided into those three provinces. The capitals of these provinces are, respectively, Catarman, Catbalogan, and Borongan. These three provinces are part of the Eastern Visayas region. This could certainly be trimmed to two sentences; the second sentence could be cut entirely with "since 1965" added to the opening, as could the final sentence with ", all part of the Eastern Visayas region".
• Fixed.
• In commemoration of the establishment of these provinces, June 19 is celebrated as an annual holiday, and many have the day off from work. This should be moved to earlier in the prose when it is relevant; I would trim the day off from work remark as that is standard for holidays.
• Fixed.
• Plagued with feels a contentious label regarding the rebellion.
• Fixed.
• I would move the details on the location of the island—which could also be trimmed—to the opening paragraph, then start the history of sightings and colonisation in a new paragraph.
• Not sure on the relevance of the electrical distribution—is this one of the most important properties of Samar? I can understand the justification that it is covered in a section later in the article, but it does not feel lead-worthy.

MB2437 04:02, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The first two references in the infobox could be moved to the body; the third is already referenced in the body. MB2437 04:06, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

infamous is a peacock term. MB2437 05:10, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Criterion 2a

Would generally expect a bibliography to be listed alphabetically, but chronologically suffices, and there a few missing ISBNs for a more consistent layout. MB2437 03:11, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Criterion 2b

Reference spot-check: 4 7 11 27 38 44 55 57 69 82 All pass my review. MB2437 03:33, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Criterion 3a

Further information on climate and geology in the "Geography" section would be ideal. MB2437 03:16, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

History is sparse between 1768–1860 and 1981–present. Any noteworthy events during this period? MB2437 05:47, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Any information on healthcare? MB2437 05:47, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Criterion 6b

Captions simply describing the image shown should not end in a full-stop. MB2437 03:38, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Already completed by Thwaluigi. MB2437 19:33, 13 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Extra

Quite a few missing wikilinks throughout that would help a general reader understand the topic more and read further on interesting points. MB2437 03:46, 7 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]