Phatthalung province

Phatthalung (พัทลุง, phát.thā.lūŋ) is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from north clockwise) Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla, Satun, and Trang. Phatthalung is essentially a landlocked province, one of the only two in southern Thailand, the other being Yala. The province is on the Malay Peninsula. It borders to the east the large and shallow Songkhla Lake, and to the west the Nakhon Si Thammarat mountain range. Khao Pu–Khao Ya National Park is at the border with Trang. Forests cover , or 16.3 percent of the province's area. Phatthalung was formerly known as Mardelong (Jawi: مردلوڠ) in Malay, especially during the time when the region came under Malay-Muslim influence. Phatthalung became one of twelve royal cities during the reign of King Ramathibodi I of the Ayutthaya Kingdom in the 14th century. At the end of the 18th century, King Rama I submitted the city to the Ministry of Defense, which was responsible for all the southern provinces. In 1896, during the administrative reforms of King Chulalongkorn, Phatthalung became part of the Monthon Nakhon Si Thammarat. In 1924, King Rama VI ordered to move the city of Phatthalung to the present-day Khuha Sawan Subdistrict. The majority of the province's populace are Thai Buddhists. Muslims account for 11.1 percent of the population. Many of Phatthalung's Muslims have some ethnic Malay ancestry, but over the centuries they had intermarried with the Thais and adopted Thai cultural norms. The provincial seal shows the 177 meter high Phu Khao Ok Thalu mountain, the symbol of the province. The provincial tree and flower is the sweet shorea (Shorea roxburghii). Phatthalung is divided into 11 districts (amphoes). The districts are further divided into 65 subdistricts (tambons) and 626 villages (mubans). As of 26 November 2019 there are: one Phatthalung Provincial Administration Organisation (ongkan borihan suan changwat) and 49 municipal (thesaban) areas in the province. Phatthalung has town (thesaban mueang) status.