The Philippine province hit hardest by Typhoon Haiyan is among the poorest in the country, and experts said that could make relief and recovery more difficult, dpa reported.
Leyte, a province of more than 1.7 million people, is mostly known for being the site of the October 1944 landing of US forces during World War II before the fall of Japan.
It has a poverty incidence of 31.9 per cent as of the first half of 2012, far above the national average of 27.9 per cent, according to latest government data.
That could make recovery difficult, according to the Manila Observatory, a research institute focusing on various social and environment issues.
"Damages and losses could be very high in these provinces and could impede recovery efforts after the typhoon," the Observatory said in an analysis of areas affected by Haiyan, including the provinces of Leyte, Eastern Samar, Romblon, Marinduque and Aklan.
Leyte is one of the biggest provinces in the region of Visayas, with a land area of 5,713 square kilometres. It is connected to the island of Samar by the San Juanico Bridge, the longest in the Philippines.
The land is mountainous, with a rugged range cutting the province in half from north-west to south-east. It has abundant geothermal power reserves and fertile agricultural land good for coconut, rice, sugarcane, corn and abaca.