VisitPhilippines™: Tour on Philippine Provinces: 1. Ifugao -- Introduction

Ifugao as seen in the Philippine map in Northern Luzon

INFORMATION

Ifugao is a landlocked province of the Philippines located in the very mountainous areas of Cordillera. Ifugao is in the Cordillera Administrative Region.

Lagawe is the capital of Ifugao. Ifugao's name came from the word, i-pugo, i means people/from and pugo means hill thus meaning people of the hill. Founded on June 18, 1966, it borders Mountain Province to the north, Benguet to the west, Isabela to the east and Nueva Vizcaya to the south. Ifugao covers 2,628.2 sq. km which ranks it as the 53rd out of 80 in terms of land area. Ifugao is 332 km from Manila, the Philippines' capital.

Ifugao's topography is very mountainous. The Cordillera Mountains passes the province. Cordillera is known as one of the most mountainous areas in the Philippines. Valleys, plains and also river systems also characterizes the province.

Ifugao's history is very rich. 2000 years ago, the Ifugaos (the people inhabiting the province of Ifugao), created the two main tourist attractions in the province and even in the Philippines. The Ifugaos created the Banaue Rice Terraces and the Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras with their bare hands and not with any machinery. Ifugao's main dialect is the Ifugao dialect, followed by the English, Ilokano and Tagalog.

Ifugao is subdivided into 11 municipalities:

1. Aguinaldo
2. Alfonso Lista
3. Asipulo
4. Banaue
5. Hingyon
6. Hungduan
7. Kiangan
8. Lagawe - the capital
9. Lamut
10. Mayoyao
11. Tinoc

PHOTOS