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PROVINCIAL PROFILE OF AGUSAN DEL NORTE
FAST FACTS
Capital : Butuan City
Area : 2,590 sq. km.
Population : 464,789
Cities : Butuan
No. of Towns : 11
Click here for the List of Towns.
LOCATION
Agusan del Norte is in northeastern Mindanao. It is bounded on
the north by
Butuan Bay and Surigao del Norte, on the east by Surigao del Sur,
on the
south and southeast by Agusan del Sur and on the west by Misamis
Oriental.
Butuan is highly urbanized city. Situated north of Agusan River,
it is 758 sq
km. in area and has a population of over 220,000.
A BRIEF HISTORY
Agusan Province was named for the Malay word Agusan, meaning
"where
water flows," probably because of the mighty river that
traverses the whole
area. The early migrants from Borneo and Celebes came to the
region in
balanghai, or wooden boats. Nine such boats were excavated and
carbon-dated to be from between the fourth and thirteenth
centuries. The
Malay settlers drove the aborigines, called Mamanwas, to the
hinterlands.
By the time the Spaniards arrived, the natives were already
trading with
foreign merchants, as attested by tenth-century Chinese ceramics
unearthed
near Butuan. Some historians claim the Magellan held the first
mass in the
Philippines in Masao at the mouth of the Agusan River, and not in
Limasawa,
Leyte, on Easter Sunday of 1521. Agusan remained part of Surigao
province
during the Spanish administration until, in 1911, the Americans
converted it
into a separate province. In 1967 Agusan itself was divided into
two provinces
- Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur.
THE PEOPLE
Although a Butuanon dialect exists, most of the inhabitants speak
Cebuano.
The Manobo tribe, numbering 53,000 is the largest cultural
community in the
province. Other major ethnic groups comprise the Mamanwa, Higanon
and
Lapaknon. There is a Manobo-Mamanwa Reservation in Bangonay,
Jabonga,
at the southern end of Lake Mainit.
COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Primary an agricultural province, Agusan del Norte is the
region's leading rice
producer after Bukidnon. Other major crops include corn,
vegetables,
coconuts and bananas. The province continues to be a major timber
producer
despite its extensive deforested areas. There are 23 lumber
producers and
plywood plants, although most of them operate in Butuan City.
Minor
licensees concentrate on gathering rattan, considered the best in
the country.
Butuan City is the commercial and transportation center of the
Agusan Valley.
Information gathered from:
League of
Provinces
by:Roberto C. Arellano
This page last revised:August 08, 1999. 
