Aside from the Ilokanos, there are several smaller ethnic groups that live in the province. The Ibanags are the dominant ethnic group in the vicinity of the provincial capital of Cagayan-—Tuguegarao, now a city. The closely related Itawits inhabit the Pinacanauan River valley as well as areas of Amulung and Tuao.
Various other peoples, mainly the Ilocanos, Pangasinenses, Kapampangans and Tagalogs, as well as Visayans, Moros, Ivatans, and even foreigners like the Chinese, Indians, Arabs, Spaniards and others were further infused to the native Cagayanes to become the modern Cagayano that we know today.
The Spaniards rightly judged that these various villagers came from a single racial stock and decided to make the Ibanag language the lingua franca, both civilly and ecclesiastically for the entire people of Cagayan which they called collectively as the Cagayanes which later was transliterated to become Cagayanos.
From available evidences, the Atta or Negrito - a short dark-skinned nomad - was the first man in Cagayan. They were later moved to the uplands by the Indo-Malays who eventually became the Ybanag, Ytawit, Yogad, Gaddang, Yraya and Malaweg - the natives of Cagayan - who actually came from one ethnicity.
What is the largest ethnic group in the Philippines?
Tagalog. The largest ethnic group in the Philippines, the Tagalog are concentrated about metropolitan Manila and represent the major population component of the Luzon proviinces of Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, Batangas, Bulacan, and Nueva Ecija, to name just a few.
Mindanao is a cultural tapestry. It is home to 18 Lumad tribes, 13 ethnic-linguistic Moro tribes and 64 settler groups who have lived in the island for over a century already.
Igorot, any of various ethnic groups in the mountains of northern Luzon, Philippines, all of whom keep, or have kept until recently, their traditional religion and way of life. Some live in the tropical forests of the foothills, but most live in rugged grassland and pine forest zones higher up.
Ibanag, Itawes and Ilocano (in varied shades and intonations) and Malueg are the major dialects of Cagayan. Migration made Ilocano the dominant language spoken in the province, composing 67.3% of the total population.
Under the Spaniards, the whole northeastern part of the island of Luzon, plus some small islands in the Balintang Channel constituted a single province of Cagayan. In 1839 the southern half of the valley was formed into a politico-military district of Nueva Vizcaya.
CAGAYAN de Oro's per capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reached P343,936 in 2022, making the city the second richest outside Metro Manila. This is based on the data on the Provincial Product Accounts (PPA) of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released on March 18, 2024.
Predominant local languages are Ilocano, Ybanag, Ytawes and Malaueg. Pangasinense, Maranao and other dialects are also used in some areas where migrants abound. Majority of the Cagayanos can speak at least two of the local languages and have good command, or at least a working knowledge, of the English language.
Tuguegarao City, the capital of Cagayan and the Regional Center of Cagayan Valley, is recognized as the Center of Excellence for Higher Education, Science, and Medicine in Region 02.
It is part of Cagayan Valley located in Luzon. It has a population of 1,268,603 as of the 2020 Census, and a land area of 9,398.07 square kilometers. The province is composed of 1 cities and 28 municipalities.
The Itawits are noted for their pottery and basket-weaving traditions. The culture of Cagayan is showcased in museums, historical buildings and archeological sites spread across the province. In Solana, the Neolithic archeological sites in Lanna have yielded stone tools used as early as 20,000 years back.
All major ethnic groups in the Philippines are of Austronesian origin, though there has been some degree of intermixing between European settlers and the Austronesian inhabitants of the islands.
Muslims, or as they call themselves the Moro or Bangasamoro (“Moro nation”), are made up of 13 ethno-linguistic groups, including the Iranun, Jama Mapun, Palawani, Molbog, Kalagan, Kalibugan, Maguindanao, Maranao, Sama, Sangil, Tausug, Badjao, and Yakan.
The Ifugao people are the Austronesian ethnic group inhabiting Ifugao province in the Philippines. They live in the municipalities of Lagawe (capital of Ifugao), Aguinaldo, Alfonso Lista, Asipulo, Banaue, Hingyon, Hungduan, Kiangan, Lamut, Mayoyao, and Tinoc.
They admixed with the earlier settlers, resulting in the modern Filipinos – which though predominantly genetically Austronesian still show varying genetic admixture with Negritos (and vice versa for Negrito ethnic groups which show significant Austronesian admixture).
Mindanao was formerly called ilhas de Liquíos Celebes because of the existence of Celebes Sea south of Mindanao. Caesarea Caroli or Karoli was the name given by Villalobos or De la Torre to the island of Mindanao when they reached the sea near it in 1543.
While many associate the Bisaya people with the Visayas region in the Philippines, a distinct Bisaya tribe also exists in Borneo, particularly in parts of Sabah and Sarawak (Malaysia) and Brunei.
In contrast, Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula) had the highest poverty incidence among families at 24.2 percent, followed by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) at 23.5 percent and the Negros Island Region (NIR) at 22.6 percent.
The town of Camalaniugan is among the oldest in the province. Even before its formal founding, it was already an established Ibanag settlement, and it remains home today to communities with strong Ibanag and Ilokano roots.
