Basco, officially the Municipality of Basco ( ivv, Kavahayan nu Basco; tl, Bayan ng Basco), is a 5th class

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

and capital of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

Batanes Batanes, officially the Province of Batanes ( ivv, Provinsiya nu Batanes; Ilocano: ''Probinsia ti Batanes''; fil, Lalawigan ng Batanes, ), is an archipelagic province in the Philippines, administratively part of the Cagayan Valley region. It i ...

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 9,517 people. Basco is located on

Batan Island Batan Island ( ) is the main island of Batanes, an archipelagic province in the Philippines. It is the second largest of the Batanes Islands, the northernmost group of islands in the country. Four of the six municipalities of Batanes are loca ...

, the second largest among the ''Batanes Islands'', the northernmost islands of the Philippines. The town has a domestic airport,

Basco Airport Basco Airport (Filipino language, Filipino: ''Paliparan ng Basco'', Ilocano language, Ilocano: ''Pagtayaban ti Basco'') is an airport serving the province of Batanes in the Philippines. It is located in the provincial capital, Basco, Batanes, Ba ...

, serving flights from

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

and

Baguio Baguio ( , ), officially the City of Baguio ( ilo, Siudad ti Baguio; fil, Lungsod ng Baguio), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

. The

Basco Lighthouse Basco Lighthouse is a lighthouse in the town of Basco in Batanes, the northernmost province in the Philippines. Located in Naidi Hills in Barangay San Antonio, the lush green hills and the open sea provide a beautiful backdrop for the lightho ...

is one of the landmarks.

Etymology

The town is named after

Capitán General Captain general (and its literal equivalent in several languages) is a high military rank of general officer grade, and a gubernatorial title. History The term "Captain General" started to appear in the 14th century, with the meaning of Command ...

José Basco, who led the pacification and conquest of the islands during his term as Governor-General.

Geography

According to the

Philippine Statistics Authority The Philippine Statistics Authority (Filipino: ''Pangasiwaan ng Estadistika ng Pilipinas''), abbreviated as PSA, is the central statistical authority of the Philippine government that ''collects, compiles, analyzes and publishes statistical inf ...

, the municipality has a land area of constituting of the total area of Batanes.

Barangays

Basco is politically subdivided into 6

barangay A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...

s. These barangays are headed by elected officials: Barangay Captain,

Barangay Council The Sangguniang Barangay, also known as the Barangay Council, and formerly as the Rural Council and then the Barrio Council, is the legislative body of a barangay, the lowest form of government in the Philippines. The term is coined from the Tag ...

, whose members are called Barangay Councilors. All are elected every three years. The ''

sitio A ''sitio'' (Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own barangay if its popul ...

'' of Diptan was converted into a ''barrio'', known as San Antonio, in 1955. Also in the same year, the ''sitio''s of Coral, Hago, Tuva, Diojango, Canalaan, Honaan and Dimnalamay were converted into the ''barrio'' of San Joaquin.

Climate

Basco has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Am''), with slightly cooler temperatures especially during the winter months due to its northerly location compared to other cities down south such as

Laoag Laoag, officially the City of Laoag ( ilo, Siudad ti Laoag; fil, Lungsod ng Laoag), is a 1st class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Ilocos Norte, Philip ...

. Unlike these two cities whose hottest months are April and May, Basco experiences its warmest temperature during the months of June and July, similar to Taiwan.

Demographics

In the 2020 census, Basco had a population of 9,517. The population density was .

Economy

Government

Basco, belonging to the lone congressional district of the province of Batanes, is governed by a mayor designated as its local chief executive and by a municipal council as its legislative body in accordance with the Local Government Code. The mayor, vice mayor, and the councilors are elected directly by the people through an election which is being held every three years.

Elected officials

Transportation

Basco is accessible by air from Manila via

. It is served by

PAL Express Air Philippines Corporation, operating as PAL Express and formerly branded as Air Philippines and Airphil Express, is a wholly owned subsidiary airline of Philippine Airlines which is under its ownership. It is PAL's regional brand, with servic ...

and

SKYJET Magnum Air (SkyJet), Inc., operating as SkyJet Airlines (styled as SKYJET Airlines), is a Philippine low-cost regional airline based in Manila, Philippines. Previously an air charter company, SkyJet commenced commercial operations on 14 Decembe ...

, and via

Tuguegarao Tuguegarao ( or ), officially the City of Tuguegarao ( ibg, Siyudad nat Tugegaraw; itv, Siyudad yo Tugegaraw; ilo, Siudad ti Tuguegarao; fil, Lungsod ng Tuguegarao ), is a 3rd class Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component ci ...

Cagayan Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan ( ilo, Probinsia ti Cagayan; ibg, Provinsiya na Cagayan; itv, Provinsiya ya Cagayan; fil, Lalawigan ng Cagayan), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the C ...

by Regional Airlines like NorthSky Air and Air Republiq (as of January 2013).

Education

The Schools Division of Batanes governs the town's public education system. The division office is a field office of the

DepEd The Department of Education (abbreviated as DepEd; fil, Kagawaran ng Edukasyon) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for ensuring access to, promoting equity in, and improving the quality of basic education. It ...

Cagayan Valley Cagayan Valley ( ilo, Tanap ti Cagayan; fil, Lambak ng Cagayan), is an administrative region in the Philippines, located in the northeastern section of Luzon Island. It is composed of five Philippine provinces: Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nue ...

region. The office governs the public and private elementary and public and private high schools throughout the municipality. ;Schools: * Basco Central School *

Batanes National Science High School The Batanes National Science High School, formerly the Batanes National High School, is a public science high school in the Philippines, recognized by the Department of Education. It is in the provincial capital of Batanes, Basco and had an enroll ...

Batanes State College The Batanes State College ( fil, Kolehiyong Pampamahalaan ng Batanes) is a public college in Batanes, Philippines. It is mandated to provide collegiate level occupational, technological, and professional training in the fields of fishery, agric ...

* Chanarian Elementary School * Diptan Elementary School * Saint Dominic College * Tukon Elementary School * Valugan Integrated School

References

External links

* Philippine Standard Geographic Code {{Authority control Municipalities of Batanes Provincial capitals of the Philippines