Banaue (or alternatively spelled as Banawe) , officially the Municipality of Banaue ( Ilocano: ''Ili ti Banaue'', Tagalog: ''Bayan ng Banaue''), is a

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

in the

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

Ifugao Ifugao, officially the Province of Ifugao (; ), is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Lagawe and it borders Benguet to the west, Mountain Province to the north, Isabela t ...

, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 20,652 people. It is the site of a

UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

, the Batad Rice Terraces and Bangaan Rice Terraces.

Etymology

Banaue is the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

spelling of Bannawor, 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 popu ...

'' which once hosted the Spanish local seat of government (now part of the ''

poblacion ''Poblacion'' (from Spanish '' población'', meaning "population"), sometimes abbreviated as Pob., is a term used in the Philippines to refer to the administrative center, downtown, old town, or commercial area of a city or municipality. It ...

'' area of the municipality). The name later extended to the entire municipality. The ''sitio'' was named after (also spelled ), the local Tuwali Ifugao

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often con ...

for '' Hirundapus celebensis'', a species of

swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIF ...

History

Philippine Island - Banque - NARA - 68155854

Geography

Banaue is situated from the provincial capital

Lagawe Lagawe , officially the Municipality of Lagawe (), is a municipality and capital of the province of Ifugao, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 18,876 people. Geography Lagawe is situated from the country's capi ...

, and from the country's capital city of

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

Barangays

Banaue is politically subdivided into 18

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...

s and some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, 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 bar ...

. * Amganad * Anaba * Balawis * Bangaan * Batad * Bocos * Banao * Cambulo * Ducligan * Gohang * Kinakin * Uhaj * Poblacion * Poitan * Pula * San Fernando * Tam-an * View Point

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Banaue was 20,652 people, with a density of .

Economy

Government

Local government

Banaue, belonging to the lone congressional district of the province of

, 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

Ifugao Rice Terraces

Sometimes called by locals as the "Eighth Wonder of the World", the Ifugao Rice Terraces begin at the base of the mountain range and extend several thousand feet upwards. Two of the terrace clusters in Banaue, namely Bangaan and Batad, are part of the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

World Heritage inscription. It is said that their length, if put end to end, would encircle half of the globe. The terraces are believed by many to be more than 2,000 years old as postulated by early Philippine anthropologist Otley Beyer, recent studies by

carbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was ...

however contends this and instead the structures may be less than 1,000 years old. The rice terraces manifest the engineering skill and ingenuity of the sturdy Ifugaos. They are irrigated by means of mountain streams and springs that have been tapped and channelled into canals that run downhill through the rice terraces. Banaue Philippines Banaue-Rice-Terraces-01

Banaue Philippines Banaue-Rice-Terraces-01

The rice terraces once stretched north-east to

Cagayan Cagayan ( ), officially the Province of Cagayan (; ; ; isnag language, Isnag: ''Provinsia nga Cagayan''; ivatan language, Ivatan: ''Provinsiya nu Cagayan''; ; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Cag ...

and as far south as

Quezon Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon () and historically known as Tayabas, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon Regions of the Philippines, region on Luzon. Lucena, a highly urbanized ci ...

. However they are now slowly being abandoned and showing signs of deterioration. The

1990 Luzon earthquake The 1990 Luzon earthquake occurred on July 16 at 4:26 p.m. (Daylight saving time in the Philippines, PDT) or 3:26 p.m. (Philippine Standard Time, PST) on the densely populated island of Luzon in the Philippines. The shock had a surfac ...

damaged some of the terraces' irrigation systems, while

El Niño EL, El or el may refer to: Arts and entertainment Fictional entities * El, a character from the manga series ''Shugo Chara!'' by Peach-Pit * Eleven (''Stranger Things'') (El), a fictional character in the TV series ''Stranger Things'' * El, fami ...

triggered droughts that led giant earthworms to erode the terraces' soil. Furthermore, the rice variety most suited to the area's cool climate is not a high-yielding crop; because it takes so long to mature, some Ifugao families have abandoned their land in the rice terraces in favour of land that reaps faster rewards. An Ifugao Terraces Commission was created in 1994 and was superseded by the Banaue Rice Terraces task force, which was closed in 2002.

has listed the Batad Rice Terraces and Bangaan Rice Terraces as a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

since 1995, under the designation, ''

Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras The Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras are a World Heritage Site consisting of a complex of Terrace (earthworks), rice terraces on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. They were inscribed on the World Heritage Site, UNESCO W ...

''. All located in the Ifugao region, the Rice Terraces also feature as one of the

Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems The Food and Agriculture Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) leads the programme Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), which helps identify ways to mitigate threats faced by these system ...

or GIAHS. They are supported by

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

knowledge management of muyong, a private forest that caps each terrace cluster. The muyong is managed through a collective effort and under traditional tribal practices. The communally managed

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

area on top of the terraces contains about 264

plant species, mostly endemic to the region. The terraces form unique clusters of microwatersheds and are part of the whole

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

. They serve as a rainwater filtration system and are saturated with irrigation water all year round. A biorhythm technology, in which cultural activities are harmonised with the rhythm of climate and hydrology management, has enabled farmers to grow rice at over 1 000 metres. Contrary to popular notion, the

Banaue Rice Terraces The Banaue Rice Terraces () are terraces that were carved into the mountains of Banaue, Ifugao, in the Philippines, by the ancestors of the Igorot people. The terraces were built with minimal equipment, largely by hand. The terraces are l ...

as seen from the viewpoint are not included in the UNESCO inscription, due to the presence of numerous modern structures. However, it is a National Cultural Treasure under the Ifugao Rice Terraces. The stone walled rice terraces were built by means of early tools and methods in order to maximise the use of land space, They exceed the height of the world's tallest building if the vertical distance between top and bottom row are measured.Banaue
e-philippines.

Education

The Banaue Schools District Office governs all educational institutions within the municipality. It oversees the management and operations of all private and public, from primary to secondary schools.

Primary and elementary schools

* Amganad Elementary School * Anaba Elementary School * Balawis Elementary School * Banao Elementary School * Banaue Central School * Bocos Elementary School * Bangaan Elementary School * Batad Elementary School * Batad Elementary School - Patpat PS Annex * Cambulo Elementary School * Cambulo Elementary School - Mattao Annex * Chunak Primary School * Ducligan Elementary School * Ducligan Elementary School - Guitte PS Annex * Gohang Elementary School * Good News Christian Academy of Ifugao * Kinakin Elementary School * Kinakin Elementary School - Annex * Patilong Elementary School * Poitan Elementary School * Precious Ones Learning Center of Banaue * Pula Elementary School * San Fernando Elementary School * Tam-an Elementary School * Uhaj Elementary School

Secondary schools

* Banaue National High School * Banaue National High School Annex * Gohang National High School * Immaculate Conception School

References

External links

* *

Philippine Standard Geographic Code The Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC) is a systematic classification and coding for geographic areas in the Philippines. It classifies areas based on the country's four levels of administrative divisions: regions, provinces, municipalities ...

br>Philippine Census InformationLocal Governance Performance Management System
{{Authority control Municipalities of Ifugao