Loreto, officially the Municipality of Loreto ( ceb, Lungsod sa Loreto; tgl, Bayan ng Loreto), is a 1st 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 ...

in 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 ...

of Agusan del Sur,

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 43,880 people.

History

It was in the year 1600 (please check this date, Fr. Urios came to Agusan in the 1880s) when the Spaniards first came to the upper reaches of Agusan and discovered the

Manobo The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially adopte ...

s. In convincing the Manobos to organise themselves and live in a settlement/community, the settlement was given the name of "Loreto" in remembrance of Fr. Urios town in Spain on March 30, 1965.

Rain of fish

On a rainy morning on January 13, 2012, Loreto became nationally notable when it became the site of a rain of fish. Seventy-two small fish were recovered and placed in an aquarium. They were about long and had small spots, but the

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

remains unknown. The

Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources The Philippines' Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources ( fil, Kawanihan ng Pangisdaan at Yamang-tubig, abbreviated as BFAR), is an agency of the Politics of the Philippines, Philippine government under the Department of Agriculture (Philippin ...

attributes the phenomenon to a

waterspout A waterspout is an intense columnar vortex (usually appearing as a funnel cloud, funnel-shaped cloud) that occurs over a body of water. Some are connected to a cumulus congestus cloud, some to a cumuliform cloud and some to a cumulonimbus clou ...

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 Agusan del Sur. Loreto is a river town situated south-west of Agusan del Sur. It is bounded on the north by

La Paz La Paz (), officially known as Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Spanish pronunciation: ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With an estimated 816,044 residents as of 2020, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities ...

, north-east by

Bunawan Bunawan, officially the Municipality of Bunawan ( ceb, Lungsod sa Bunawan; tgl, Bayan ng Bunawan), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Agusan del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 47,512 people. B ...

, and southeast by

Veruela Veruela, officially the Municipality of Veruela ( ceb, Lungsod sa Veruela; tgl, Bayan ng Veruela), is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Agusan del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 39,708 people. H ...

. The provinces of Bukidnon and

Davao del Norte Davao del Norte ( ceb, Amihanang Dabaw; tl, Hilagang Davao), officially the Province of Davao del Norte, is a province in the Philippines located in the Davao Region in Mindanao. Its capital and largest city is Tagum. The province also includes ...

bound its Western and Southern portions. Loreto is a strategically situated as a junction point to various destination within Agusan del Sur and nearby provinces. The accessibility of Loreto to Provincial Center, Patin-ay in Prosperidad has three main routes: the Loreto-Santa Josefa-Trento route of , the Loreto-La Paz Talacogon route of , and the Loreto-Bunawan route of with two hours of Pump boat cruising the Agusan River.

Climate

Barangays

Loreto is politically subdivided into 17

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 ...

Demographics

In the 2020 census, Loreto had a population of 43,880. The population density was .

Economy

References

External links

Philippine Standard Geographic Code 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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Loreto, Agusan Del Sur Municipalities of Agusan del Sur