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 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 ...

and capital of the

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

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, the second largest among the ''Batanes Islands'', the northernmost islands of the Philippines. The town has a domestic airport, Basco Airport, serving flights from

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...

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 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 Comma ...

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 in ...

, 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 metropolit ...

s. These barangays are headed by elected officials: Barangay Captain, Barangay Council, whose members are called

Barangay Councilors 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 ...

. 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 popu ...

'' 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, nota ...

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

. 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 Basco Airport. 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, 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 component city and capital of the province of Cagayan, Phili ...

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 province in the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region, covering ...

by Regional Airlines like NorthSky Air and

Air Republiq Air Republiq Airlines is an airline in the Philippines running unscheduled flights to the Philippines, northern Philippines. Earlier called Batanes Airlines, Air Republiq commenced operations in 2011 as an arm of South Phoenix Airlines to cater ...

(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 in

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, ...

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

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 ...

{{Authority control Municipalities of Batanes Provincial capitals of the Philippines