Buenavista, officially the Municipality of Buenavista (; ), 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' ...

and the largest settlement 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 ...

of Guimaras,

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 52,899 people.

History

Buenavista is the oldest municipality on Guimaras. It was established in 1775, during the Spanish colonial period. A Spanish governor general was reputedly impressed by the scenery of the location, and called the place ''Buenavista'', Spanish for "beautiful view". Santo Rosario was formerly known as Baybay, while Salvacion's old name was Ambulong, and furthermore Old Poblacion's name was Daan Banwa.

Geography

Buenavista is located at the northern tip of Guimaras Island. The northern and north-west part of the town overlooks

Panay Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and a total population of 4,542,926, as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City of Il ...

and the north-east portion faces

Negros Negros (, , ) is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . The coastal zone of the southern part of Negros is identified as a site of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral Tr ...

. Iloilo Strait lies between the town and Panay, and Guimaras Strait lies between the town and Negros. Buenavista is from

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

. Buenavista is a part of the Metro Iloilo–Guimaras area, centered on

Iloilo City Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region of the Philippines, located on the southeastern coast of th ...

. MacArthur's Wharf serves as the municipal wharf for Buenavista and part of San Lorenzo is used by passengers from Panay to Negros and vice versa. This transportation route serves as a cheaper link, rather than taking a ship. Buenavista's terrain ranges from plains (nearly level in the central and north-west coastal areas) to mountains (north-western part).

Climate

The climate is mild and cool, due to its being bounded by the sea on the three directions.

Barangays

Buenavista is politically subdivided into 36

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 ...

. * Agsanayan * Avila * Banban * Bacjao (Calumingan) * Cansilayan * Dagsaan * Daragan * East Valencia (Mantangingi) * Getulio (Ili) * Mabini * Magsaysay * McLain * Montpiller * Navalas * Nazaret * New

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 ...

(Calingao) * Old Poblacion (Daan Banwa) * Piña * Rizal * Salvacion (Ambulong) * San Fernando * San Isidro * San Miguel * San Nicolas (Tabao) * San Pedro (Bating) * San Roque * Santo Rosario * Sawang * Supang * Tacay * Taminla (Sambag) * Tanag * Tastasan * Tinadtaran * Umilig * Zaldivar

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Buenavista, Guimaras, was 52,899 people, with a density of .

Economy

Transportation

Buenavista Guimaras ferry terminal from pump boat

There are passenger ferries, utilizing pump boats to

. The ferry terminal in Iloilo is on the Iloilo River.

Education

Buenavista is the center of higher education. In fact, the main campus of Guimaras State University, only state university in Guimaras, is found in Barangay Mclain. Furthermore, the municipality has 19 public elementary schools, 5 public high schools, and 1 vocational technical school. It has a literacy rate of 98.4%, the highest in the whole of Guimaras.

References

External links

* Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>Philippine Census Information
{{Authority control Municipalities of Guimaras