Carmen, officially the Municipality of Carmen (; ), 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 ...

Bohol Bohol (), officially the Province of Bohol (; ), is an island province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region, consisting of the island itself and 75 minor surrounding islands. It is home to Bohola ...

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 49,191 people. Carmen celebrates its fiesta on January 17, to honor the town patron Saint Anthony de Abbot.

History

Carmen was originally part of the municipality of Bilar and called Imbaya, after the name of a stream in the settlement. During the Spanish time, it was inhabited by not more than fifty families. In 1868, the people of Carmen petitioned for its independence since its population grew to an unprecedented number. The town of Carmen was founded on 1 March 1869 by final order of Governor General Jose de la Gandara and renamed at the same time in honor of the Lady of Carmel of Spain. In 1874, Carmen had its separate parish with Father Pedro Nolasco San Juan as the first parish priest. Due to the influence of

Spanish culture The culture of Spain is influenced by its Western world, Western origin, its interaction with other cultures in Europe, its historically Catholic Church in Spain, Catholic religious tradition, and the varied national and regional identity in Sp ...

and tradition, all barangays of Carmen have a patron saint as well as a Spanish name, who are celebrated in an annual barangay fiesta. In World War II, Carmen served as the stronghold of the guerrilla resistance movement and the local civil government because of its strategic location. In 2013 a magnitude 7.2 earthquake shook Central Visayas region, with its epicenter within Carmen municipality.

Geography

Carmen is located in the heart of Bohol Island. The

Chocolate Hills The Chocolate Hills (, , or ) are a geological formation in the Philippine province of Bohol.karst Karst () is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble carbonate rocks such as limestone and Dolomite (rock), dolomite. It is characterized by features like poljes above and drainage systems with sinkholes and caves underground. Ther ...

hills, are a major geographic landmark in Carmen. The origin of its name comes from the fact that the hills turn brown in the hot summer days. Carmen is from

Tagbilaran Tagbilaran, officially the City of Tagbilaran (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Bohol, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a popu ...

Barangays

Carmen is politically subdivided into 29 barangays. 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 ...

Climate

Demographics

Economy

References

External links

* Philippine Standard Geographic Code
Provincial Government of Bohol

Latest Carmen Bohol News

{{Authority control Municipalities of Bohol