Jordan (), officially the Municipality of Jordan (; ), 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 capital of 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 ...

Guimaras Guimaras (), officially the Province of Guimaras (; ), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. The capital is Jordan, while the largest local government unit is the municipality of Buenavista. The provin ...

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 39,566 people, making it the third largest settlement in the province.

History

The name of the town used to be Nagaba but was changed in 1902 to Jordan. The name ''Jordán'', 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 ...

name for the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

, was chosen by the residents in honor of

John the Baptist John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...

, their

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

. According to local folklore, he saved the inhabitants from slaughter during the Moro raid in the Spanish era. In 1918, the municipality was formed when it separated from Buenavista, with Valeriano Villanueva as the first appointed ''Presidente Municipal''. After elections in 1919, Hugo Chávez became the next mayor, followed by Licerio Segovia (1921-1923), Alberto Gonzaga (1923-1925), Feliz Ronzales (1925-1928), Hilario Nava (1929-1932), again Hugo Chávez (1932-1938), and Leodegario Galarpe (1939-1941). Nueva Valencia was established as a separate municipality in 1941. In July 1995 San Lorenzo and Sibunag were created, leaving Jordan with only 14 barangays. Before these two towns was created, Jordan was composed of 33 barangays.

Geography

Jordan is bounded by the three municipalities of the province, Buenavista to the north, San Lorenzo to the east, and Sibunag to the south. Before founding of the five towns, the whole island of Guimaras was called "Himal-us". Across the Iloilo Strait from Jordan is

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 ...

on the island of

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 ...

. Jordan is a part of the Metro Iloilo–Guimaras area, centered on Iloilo City. With a

wharf A wharf ( or wharfs), quay ( , also ), staith, or staithe is a structure on the shore of a harbour or on the bank of a river or canal where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. Such a structure includes one or more Berth (mo ...

closest to

and a central location, Jordan is also the commercial center of the island.

Barangays

Jordan is subdivided into 14

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 ...

. * Alaguisoc * Balcon Maravilla * Balcon Melliza * Bugnay * Buluangan * Espinosa * Hoskyn * Lawi * Morobuan *

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 ...

* Rizal * San Miguel * Sinapsapan * Santa Teresa

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Jordan, Guimaras, was 39,566 people, with a density of . In the 2000 census, in an area of 126 km²., it had a population of 28,745 people in 5,397 households, and in 2007, 32,525 people. In the 2010 census, its population had increased to 34,791 persons.

Geography

* Balaan bukid, a 558 feet (170 meters) mountain, located in Barangay Balcon Melliza, Jordan, Guimaras

Notable personalities

*Chrisanta Seboc - Child hero who saved two of her younger siblings from a fire at home in July 1996.

References

External links

Philippine Standard Geographic CodePhilippine Census Information
{{Authority control Municipalities of Guimaras Provincial capitals of the Philippines