Bansalan is a 1st class municipality in the province of Davao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 60,440 people.

Bansalan is about 72 kilometres (45 mi) south of Davao City and is very accessible by land transportation mostly by buses going to Cotabato City, Kidapawan City and Tacurong City. Bansalan is about 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) north-west of the capital city of Digos. The neighboring towns include Makilala in the north, Magsaysay in the west, Matanao in the south and Mount Apo and part of Digos in the east.

Bansalan was a forest primeval and the aborigines were Bagobos. As they were nomadic, they traveled from one place to the other by hacking their way through the virgin forests. They also cultivated land for their staple food but soon left the place after harvest time in search of a better place to cultivate. They also had the wide area of hunting ground where at the end of the day, they brought home speared wild boar, deer or monkeys. The implements they had were crude but obviously the bow and arrow were used both in hunting and fishing. The waters then were crystal pure and were untarnished by the changing current ecology. In some certain sites, Bansalan had patches of cogonal land interspersed with tall trees demarcated by serene creeks and turbulent rivers gushing from the belly of Mount Apo, the highest mountain peak in the Philippines where according to legend, Apo Sandawa ruled as god.

In early times, the Bagobo society was divided into datus or the chieftains, freemen, and slaves. The datus interpret customary laws. Marriages were arranged, the groom's parents selecting the bride and negotiating the match. A bride-price is paid according to their wealth, and the bride's parents also give a present equal to about half this amount to dispel the idea that they're selling their daughter. The groom has to serve the bride's family both before and after the wedding. The two-to three-day wedding ceremony takes place in the bride's home and ends with the bride and groom feeding each other a handful of rice. Young men strived to attain the rank of magani, a warrior class whose members had killed more than one enemy and were entitled to wear distinctive red clothing. A communal spirit prevailed, with everyone helping in house-building and cultivation.

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