Caoayan, Ilocos Sur
| Caoayan | ||
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| Municipality | ||
The Caoayan Town Hall
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| Motto: Pardas Caoayan! | ||
 Map of Ilocos Sur showing the location of Caoayan |
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 Caoayan
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| Coordinates: 17°32′N 120°24′E / 17.53°N 120.4°ECoordinates: 17°32′N 120°24′E / 17.53°N 120.4°E | ||
| Country | Philippines | |
| Region | Ilocos (Region I) | |
| Province | Ilocos Sur | |
| District | 1st District | |
| Founded | 1825 and 1911 | |
| Barangays | 17 | |
| Government | ||
| • Mayor | Germelina Singson Goulart | |
| Area | ||
| • Total | 17.42 km2 (6.73 sq mi) | |
| Population (2015 census) | ||
| • Total | 19,861 | |
| • Density | 1,100/km2 (3,000/sq mi) | |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+8) | |
| ZIP code | 2702 | |
| IDD : area code | +63 (0)77 | |
| Income class | 4th class | |
| Website | www |
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Caoayan is a fourth class municipality in the province of Ilocos Sur, Philippines. It links the first and second legislative districts of the province. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 19,861 people.
During pre-Spanish times the port of Pandan was an important trading post for Chinese and inter-island vessels, and one of the commodities once traded there was bamboo. With the arrival of the Spaniards came the project to identify the names of places in the Philippines. Spaniards, patrolling the area for pirates known as tirong, came to a place near the island called Puro, and asked the name of the place. Thinking that the Spaniards wanted to know the name of the bamboo floating in rafts on the Baggoc River waiting to be traded, they answered "kawayan." The Spaniard then listed the place's name as Caoayan.
From that time on, the place's registered name was Caoayan, and has been registered as a barrio of the capital town Bigaan. It became a parish in 1825. The first missionaries that founded Saint Paul College of Ilocos Sur landed in Pandan. A commemorative marker stands at Pandan Port to commemorate the event.
Caoayan, which was once a barrio of Ciudad Fernandina, now Vigan, became a municipality in 1911. Don Dimas Querubin was the town’s founder and got elected as the first municipal mayor. He was succeeded by his son, Don Asterio Q. Querubin I, who served for four terms and became president of the Mayors' League of Ilocos Sur.
Caoayan is politically subdivided into 17 barangays.
In the 2015 census, the population of Caoayan was 19,861 people, with a density of 1,100 inhabitants per square kilometre or 2,800 inhabitants per square mile.
Due to its geographical location, fishing has been the main source of livelihood of the inhabitants. Next is agriculture where farmers planted onions, tomatoes, rice and corn bound. The town is also known for its loom-weaving industry which dates back before Spanish regime. Palafox and Associates have declared Caoayan as the fish-bowl and onion basket of Ilocos Sur.
Boat-sailing was one of the major industries of Caoayan but was eased out as means of transportation with the onset of modern highways especially those connecting the Ilocos provinces to Manila and the Cagayan Valley. The provincial government has recognized the Caoayano skill by awarding locals who are engaged in boat-making and calesa-manufacturing as living legends of Ilocos Sur.
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Wikipedia