Mankayan | ||
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Municipality | ||
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Map of Benguet with Mankayan highlighted |
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Location within the Philippines | ||
Coordinates: 16°52′N 120°47′E / 16.87°N 120.78°ECoordinates: 16°52′N 120°47′E / 16.87°N 120.78°E | ||
Country | Philippines | |
Region | Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) | |
Province | Benguet | |
District | Lone district of Benguet | |
Founded | 1955 | |
Barangays | 12 (see Barangays) | |
Government | ||
• Type | Sangguniang Bayan | |
• Mayor | Materno Ringor Luspian | |
• Electorate | 18,801 voters (2016) | |
Area | ||
• Total | 130.48 km2 (50.38 sq mi) | |
Population (2015 census) | ||
• Total | 35,953 | |
• Density | 280/km2 (710/sq mi) | |
Time zone | PST (UTC+8) | |
ZIP code | 2608 | |
PSGC | 141111000 | |
IDD : area code | +63 (0)74 | |
Income class | 1st municipal income class |
Mankayan, officially the Municipality of Mankayan (Ilocano: Ili ti Mankayan; Filipino: Bayan ng Mankayan), is a municipality in the province of Benguet in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) of the Philippines. The population was 35,953 at the 2015 census. In the 2016 electoral roll, it had 18,801 registered voters.
The municipality is known as a mining town, being the location of several mines, including the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company.
The name "Mankayan" is derived from Nancayan, the Hispanic term of the native name of the place, Nangkayang (which means "high up in the mountain").
Nangkayang was once a heavily-forested area. The natives of the surrounding settlements of Panat and Bag-ongan mined gold through the labon system, after its reported discovery in a river. Copper was later discovered by the end of the 16th century in Kamangga-an (location of present-day Lepanto).
By the 1800s, the Spanish colonial government sent expeditions to survey the mines. On February 3, 1850, an expedition led by engineer Don Antonio Hernandez confirmed the presence of copper in Mankayan.
In 1852, Lepanto was established by the Spanish as a comandancia politico-militar, composed of several rancherias which included Mankayan.
A mining company was established by Señor Tomas Balbas y Castro in 1856, called the Sociedad Minero-Metalurgica Cantabro Filipino de Mancayan. The company ceased operations in 1875.
Under the American rule, Mankayan remained under the jurisdiction of Lepanto, and later until the latter's dissolution. Mankayan was later annexed to the sub-province of Benguet as a municipal district in 1913.
The mining boom in Mankayan began in 1933, with American Victor Lednickey establishing the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company on September 26, 1936.