Oroquieta is a city in and the capital of the province of Misamis Occidental, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 70,757 people.

Some sources reveal that the town got its name from the barrio in Spain where Father Toas Tomas Casado, the first parish priest, and General Domingo Moriones y Murillo, a hero in the Battle of Oroquieta, were born.

Another version is that Oroquieta had derived its name from the words oro (gold) and quita or kita (to find), in reference to the early inhabitants who had found gold along the river.

Layawan was the original name of Oroquieta, which was the barrio in the province of Misamis since 1861 until 1879. The early settlers then of the barrio were Boholanos. They found so many stray animals along the river, thus they named the place Layawan, which means a place of stray animals. A little later, Misamis was divided into two provinces, Misamis Occidental and Oriental. Then in 1880, Layawan changed its name to Oroquieta when it became a town.

Oroquieta became the capital (cabecera) on January 6, 1930. As capital town, people of various neighboring provinces came and inhabited in the place where they earn their living through fishing, farming, merchandising and other forms of businesses. Soon afterwards its income increased simultaneously with increase in population.

In 1942, Oroquieta was made the capital of the free Philippines by the recognized guerrillas and later the ongoing troops of the Philippine Commonwealth Army. (Personal interview with the late Atty. Vicente Blanco, Municipal Mayor during the Japanese Occupation) During this time, President Manuel L. Quezon, together with Sergio Osmeña Sr., a bodyguard and Major Manuel Nieto Sr., landed in Oroquieta after their evacuation from Corregidor to Australia.

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