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The Daily Insight

How Cordillera Administrative Region was formed

Author

David Edwards

Updated on May 02, 2026

On July 15, 1987, Executive Order No. 220 was signed in the City of Manila, creating the Cordillera Administrative Region. This region is carved out of provinces previously belonging to Regions 01: Abra, Baguio City, Benguet, and Mountain Province and Region 02: Ifugao and Kalinga-Apayao.

What is the origin of Cordillera?

cordillera (n.) “continuous ridge or range of mountains,” 1704, from Spanish cordillera, “mountain chain,” from cordilla, in Old Spanish “string, rope” (in modern Spanish “guts of sheep”), diminutive of cuerda, from Latin chorda “cord, rope” (see cord). Originally applied by the Spaniards to the Andes.

What is the meaning of Cordillera Administrative Region?

Cordillera Administrative Region , officially designated as CAR, is an administrative region in the Philippines occupying the northern-central section of Luzon. It covers 6 provinces, namely, Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Mountain Province, as well as 1 highly urbanized city.

Why is there a need to create the Cordillera Autonomous region?

Autonomy ensures for the people of the Cordillera the right to secure for themselves their ancestral domain, develop their economy, promote their cultural heritage, and establish a system of self-governance within the framework of the Philippine Constitution and national sovereignty, as well as the territorial …

What is the main product of Cordillera Administrative Region?

CORDILLERA ADMINISTRATIVE REGION With regards to agricultural products, Cordillera is the best and primary source of highland vegetables such as lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, potatoes, cabbage, and other greens. The region is also known for its aromatic coffees and strawberries.

What is Cordillera made of?

The Western Cordillera consists largely of Cretaceous to Eocene oceanic crust, turbidites, and oceanic arc sequences covered by Late Eocene–Oligocene continental sediments and intruded by Eocene and younger magmatic rocks.

What is Cordillera made up of?

The Cordillera is made up of three main chains of mountains. … The Interior mountain chain is made up of the Columbia, the Skeena, and the Ogilvie mountains. The last chain would be called the Western mountain chain it is made up of the coast mountains, which run along the coast of the Pacific Ocean.

Is Cordillera an autonomous region?

The Cordillera Autonomous Region is an integral and inseparable part of the territory of the Republic of the Philippines. The People of the Autonomous Region shall uphold the Constitution as the fundamental law of the land and unequivocally owe allegiance and fidelity to the Republic of the Philippines.

Is Cordillera Administrative Region an autonomous region?

The 1986 Constitution allows for the establishment of two autonomous regions in the country; Muslim Mindanao and in the Cordilleras. … The area is currently under the jurisdiction of the Cordillera Administrative Region. There are still efforts from some local sectors to establish an autonomous region in the Cordillera.

What is being practiced in the Cordillera Autonomous Region when animals are sacrificed?

Cañao or Kanyaw is a festival or a ceremony of the indigenous mountain people of Northern Luzon. It is a socio-religious ritual where chickens, pigs and/or carabaos are butchered as a sacrifice and feasted on. This is usually a thanksgiving to their god Kabunyan.

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What are the 2 component city of Cordillera Administrative Region?

Administrative divisions It has 2 cities; the highly urbanized city of Baguio, and the component city of Tabuk. There are 1,176 barangays in the region.

How many tribes are there in Cordillera?

There are seven (7) major ethnolinguistic groups or peoples, namely the Kankanaeys, the Bontocs, the Kalingas, the Ifugaos, the Tingguians, the Apayao or Isneg and Ibaloy. However, these are the popular reference to indigenous groups, but there are more “peoples” as distinct as “ili”.

How many languages are spoken in Cordillera Administrative Region?

These 8 languages are further diversified into their respective dialects.

What is the main product of Benguet?

Benguet products such as gold, copper, iron, honey, bees wax were traded in exchange for lowland products such as salt, livestock, cotton or blankets, and wares from foreign shores such as beads, plates and jars. Slaves from the highlands and lowlands were also items of trade.

What are the natural resources of Benguet?

The region is rich in natural resources and has abundant mineral reserves. Gold, copper, silver, and zinc are among the metallic ores that can be found in the region. Non-metallic reserves include sand, gravel, and sulfur. Although mineral reserves are found all over the region, mining is concentrated in Benguet.

What are the natural resources in Cordillera?

The natural resources of the Cordillera are forestry (this is the biggest industry in the region), agriculture, mining (iron, lead, zinc, silver, copper and nickel) and fisheries (the west coast is famous for salmon).

How were mountains formed in the North American Cordillera region?

The development of the Cordilleras occurred mainly after the Atlantic Ocean began to open and North America started drifting westward over the floor of the Pacific Ocean, about 180 million years…

What are some interesting facts about the Cordillera region?

The Cordillera region helps make Canada the largest exporter of forest products in the world. Mineral Deposits : copper, coal, silver and gold (results in mining industries) – In the Cordillera region there are more than 14 000 mineral deposits! This region is the largest producer of copper in Canada.

How was the Arctic Cordillera formed?

The northern portion of the Arctic Cordillera was uplifted during the Innuitian orogeny when the North American Plate moved northward during the mid-Mesozoic. It contains igneous and metamorphic rocks, but for the most part is composed of sedimentary rocks.

When did the Canadian Cordillera form?

The Canadian Cordillera (Figure 1A) is a relatively youthful mountain belt. However, its origins extend back some 750 million years (or 750 Ma1) to the episode of rifting that marked the first stages in the break-up and dispersal of “Rodinia”, a Neoproterozoic supercontinent that had existed since about 1,000 Ma.

Why does Cordillera Administrative Region called the watershed cradle of North Luzon?

It is the country’s only land-locked region. It has a mountainous topography and dubbed as the “Watershed Cradle of North Luzon” as it hosts major rivers that provide continuous water for irrigation and energy for Northern Luzon.

Where did the name of the Philippines came from?

The Philippines are named after King Philip II (1527-1598) of Spain. The country was discovered by the Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 (while in Spanish service). Later tension arose between Portugal and Spain and in 1542 Spain re-claimed the islands for themselves, naming them after its then king.

What are the different tribes in Cordillera Administrative Region?

The peoples of the Cordillera could be grouped to the following major ethnolinguistic groups: Kankanaey (Kankanai), Ibaloy, Bontok, Kalinga, Isneg, Itneg, Ifugao, Kalanguya, iwak, Ga’dang.

What are the rituals of Cordillera?

They observe rituals when they tattoo or mummify. Some features are prayers, animal sacrifice, applicability to customary laws, exclusiveness and inclusiveness. Rituals include chanting, playing of gongs, dancing, drinking wine, and sharing food.

Who is the God of Igorot?

The indigenous god is Kavuniyan or Kabunyan. The Christian God is Shivus, is considered the Supreme being, higher than Kavuniyan. There is also a belief in the spirits of ancestors, amed. The culture is rife with anitos (nature spirits and ancestral spirits) and rituals.

What is the instrumental music of Cordillera?

Cordillera instrumental music is distinctively made up of two sound characteristics based on their respective materials. The first one is made of bamboo (flutes and percussion instruments), while the second is made of metal (gongs). These traditions however, are on their way to extinction due to several factors.

How many provinces does Philippines have?

The country is divided into three geographical areas: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. It has 18 regions, 81 provinces, 145 cities, 1,489 municipalities, and 42,029 barangays. (Barangay – The smallest political unit into which cities and municipalities in the Philippines are divided.

Who discovered the gold in Cordillera?

On September 27, 1927, the Benquet Consolidated Mining Company discovered one of the richest veins of gold ever, at a time when the US was entering the Great Depression. This was the start of a real gold rush into Cordillera region: in 1929, there were 94 mining companies, by 1933 there were 17,812.

Where did Igorot come from?

Igorot, (Tagalog: “Mountaineer”) any of various ethnic groups in the mountains of northern Luzon, Philippines, all of whom keep, or have kept until recently, their traditional religion and way of life. Some live in the tropical forests of the foothills, but most live in rugged grassland and pine forest zones higher up.

Is Igorot a tribe?

Igorot is the mainstream, collective name of several of the tribes in the Cordilleras (the political name of the area is the Cordilleras Administrative Region or CAR). The provinces that make up CAR are Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Kalinga, Ifugao, and Mountain Province. Baguio City is also included as part of CAR.

Does Igorot speak Ilocano?

They speak Bontoc and Ilocano. They formerly practiced head-hunting and had distinctive body tattoos.