Soccsksargen
| Region XII Soccsksargen Central Mindanao |
|
|---|---|
| Region | |
| {{#property:P242}} Location in the Philippines |
|
| Country | Philippines |
| Island group | Mindanao |
| Regional center | Koronadal |
| Area | |
| • Total | {{safesubst:#property:P2,046}} km2 (Formatting error: invalid input when rounding sq mi) |
| Population (Error: Invalid time. lua error in module:wikidata at line 879: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).)[1] | |
| • Total | {{safesubst:#property:P1,082}} |
| Time zone | PST (UTC+8) |
| ISO 3166 code | {{#property:P300}} |
| Provinces | |
| Cities | |
| Municipalities | 45 |
| Barangays | 1,195 |
| Cong. districts | 6 |
| Languages | |
Soccsksargen (officially styled as SOCCSKSARGEN[2]) (pronounced [sokˈsardʒɛn]) is an administrative region of the Philippines, located in central Mindanao. It is designated as Region XII. The name is an acronym that stands for the region's four provinces and one of its cities: South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani and General Santos. The region used to be called Central Mindanao. The regional center is Koronadal located in the province of South Cotabato, and the center of commerce, industry, transportation and the most populous city is General Santos.
Soccsksargen encompasses Cotabato City situated within the borders of Maguindanao, a province of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Contents
Geography
The region is bounded on the north by Northern Mindanao, on the east by the Davao Region, and on the southwest by the Celebes Sea. The province of Maguindanao is situated between Cotabato City, Cotabato province and Sultan Kudarat.
The region has extensive coastlines, valleys and mountain ranges. Known for its river system, the region is the catch basin of Mindanao, particularly at the Cotabato Basin, a large depression surrounded by mountain ranges on three sides.[3][4] Within the basin runs the Rio Grande de Mindanao, the longest river in Mindanao and the second longest in the Philippines. The river empties into the Illana Bay of the larger Moro Gulf at the west of Cotabato City.
At the south of the basin lie the Tiruray Highlands, a moderately high mountain range blocking the basin from the southern coastline.[3] Southeast of the mountains lie the Sarangani Bay.
History
The region used to be named Central Mindanao. Prior to the creation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, it comprised the following provinces:
With the creation of ARMM, Lanao del Sur (excluding Marawi) and Maguindanao (excluding Cotabato City) were removed from the region, leaving Lanao del Norte, Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat, and Marawi and Cotabato City as constituent provinces and cities.[5] Lanao del Norte was later transferred to Northern Mindanao, while Marawi became part of the ARMM.
On September 2001, Executive Order No. 36 was signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo transferring South Cotabato, Sarangani, General Santos (also known as the SocSarGen District), and Koronadal from Southern Mindanao to Region XII, and renaming the region, then known as Central Mindanao, to SOCCSKSARGEN.[2][6]
Administrative divisions
Soccsksargen comprises 4 provinces, 1 highly urbanized city, 1 independent component city, 3 component cities, 45 municipalities and 1,195 barangays.
| Province or City | Capital | Population (2015)[1] | Area[7][8] | Density | Cities | Muni. | Bgy. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| km2 | sq mi | /km2 | /sq mi | |||||||||
| Cotabato | Kidapawan | 30.4% | 1,379,747 | 9,008.90 | 3,478.36 | 150 | 390 | 1 | 17 | 543 | ||
| Sarangani | Alabel | 12.0% | 544,261 | 3,601.25 | 1,390.45 | 150 | 390 | 0 | 7 | 141 | ||
| South Cotabato | Koronadal | 20.1% | 915,289 | 3,935.95 | 1,519.68 | 230 | 600 | 1 | 10 | 199 | ||
| Sultan Kudarat | Isulan | 17.9% | 812,095 | 5,298.34 | 2,045.70 | 150 | 390 | 1 | 11 | 249 | ||
| Cotabato City | ‡ | — | 6.6% | 299,438 | 176.00 | 67.95 | 1,700 | 4,400 | — | — | 37 | |
| General Santos | † | — | 13.1% | 594,446 | 492.86 | 190.29 | 1,200 | 3,100 | — | — | 26 | |
| Total | 4,545,276 | 22,513.30 | 8,692.43 | 200 | 520 | 5 | 45 | 1,195 | ||||
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- Cotabato City — the regional center of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao but the city is actually under the jurisdiction of the SOCCSKSARGEN region and does not belong to the ARMM.
- Kidapawan — the city hailed as "A Spring in the Highland", comes from the words TIDA which means spring and PAWAN meaning highland. The city is situated at the foot of the Mount Apo, the country’s highest mountain making it a tourist attraction. Kidapawan is situated at the southeastern section of Cotabato province, placed in the middle of other major cities of Davao, Cotabato, General Santos and Koronadal.
- Koronadal — a.k.a. Marbel is dubbed as the "Sports Mecca of the South" because of hosting 2 Palarong Pambansa, National Schools' Press Conference and the Mindanao Business Conference. It is the political regional center of Soccsksargen.
- Tacurong — the only city of Sultan Kudarat and it is known for its bird sanctuary.
- General Santos — dubbed as the "Tuna Capital of the Philippines" because of the bountiful existence of Yellow fin Tuna in Sarangani Bay. As a highly urbanized city, it serves as the center of the Metropolitan and Regional Center for trade and industry of Soccsksargen.
Demographics
| Population census of SOCCSKSARGEN | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
| 1990 | 2,399,953 | — |
| 2000 | 3,222,169 | +34.3% |
| 2010 | 4,109,571 | +27.5% |
| Source: National Statistics Office[1][9] | ||
Musical heritage
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The culture of native Maguindanaon and other native groups both Muslim and non-Muslim revolves around kulintang music, a specific type of gong music, found in the SoCCSKSarGen.
Government
- Cotabato — Gov. Emmylou "Lala" J. Talino-Mendoza (Liberal)
- South Cotabato — Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes (NPC)
- Sultan Kudarat — Gov. Datu Suharto "Teng" T. Mangudadatu (Liberal)
- Sarangani — Gov. Steve C. Solon (UNA)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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External links
Media related to Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. at Wikimedia Commons- National Statistical Coordination Board: REGION XII (SOCCSKSARGEN)
