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Caraga, Region XIII, Philippines

Caraga is the newest region of the Philippines, also designated as Region XIII. It is comprises four provinces, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur.

Flag images here drawn after Symbols of the State, published by the Philippines Bureau of Local Government.

Agusan del Norte
- Butuan City
Agusan del Sur
Surigao del Norte
- Surigao City
Surigao del Sur

Agusan del Norte

by Jaume Ollé, 26 June 2001

The Philippine Republic's Province of Agusan del Norte is located in northern Mindanao. Its population is slightly over 550,000, of which number about half live in Butuan City with the rest apportioned among eleven towns. Butuan City contains an airport, and the neighboring town of Nasipit contains an international seaport. Agusan del Norte is dominated by the lower valley of the Agusan River, which arises in Davao and flows northward until, broad and strong, it empties into Butuan Bay. The province contains several different types of soil, growing a wide variety of food products, and has inland waters yielding several more commercial products. Most of the land is forested, and wood and wood products such as plywood, veneer, furniture, rattan, matches, and prefabricated trusses go out to the rest of the world. There are a number of such factories in Butuan City, and others up the Agusan River and along several other rivers in the province.
John Ayer, 26 June 2001

Butuan City

by Dirk Schönberger, 9 February 2001

Source: Symbols of the state

Butuan City is the administrative center of Agusan del Norte.
John Ayer, 9 February 2001

Agosan del Sur

by Jaume Ollé, 29 June 2001

The Philippine province of Agusan del Sur, in the Caraga Region, occupies the upper valley of the Agusan River on the island of Mindanao. It now comprises fourteen towns, of which Prosperidad is the capital, but I suspect from the number of stars that there were thirteen towns in 1975. The land is mostly forested, and the economy is mostly agricultural, the chief crops being maize, rice, coconuts, and bananas. Lumbering is a distant second. Industry is limited to wood-working and
food-processing. There is some mining.
John Ayer, 29 June 2001

Surigao del Norte

by Jaume Ollé, 1 July 2001

The Philippine Republic's Province of Surigao del Norte, in Caraga Region, occupies the northernmost part of Mindanao and well over a hundred offshore islands, with a population of 481,000 by the 2000 census, divided among one city--Surigao, the capital--and twenty-seven towns. North of the Surigao Peninsula is Surigao Strait, where Japanese naval forces steaming to Leyte Gulf on the night of October 24-25, 1944, to oppose the allied landing on Leyte, ran into several lines of resistance from torpedo boats, destroyers, and cruisers commanded by Admiral Oldendorf, USN. The Japanese suffered serious losses before emerging into Leyte Gulf, where their further losses were even more serious. The land descends from the rugged mountains of the west to an irregular coastline on the east. Surigao del Sur contains a variety of valuable mineral deposits, including gold, and several of the numerous ethnic groups that have blended into its population came in gold-rushes, but little mining takes place now. The ocean and inland waters offer rich fishing, but these, too, seem to be little exploited. The economy is mostly agricultural, the main products being coconuts, bananas, other fruits and vegetables, with some livestock. There is much to draw tourists, particularly watersports on the outer islands, whose spectacular scenery and many miles of pristine beaches were apparently unknown to the natives until recently.
John Ayer, 1 July 2001

Surigao City

by Dirk Schönberger, 7 April 2001

Source: Symbols of the state

The city of Surigao, located near the northern tip of Mindanao, is the capital of the province of Surigao del Norte. It is an important transportation center. It has air connections to Cebu and beyond and ferry service to Southern Leyte, and is the northern terminus of the highway south to Davao, connecting to all of Mindanao. There is a large nickel mine in the vicinity.
John Ayer, 7 April 2001

Surigao del Sur

by Jaume Ollé, 2 July 2001

The Province of Surigao del Sur, in the Caraga Region of the Republic of the Philippines, was created by the division of the Province of Surigao in 1960. The land slopes from the Diwata Range in the west down to a deeply indented coast, and then further down to the Mindanao Deep. Forty-five percent of the land is agricultural. The remainder is largely forest, and industry is largely limited to logging and wood-processing, including paper-making, although Surigao del Sur reportedly sits on enormous reserves of iron ore.
John Ayer, 1 July 2001