Geographic Location

Lanao del Norte is located in the northwestern part of Mindanao and is administratively part of Region 10 since 2001.  It is located at approximately 7º30’ north latitude and 123º47’ east longitude (Map 1: Location).

The Province of Lanao del Norte, in the national geographic setting, is situated in the southern part of the Philippines.  It is located south of the Visayas group of islands, particularly the island of Bohol, from which it is approximately 165 kilometers.  It is accessible by boat from the islands of Bohol, Cebu Negros and other islands in the Visayas.

On the regional context, the Province is situated in northern Mindanao.  It is bounded on the north by Iligan Bay, on the northeastern side by the Province of Misamis Oriental where the Cagayan-Iligan Corridor is generally situated, on the southeast by Lanao del Sur, on the west by the Provinces of Misamis Occidental and Zamboanga del Sur which are also accessible by water and land transportation systems, and on the south by Illana Bay.  The Province links the western, eastern and central Mindanao.  It is the land bridge of Zamboanga Peninsula to the rest of Mindanao and serves as the gateway to the different cities such as Pagadian, Tangub, Oroquieta, Ozamiz via the Tukuran-Malabang highway and Lanao del Sur via the Tubod-Ganassi national highway.

Lanao del Norte has a coastal to mountain ecosystems since the Province lies along the coasts of Iligan and Kolambugan Bays stretching up to the tip of Panguil Bay and extending to the coast of Illana Bay in the south.

Land Area

Lanao del Norte has a total land area of 3,824.79 square kilometers, representing almost 19% of Region X’s total land area. The province ranks number 2 area-wise among the five provinces of the region.  The breakdown of land area by city/municipal components adopted the LGU claims reconciled with the GIS generated data.

Table 3.1 Land Area by Province, Region X

Source: RPFP, 2004-2030

The highly urbanized city of Iligan has a total land area of 132.63 sq. km. which is 3.47% of the province’s total land area. The District of Mandulog covers the biggest the land area of 809.54 sq. km. constituting 21.17% of total area.  Among the municipalities, Nunungan accounted for the biggest land area of 486.25 hectares or 12.7% of the province’s total land area, while the municipality of Linamon has the smallest land area.

Table 3.2 Land Area by Municipality/City, Province of Lanao del Norte

Source: CLUPs; PPDO

Political Subdivisions

The province is composed of one city (Iligan) and 22 municipalities namely: Bacolod, Baloi, Baroy, Kapatagan, Kauswagan, Kolambugan, Lala, Linamon, Magsaysay, Munai, Matungao, Maigo, Nunungan, Pantar, Pantao-Ragat, Poona-Piagapo, Salvador, Sapad, Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Tagoloan, Tangkal and Tubod.  It has a total of  506 barangays.   Among the municipalities, Sultan Naga Dimaporo has the most number of barangays (37) while the municipalities of Linamon and Tagoloan have the least number of barangays.

Source: DILG