Population: regional and national context

As of 2007 Census, Lanao del Norte including Iligan City has a population of 846,329.  This accounts for 30.6% of the regional population and less than one percent of the national population (Table 3.4) The province ranks third among the Region X provinces next to Misamis Oriental and Bukidnon. Its population grew at annual growth rate of 1.53%, lower than the regional growth rate of 1.76% but higher than the national growth rate of 1.48%. If its 2000-2007 growth rate remains the same over time, Lanao del Norte will double its population in 44 years or in 2051.

Table 1.  Population, Annual Population Growth Rate, By Province, Region X,   Philippines, 2000 & 2007

Lanao del Norte has a population density of 221 persons/sq km.  in 2007 which is lower than the regional average of 289 persons/sq km.   It is second to Bukidnon which has the lowest population density owing to its vast land area.

Table 2.   Population and Population Density, By Province, Region X, Philippines, 2000 & 2007

Population size and distribution

Iligan, the lone city in the province, has a total population of 308,046 in 2007 comprising 36.4% of the total provincial population. Iligan City has the second largest population next to Cagayan de Oro City among the cities in the region.

Table 3. Region X Cities with Population > 100,000, 2007

Source: NSO

Iligan City is the largest settlement in the province being a highly urbanized city.  The municipalities of Lala, Kapatagan, Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Tubod, and Baloi are the largest settlements after Iligan City.  These large settlements aggregately accounts for 64.9% of the provincial population. The rest of the population is distributed among the eighteen other municipalities with Tangkal having the smallest share (9,351 or 1.1%) in the total provincial population.

Eight municipalities including Iligan showed a decrease on their population share while four other municipalities posted a steady share in the provincial total population.

Growth Rates

Within the province, 10 municipalities posted growth rates of less than 1% since 2000. The largest increase was experienced by Kauswagan with a net increase of 0.7%. Kauswagan had five barangays with zero population in 2000 due to mass evacuation in the height of hostilities between government forces and rebel secessionists.

The coastal municipalities of Kauswagan, Bacolod and Kapatagan are also among the fastest growing municipalities for the reason that most of their barangays are still located in the interior parts of the province.

Table 4.  Population Distribution and Population Share by City/ Municipality, Lanao del Norte 2000 and 2007

Source of Basic Data: NSO

The municipality of Tubod, as seat of the provincial government, has the lowest APGR since the community can easily access health services including family planning services.

It can be noted also that municipalities with APGR lower than the province are located along the coast with regular medical officers and Sentrong Sigla accredited Rural Health Units with the exemption of Sultan Naga Dimaporo and Matungao.

The following municipalities are growing faster than the province: Tangkal (6.03), Kauswagan (5.78), Salvador (4.35), Munai (3.57), Poona-Piagapo (2.91), Pantar (2.85), Pantao-Ragat (2.78), Bacolod (2.16), Baloi (1.96), Kapatagan (1.93), Nunungan (1.91), Sapad (1.74) and Tagoloan (1.66). On the other hand, the following municipalities are growing slower than the province: Sultan Naga Dimaporo (1.31), Magsaysay (1.28), Linamon (1.23), Matungao (1.03), Baroy (0.69), Maigo (0.67), Kolambugan (0.63), Lala (0.47) and Tubod (0.33).

Municipalities which are growing faster than the provincial levels are mostly in the interior which is dominated by Muslim communities.

Table 5. Population Size and Annual Population Growth Rate by City/Municipality, Lanao del Norte, 2000-2007

Source: NSO

Population Density

In 2007, the province has a population density of 221 or an increase of 23 persons per square kilometer as against the 2000 figure.  Among the municipalities  Linamon has the highest population density of 705 persons/sq. km while the municipality of Nunungan has the lowest at 29 persons/ sq. km owing to its large land area which is the biggest in the province. The provincial, regional and national average densities are 221, 289 and 301, respectively.

Other municipalities with population densities substantially higher than the provincial average are Baloi (562), Lala (416), Kauswagan (382), Pantar (252), Baroy (268), Kapatagan (261), Tubod (244) Pantao Ragat (223)

The density maps show that there are no changes on population densities in all coastal municipalities. Significant increases in density from 2000-2007 are particularly noticeable in the municipalities of Kauswagan, Baloi, Pantar, Linamon, Pantao Ragat, Poona Piagapo and Salvador.

The municipalities of Salvador, Baloi, Kauswagan, Pantar, Linamon, Pantao Ragat and Poona Piagapo are the fastest growing and have high density settlements, while the municipalities of Baroy, Kapatagan, Lala, Matungao and Tubod are slow growing but have high density settlements.

Municipalities with low densities but are fast growing are Bacolod, Munai, Sapad, Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Tagoloan and Tangcal while Kolambugan, Magsaysay, Maigo and Nunungan have low density settlements and are slow growing.

The chart below summarizes the densities vis-à-vis growth rates in population:

Table 6.  Population Size and Population Density by City/Municipality,  Lanao del Norte, 2000 & 2007

Source:  PPDO

Other Characteristics

Age and Sex Distribution. The age-sex pyramid of Lanao del Norte’s population in 2000 depicts an expansive profile, implying a relatively young population.  It has a shape of a cone with a very wide base starting at the age level of 5-9 years.  About 41.96% of the population were under 15 years of age.  The peak portion represents the old age population which comprises about 2.39%.  (See Figure 2).

In terms of sex structure, the province has a fairly balanced distribution of male and female population at 50.28 percent and 49.72, respectively. The sex ratio (number of males for every 100 females) of the province is 101.1 in 2000, which means that there are 101 males for every 100 females.

Table 7.  Total Population by Age Group, Sex and Sex Ratio, Lanao  del  Norte, CY 2000

Source:  NSO

Age-Dependency Ratio. The percentage of the provincial population belonging to age group 0-14 years declined by 1.32% from 41.97% in 1995 to 40.65% in 2000. The percentage in the productive age group (15-64 years) increased by 0.95 percentage point from 55.65% in 1995 to 56.60 in 2000.  The percentage belonging to the oldest age group (65 and over) slightly increased from 2.38% in 1995 to 2.74% in 2000.  As a result of the decrease in the percentage of the population age 0-14 and only a slight increase in the percentage of 15-64 years age grouping the dependency ratio dropped by 3.04 percentage point from 79.70% in 1995 to 76.66% in 2000.

The overall dependency ratio in 2000 was 76.66%.  This means that for every 100 persons aged 15 to 64 years, there were about 77 dependents (72 persons aged 0 to 14 – young dependents; and 5 persons aged 65 and over – old dependents).

Table 8. Age-Dependency Ratio, Lanao del Norte, CY 1995 and 2000

Source:  NSO

Voting Population. There were 249,229 persons or 52.88 percent of the total population belonging to the voting population (18 years old and over), 125,022 composed of  125,022 males and 124,207 females, as of 2000 Census of Population.

Religious Affiliation. Roman Catholic has the most adherents in terms of  religious affiliation in Lanao del Norte comprising 55.7% of the total household population.  Other affiliations are Islam with 35.9%; Aglipayan, 1.2%; Iglesia ni Cristo, 1.0% and UCCP 0.9%.  The remaining 5.2% were from other religious affiliations that include Seventh Day Adventist, Protestant congregations and others.

Table 9.        Household Population by Religious Affiliation and Sex, Lanao del Norte, CY 2000

Source: NSO

Ethnicity. The Maranaos represent the most numerous ethnic group in the province.  Of the 472,646 household population in Lanao del Norte, 35.8% are Maranaos.  Other ethnic groups included Cebuano (33.3%), Bisaya/Binisaya (27.1%), and Boholano (1.4%).  The remaining 1.7% consider themselves as belonging to other ethnic groups.

Table 10.   Ethnicity of Household Population by Sex, Lanao del Norte, CY 2000

Source: NSO

Language or Dialect Spoken. Bisaya/Binisaya is the most widely used dialect in the area.  About 38.8 percent of its people speak Bisaya/Binisaya.  Maranao comes next with 31.6 percent of the total household of 90,091.  Most of the people are either Roman Catholics or Muslims.

Table 11. Language or Dialect Generally Spoken in the Households,  Lanao del Norte, CY 2000

Source: NSO

Marital Status. Of the household population 10 years old and over, 46.88 percent are married and 45.36 percent are still single.  The remaining 7.76 percent are either widowed, divorced/separated, with other arrangements or with unknown marital status.

Table 12. Total Population 10 Years Old and Over by Age Group and Marital Status, CY 2000

Source: NSO

Population Projection

Between 2000 -2007, the province’s population grew at an annual rate of 1.53 percent.  Applying the geometric formula for computing growth rate, the projected population of the province for 2013 would be 927,055. This represents an additional population of 80,726 from the 2007 level and translates to a population density of 242 persons per square kilometer.

Table 13.   Estimated Population, Density, Additional Population at the End of the Plan Period

Source of Basic Data:  NSO

Existing Settlement Hierarchy

Lanao del Norte’s existing settlement pattern is a three-level hierarchy, the highest level is that of a sub-regional center. The next two levels are urbanizing centers and medium-small town categories.

The Metro-Iligan Area, consisting of Iligan City, the municipality of Linamon and parts of Baloi can be categorized as a sub-regional center.  These areas have a combined population greater than 300,000

and approximately one third of which are urban population. With Iligan City as its core and the operation of the Metro Iligan Regional Agro-industrial Center (MIRAIC), Metro Iligan can adequately perform its role as international production and distribution center.

The municipal clusters of Tubod, Baroy, Lala and Kapatagan are considered small urban centers in the hierarchy of settlements. With the opening up of secondary arterial roads connecting Lanao del Norte to adjacent provinces, these municipalities serve as center of commerce and trade between the provinces of Zamboanga del Sur and the mainland provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).