Casiguran, Aurora


', officially the ', is a 2nd class of the Philippines| in the province of,. According to the, it has a population of people.
The municipality is home to the Amro River Protected Landscape.

Etymology

According to folk legend, the name Casiguran was obtained from the Ilocano term Sigod which means "edge" or "maximum", which is due to the location of the Municipality at the northern edge of Aurora Province. Another legend says that if an unmarried stranger comes to the place, he unavoidably falls in love and marries and most of the time stays for good.

History

Casiguran was founded by Spanish missionaries on 13 June 1609. Prior to their arrival, early settlers were the Dumagats and Aetas, followed by migrants from other parts of the Philippines. These migrants spoke different languages such as Ilocano, Visayan languages, Bikol languages, Kapampangan, Gaddang, Itawis and Ibanag, and from these a Kasiguranin dialect evolved.
In 1942, invading Japanese forces landed in the town of Casiguran. In 1945, Allied troops as well as Philippine Commonwealth forces and recognized guerrilla units during the Battle of Casiguran at the end of World War II. When the Philippines regained sovereignty in 1946, Aurora was still part of Tayabas Province and Casiguran was a lone northern town. Its political jurisdiction is bounded on the north by the province of Isabela, on the west by Quirino, and on the south west by Barangay Dinadiawan, which was then the boundary between Baler and Casiguran.
In 1959 and 1966, the barrios of Dilasag and Dinalungan, which were part of Casiguran and situated on its northern and south-western portions, were made into municipalities.
On August 2, 1968, the 7.6 magnitude 1968 Casiguran earthquake struck near Casiguran.

Geography

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the has a land area of constituting of the total area of Aurora.
Casiguran is located north-east of Baler, the provincial capital. It is bounded on the north-east by Dilasag, south-west by Dinalungan, north-west by Quirino and southeast by the Philippine Sea.

Barangays

Casiguran is politically subdivided into 24 barangays.

Climate

Demographics

In the, had a population of. The population density was.
In 1960, the population of Casiguran was 6,900. This was almost doubled by the 1970s when population was 12,128, an increase of about 76%. Between 1970 and 1975, there was a marked decreased in the number of population from 12,128 to 11,670. This reduction was due to deteriorated peace and order, which forced some of the population to move away. The trend reversed by 1980, with an increase of 19% or an annual average growth rate increase of 3.86%. Increasing population continued during the succeeding censal years but with a declining annual average population growth rate. This is attributed to the gradual stoppage of logging operations in the area. Many workers involved in this trade were not original residents, so when the jobs were no longer available, they left. Between 1995 and 1999 there was a significant increase of the annual average population growth rate to 4.36%.