Natonin


', officially the ' is a of the Philippines| in the province of,. According to the, it has a population of people.

Geography

The municipality is very mountainous, with very little level ground lending itself to agriculture. The barangays are geographically isolated by high mountains covered in jungle. It has a total land area of around 20 000 hectares.

Barangays

Natonin is politically subdivided into 11 barangays.

Demographics

The natives of the town are generally called Balangaos/ Iferangao who speak the Finerangao language. There are two sub-tribes namely Hakki who inhabit the western part of the town and the Majukayyongs who inhabit the Barangays of Saliok and Maducayan. The Majukayyongs initially came from Southern Kalinga. Populations of the town are of Igorot lineage. Headhunting was practiced in throughout Natonin as late as the mid-1930s, and was set aside in favor of Christianity and education after World War II.

Languages

The town is home to two indigenous languages which have been existing in the town even before the arrival of the Spanish. These languages are the "Balangaw" dialect and the "Kinalinga" dialect. Immigrants from the Ilocos Region came in the 1970's and imported the "Ilokano" dialect during the martial law era.

Economy

The primary crop is rice, although a lack of arable land, lack of mechanization and no access to fertilizers limits the harvest to a subsistence level only. Families rely on small livestock populations to supplement the diet. Fruits and wild coffee are harvested from the forest. Poblacion boasts of numerous family ponds which raise tilapia for consumption. Due to the terrain, rice is planted on terraced fields. Locals consider the rice terraces of Natonin to be equal or surpassing those of Banaue to the south.

Transportation

Transportation throughout Natonin is largely undeveloped roads. The only paved roads are in Poblacion proper. Roads frequently become impassable in the rainy seasons. Some barangays are inaccessible by road. Maducayan lies one mile beyond a recent road extension from the center of Saliok to the westernmost situ of Saliok.

Tourism

Natonin have the following tourism sites: