Also known as: City of Iligan, City of Majestic Waterfalls, Dakbayan sa Iligan
Iligan City is a highly urbanized city in Lanao del Norte, Region X (Northern Mindanao). Population 368K (PSA 2024 census), 44 barangays, land area 813.37 km².
Iligan City is a highly urbanized city in Lanao del Norte, Region X (Northern Mindanao).
Iligan City had 368,132 residents in the 2024 census (PSA 2024 Census of Population (POPCEN 2024), reference date July 1, 2024). That is the most recent official count. There is no 2026 census result, so any 2026 population figure is an estimate.
Iligan City covers 813.37 km², per the PSA Philippine Statistical Yearbook figure used on this page.
Iligan City has 44 barangays.
Iligan City is Northern Mindanao's industrial center, built around the hydroelectric power generated by the Agus River complex — including the Agus V, VI, and VII plants — which supplies a substantial share of Mindanao's electricity grid. The city's industrial base also historically included the National Steel Corporation mill, once Asia's largest, which at its peak contributed roughly 75% of Iligan's tax revenue before ceasing operations in 1999; a Holcim cement plant and flour and tinplate milling continue that heavy-industry tradition today.
Key industries: Hydroelectric power (Agus River complex), Steel and heavy industry, Cement manufacturing, Agriculture
Iligan's most consequential planning event remains Tropical Storm Washi (Sendong), which caused catastrophic flash flooding across Iligan and neighboring Cagayan de Oro overnight on December 16–17, 2011. Sources vary on an Iligan-specific death toll, but the combined toll across both cities is consistently reported in the 1,200 to 1,300 range, and the disaster reshaped both cities' approach to land-use and disaster-risk planning. Iligan's most recent comprehensive land use plan, covering 2013–2022 and built with that disaster-risk lens, was in an early stakeholder-engagement phase toward an update as of a May 2025 planning session. The city's population grew from 363,115 in the 2020 Census to 368,132 in the 2024 Census.
Officials coordinating Iligan's post-Sendong disaster-risk planning can compare notes with other Northern Mindanao LGUs in the LGU directory. Planning teams evaluating digital compliance tools can explore the pilot program or schedule a consultation.
More on the regulatory framework: CLUP compliance (RA 7160 / EO 72 / DHSUD) · SGLG explainer (RA 11292) · full glossary.
Iligan is more than a decade into updating a disaster-risk-focused land use plan that traces back to one of Mindanao's deadliest flood disasters, and has to keep hazard mapping, zoning, and industrial-safety records in sync while that update proceeds. Nova Gov's platform is built for exactly this kind of cross-department coordination, and the pilot program is designed to help planning offices bring hazard overlays and land-use records into one place.
More than a decade after Typhoon Sendong reshaped its disaster-risk planning, Iligan is still working through a CLUP update. See how a founding pilot could line up hazard overlays with zoning and permitting records ahead of the next event.
Explore the Iligan City pilot →We build custom software around CLUP, CDP and zoning work, for LGU planning offices and for the planning firms LGUs hire. Free 30-minute workflow call, then a fixed written quote.
See what we build for urban planners →