Also known as: Lalawigan ng Cagayan
Cagayan is a province in Region II (Cagayan Valley), Northern Luzon. Population 1.28M (PSA 2024 census), 1 city + 28 municipalities, 820 barangays total, land area 9,398.07 km². Provincial capital: Tuguegarao City.
Cagayan is a province in Region II (Cagayan Valley). Its capital is Tuguegarao City.
Cagayan had 1,284,676 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.
Cagayan covers 9,398.07 km², per the PSA Philippine Statistical Yearbook figure used on this page.
Cagayan has 1 component city and 28 municipalities (29 LGUs under the province), per PSA's Philippine Standard Geographic Code (2Q 2026), and 820 barangays.
Cagayan's 1 component city is Tuguegarao City. Its 28 municipalities are Abulug, Alcala, Allacapan, Amulung, Aparri, Baggao, Ballesteros, Buguey, Calayan, Camalaniugan, Claveria, Enrile, Gattaran, Gonzaga, Iguig, Lal-lo, Lasam, Pamplona, Peñablanca, Piat, Rizal, Sanchez-Mira, Santa Ana, Santa Praxedes, Santa Teresita, Santo Niño, Solana and Tuao.
According to PSA census data and DEPDev (formerly NEDA) regional development reports, Cagayan's land-use planning centers on the Cagayan River basin — the longest river system in the Philippines — which floods large parts of the province almost every typhoon season; Typhoon Ulysses (Vamco) in November 2020 put major stretches of lowland Cagayan underwater and forced a province-wide review of floodplain zoning under the PDPFP.
Key industries: Agriculture (rice, corn, Virginia tobacco), Fishing and aquaculture, Freeport / special economic zone (CEZA, Santa Ana / Port Irene), Forestry, Logistics (Cagayan River / Aparri port)
Rice, corn, and Virginia tobacco farming dominate land use across the Cagayan Valley floor, while the north-coast Cagayan Special Economic Zone and Freeport (CEZA, centered on Santa Ana and the Port Irene deep-water port) runs a separate industrial and logistics zoning track through a municipality that is otherwise agricultural. Coastal erosion and river-mouth siltation around Aparri add a third, slower-moving land-use pressure the province's CLUP coordination has to track alongside flood risk and agricultural land conversion. Cagayan province should not be confused with Cagayan de Oro City, a separate, unrelated highly urbanized city in Misamis Oriental, Mindanao.
Key industries: Agriculture (rice, corn, Virginia tobacco), Fishing and aquaculture, Freeport / special economic zone (CEZA, Santa Ana / Port Irene), Forestry, Logistics (Cagayan River / Aparri port)
More on the regulatory framework: CLUP explainer · RA 7160 explainer · SGLG explainer · full glossary. Working a CLUP review cycle? Run the CLUP readiness self-check or see CLUP compliance monitoring.
Cagayan is a strong Nova Gov fit because its core planning problem is genuinely cross-jurisdictional: floodwater from upstream municipalities determines what's buildable downstream, and CEZA's freeport zoning sits inside a province otherwise governed by standard RA 7160 CLUP rules. A shared dashboard overlaying flood-hazard maps, agricultural zoning, and freeport boundaries across all 29 component LGUs is exactly the coordination layer a paper-based PDPFP process struggles to keep current.
Cagayan's PDPFP has to reconcile Cagayan River floodplain zoning, agricultural land classification, and the CEZA freeport boundary across 29 component LGUs. Book a working consultation and we'll talk through how a pilot could handle that against your CLUP before you commit to anything.
Schedule a Cagayan PDPFP consultation →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.
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