Also known as: Lalawigan ng Surigao del Norte
Surigao del Norte is a province in Region XIII (Caraga). Population 566K (PSA 2024 census), 1 city + 20 municipalities, 335 barangays total, land area 1,952.62 km². Provincial capital: Surigao City.
Surigao del Norte is a province in Region XIII (Caraga). Its capital is Surigao City.
Surigao del Norte had 565,644 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.
Surigao del Norte covers 1,952.62 km², per the PSA Philippine Statistical Yearbook figure used on this page.
Surigao del Norte has 1 component city and 20 municipalities (21 LGUs under the province), per PSA's Philippine Standard Geographic Code (2Q 2026), and 335 barangays.
Surigao del Norte's 1 component city is Surigao City. Its 20 municipalities are Alegria, Bacuag, Burgos, Claver, Dapa, Del Carmen, General Luna, Gigaquit, Mainit, Malimono, Pilar, Placer, San Benito, San Francisco, San Isidro, Santa Monica, Sison, Socorro, Tagana-an and Tubod.
Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur both descend from a single undivided 'Surigao' province, split by Republic Act No. 2786 on June 19, 1960 — Surigao del Norte kept Surigao City (a component city, not an independent HUC) as capital, while Surigao del Sur's capital became Tandag. The province includes Siargao Island, where Typhoon Odette (Rai) made its first Philippine landfall on December 16, 2021 as a super typhoon — provincial disaster authorities recorded 25 to 27 deaths and roughly ₱20 billion in damage.
Key industries: Tourism (Siargao Island, the 'Cloud 9' surf break), Nickel mining (Claver), Fishing, Agriculture (coconut/copra, rice)
Tourism has since rebounded sharply: Siargao-wide visitor arrivals, which fell to 125,088 in 2022 after the storm, surged 323.56% to 529,822 in 2023, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. The province is also home to the Del Carmen Mangrove Forest, the largest contiguous mangrove forest in the Philippines, and Sohoton Cove National Park on Bucas Grande Island. Most recently, in December 2024, a submarine-cable fault at the Cagdianao Substation in Claver caused an island-wide blackout across Siargao and Bucas Grande, prompting a state of calamity covering all 134 barangays on the islands.
Key industries: Tourism (Siargao Island, the 'Cloud 9' surf break), Nickel mining (Claver), Fishing, Agriculture (coconut/copra, rice)
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.
An island-dependent tourism economy that suffered a total blackout from a single submarine-cable failure in December 2024, just three years after Typhoon Odette's direct landfall, is a clear illustration of the infrastructure-resilience planning a live cross-LGU dashboard is built to help a PPDO track.
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