Baao, officially the Municipality of Baao (

Rinconada Bikol Rinconada Bikol or simply Rinconada, spoken in the province of Camarines Sur, Philippines, is one of several languages that compose the Inland Bikol (or Southern Bicol) group of the Bikol languages, Bikol macrolanguage. It belongs to the Austr ...

: ''Banwāan ka Baao''; Tagalog: ''Bayan ng Baao)'' is municipality in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Camarines Sur Camarines Sur (; ), officially the Province of Camarines Sur (Central Bikol language, Bikol: ''Probinsya kan Habagatan na Camarines''; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Bicol Region on Luzon. Its ca ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 61,493 people.

Geography

The municipality of Baao is within the 5th Congressional District of the province of Camarines Sur. The town is bounded on the north by the municipalities of Pili and Ocampo, on the east by the city of Iriga, on the west by Bula, and south by the municipality Nabua. Baao is from Pili and from

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

Barangays

Baao is politically subdivided into 30

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...

s and some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own bar ...

. * Agdangan Pob. (San Cayetano) * Antipolo * Bagumbayan * Cristo Rey * Del Pilar * Del Rosario (

Poblacion ''Poblacion'' (from Spanish '' población'', meaning "population"), sometimes abbreviated as Pob., is a term used in the Philippines to refer to the administrative center, downtown, old town, or commercial area of a city or municipality. It ...

) * Iyagan * La Medalla * Caranday (La Purisima) * Lourdes * Nababarera * Sagrada * Salvacion * San Antonio (Buluang) * San Francisco (

) * San Isidro (Oras) * San Jose (

) * San Juan * San Nicolas (

) * San Rafael (Ikpan) * Pugay (San Rafael/San Jose) * San Ramon (

) * San Roque (

) * San Vicente * Santa Cruz (

) * Santa Eulalia * Santa Isabel * Santa Teresa (Vega) * Santa Teresita (Tara-tara) * Tapol

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Baao, Camarines Sur, was 61,493 people, with a density of . As of 2020 50,419 or 82% of people lived in urban areas while the remaining 11,074 18% people live in rural areas.

Language

is the main language of the population. Baaoeños used the Baao variant, a lowland dialect (sinaranəw) of Rinconada Bikol which is different of that in Iriga. Tagalog and English are also spoken in formal gatherings and occasions. The latter is widely used in schools as well as in business transactions.

Religion

As one of the historical towns of Catholicism in the Bicol region, Baao has a majority of Roman Catholic adherents.

Iglesia ni Cristo The (INC; ; ) is an independent Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, church founded in 1913 and registered by Felix Manalo, Félix Manalo in 1914 as a corporation sole, sole religious corporation ...

on the other hand is the second largest group. Islam has already set off in the town and they are composed of Muslim merchants/immigrants from Mindanao. Various Protestant religious sects are also present.

Economy

Transportation

Accessible only by land transportation, it is along the main route of the

Maharlika Highway The Pan-Philippine Highway, also known as the Maharlika Highway (; ), is a network of roads, expressways, bridges, and ferry services that connect the islands of Luzon, Samar, Leyte, and Mindanao in the Philippines, serving as the country's ...

and the

Philippine National Railways The Philippine National Railways (PNR) (; ) is a government-owned and controlled corporation, state-owned railway company in the Philippines which operates one commuter rail service between Laguna (province), Laguna and Quezon, and local servic ...

. Commuter rail services are provided by PNR serving from Naga City as its terminus and stops at Baao Station up to Ligao City in

Albay Albay (IPA: ), officially the Province of Albay (; ; Baybayin, ᜎᜎᜏᜒᜄᜈ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜀᜎ᜔ᜊᜌ᜔), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Bicol Region of the Philippines, mostly on the southeastern part of the isla ...

then back again northward to Naga. Yet rail service to Manila is currently suspended due severe damages brought by Typhoon Reming in 2006. However, this is overtaken by bus companies that serve daily intercity trips. From Naga City, the easiest way to go to Baao is to ride a bus going to Iriga City from the Naga City Central Bus Terminal and disembark at Baao bus stop.

Culture

Fiestas and festivals

The town fiesta (Feast of St. Bartolomew) or "Pintakasi" of Baao is celebrated from August 23 to 25. The only festival at Baao is the Barlin Festival; it commemorates the birthday of the First Filipino Bishop, Jorge I. Barlin. It is celebrated annually during the month of April.

Education

Baao Community College the lone state school offering tertiary courses for college students. La Consolacion College Baao (formerly, the Sta. Monica Academy) is a private catholic school run by Augustinian sisters. It offers both elementary and secondary quality education with the purpose of creating graduates not only of high caliber but also with hearts that are "in one" with the poor. Rosary School Inc. (formerly, the Rosary Learning Center) is a private educational institution offering complete preschool, elementary and secondary courses. Ave Maria Early Childhood Impressions Center is a private catholic school for toddlers and preschoolers ages two years old and above. Other schools include: * Agdangan High School * Baao Central School * Baao High School * Baao West Central School * Eusebia Paz Arroyo Memorial High School * Nonito Paz Arroyo Memorial High School

Notable people

* Jorge Barlin é Imperial (1850-1909), First native Filipino bishop. * Fr. Joaquin G. Bernas, S.J., J.S.D. Lawyer, Jesuit priest, constitutional law scholar, writer and newspaper columnist. *

Luis Dato Luis Guevara Dato (4 July 1906 – 29 January 1985) was a Filipinos, Filipino poet, writer, educator and politician from Baao, Camarines Sur. He was one of the first Filipinos to write and publish works in English. Among his Poetry, poems are "Th ...

, writer, poet and educator * Rodolfo Dato, Dean of the University of Nueva Caceres * Joker P. Arroyo, Filipino lawyer, politician and Senator of the Republic of the Philippines. *

Beatriz Saw Maria Beatriz Imperial Saw-Tan (born November 17, 1985), is a Filipino actress of Taiwanese descent. She won the second season of ''Pinoy Big Brother''. On June 30, 2007 (day 126) after garnering about 1.5 million votes, or 30.29% of t ...

Pinoy Big Brother ''Big Brother'' () is a Philippine television reality competition show broadcast by ABS-CBN, Kapamilya Channel, TV5, and GMA Network based on the Dutch reality television franchise '' Big Brother''. Originally hosted by Willie Revillame, ...

Season 2 Big Winner, actress

References

External links

Philippine Standard Geographic Code The Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC) is a systematic classification and coding for geographic areas in the Philippines. It classifies areas based on the country's four levels of administrative divisions: regions, provinces, municipalities ...

br>Philippine Census Information
{{Authority control Municipalities of Camarines Sur