The Cagayan River, also known as the Cagayan de Oro River, is one of the rivers draining the northern central part of the island of

Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...

in the

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 ...

. The river has its

headwaters The headwater of a river or stream is the geographical point of its beginning, specifically where surface runoff water begins to accumulate into a flowing channel of water. A river or stream into which one or many tributary rivers or streams flo ...

in the

Kalatungan Mountain Range The Kalatungan Mountain Range in the central portion of the province of Bukidnon, Philippines, is one of the few areas in the province covered with old growth or mossy forests. It covers an area of approximately 213.0134 km2 (82.24493 ...

and

Kitanglad Mountain Range The Kitanglad Mountain Range dominates the northern central portion of the province of Bukidnon, Philippines. It occupies portions of eight of the municipalities and cities in the province such as Talakag, Baungon, Libona, Manolo Fortich, Impa ...

found in the central part of the province of

Bukidnon Bukidnon (), officially the Province of Bukidnon (; ; ; Bukid language, Binukid and Higaonon language, Higaonon: ''Probinsya ta Bukidnon''), is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Northern Mindan ...

. It traverses the municipalities of

Talakag Talakag, officially the Municipality of Talakag ( Bukid and Higaonon: ''Banuwa ta Talakag''; ; ), is a municipality in the province of Bukidnon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 77,027 people. It is located on ...

Baungon Baungon, officially the Municipality of Baungon ( Bukid and Higaonon: Banuwa ta Baungon; ; ), is a municipality in the province of Bukidnon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 37,111 people. History Baungon was c ...

, and

Libona Libona, officially the Municipality of Libona ( Bukid and Higaonon: Banuwa ta Libona; ; ), is a municipality in the province of Bukidnon, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 48,965 people. Libona is situated in th ...

, connecting tributaries along the way. It finally empties into

Macajalar Bay Macajalar Bay is a deep water bay of the Bohol Sea, located north of the province of Misamis Oriental on Mindanao Island, in the southern part of the Philippines. Cagayan de Oro, being the regional center of Northern Mindanao, is located in one ...

Cagayan de Oro Cagayan de Oro (abbreviated CDO and officially the City of Cagayan de Oro; ; Bukid language, Binukid: ''Ciudad ta Cagayan de Oro''; ; ) is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Regions of the Philippi ...

. The river serves as the natural boundary between the province of Bukidnon and

Iligan Iligan, officially the City of Iligan (; Bukid: ''Ciudad ta Iligan''; Maranao: ''Bandar a Iligan''; ), is a highly urbanized city in the region of Northern Mindanao, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 363,115 ...

and between Bukidnon and Cagayan de Oro, based on the administrative order issued by the defunct

Department of Mindanao and Sulu The Department of Mindanao and Sulu was an agency of the United States colonial administration in the Philippine Islands task to administer all Muslim-dominated areas in the territory. It was established on July 23, 1914, pursuant to Act No. 2 ...

during the

American occupation of the Philippines American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

. In Cagayan de Oro, it is the dividing line between its two

Congressional districts Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional body. Countries with congressional districts includ ...

. The Cagayan River is a very popular site for

whitewater rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

in the Philippines and has been promoted by the Department of Tourism as the main tourist attraction of Cagayan de Oro.

Etymology

The original name of the river is ''Kalambaguasasahan River'', because of the presence of ''Lambago'' trees (''

Hibiscus tiliaceus ''Hibiscus tiliaceus'', commonly known as the sea hibiscus or coast cottonwood, is a species of flowering tree in the mallow family, Malvaceae, with a pantropical distribution along coastlines. It has also been introduced to Florida and New Zeal ...

'', a member of the ''

Malvaceae Malvaceae (), or the mallows, is a family of flowering plants estimated to contain 244 genera with 4225 known species. Well-known members of economic importance include Theobroma cacao, cacao, Cola (plant), cola, cotton, okra, Hibiscus sabdariffa, ...

'' tree family that only thrives in low altitude areas like seashores, riverbanks and other areas reached by tidal streams) along the river banks. During the arrival of the

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance-speaking ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern nation-state of Spain. Genetically and ethnolinguistically, Spaniards belong to the broader Southern a ...

, the name was changed to Cagayan River. The name of the river ''Cagayan'' comes from the

Malayo-Polynesian The Malayo-Polynesian languages are a subgroup of the Austronesian languages, with approximately 385.5 million speakers. The Malayo-Polynesian languages are spoken by the Austronesian peoples outside of Taiwan, in the island nations of Southeast ...

word ''"Ag"'', which means water. ''"Kagay"'' means river and ''"Kagayan"'' is place with a river. This river is not to be confused with the country's longest and largest river of the same name located in northern Luzon, despite sharing similar etymology with each other.

Geography

Course

The river's headwaters is found in the

, in the central portion of the province of

. It flows northward towards Cagayan de Oro for about "Principal River Basins of the Philippines", Published by the National Water Resources Board, October 1976 (p. 12) before emptying into

Drainage Area

The river drains an area of approximately . About 80% of the drainage basin is located in the Province of

and the rest is in

and Cagayan de Oro.

Tributaries

The main tributaries of the Cagayan de Oro River are the following: * Kalawaig River * Tagite River * Bubunaoan River * Tumalaong River

Mouth

The river's mouth is located in Cagayan de Oro. After a course from the mountains of

, the river finally discharges its load to

Tourism

Whitewater rafting and kayaking

Whitewater rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

and river trekking has been one of the tourism activities being promoted in the river. The city administration and the Department of Tourism made it as the banner tourism activity in

. The jump-off point of the river,

is at Barangay Mambuaya, a 30-40 minute ride from the city proper. Recently, whitewater rafting in the Cagayan River is gaining popularity through the years after President

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Maria Gloria Macaraeg Macapagal-Arroyo (; born April 5, 1947), often referred to as PGMA or GMA, is a Filipino academic and politician who served as the 14th president of the Philippines from Presidency of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, 2001 to 2010 ...

and other famous personalities in the country have tried the challenging

in the river.

Rio de Oro Boulevard

The 2.5-kilometer two-lane Rio de Oro Boulevard along the Cagayan de Oro River is a major

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beaut ...

. It connects from Barangay Puntod, J.R. Borja Streets, CM Recto Avenue-Marcos Bridge and Consolacion with

three-way junction A three-way junction (or three-way intersection) is a type of road intersection with three arms. A Y junction (or Y intersection) generally has three arms of equal size coming at an acute or obtuse angle to each other; while a T junction (or T ...

to Burgos Street. Inaugurated in August 2023, the Cagayan de Oro River flood management project was financed by the

Japanese International Cooperation Agency The Japan International Cooperation Agency (), also known as JICA'','' is a governmental agency that delivers the bulk of Official Development Assistance (ODA) for the government of Japan. It is chartered with assisting economic and social gro ...

. ROB is host to the Pasko de Oro festival of December 2023 after the August

Higalaay Festival The Higalaay Festival (formerly known as ''Kagay-an Festival'', then to ''Higalaay Kagay-an Festival'' in 2014http://clix.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/higalaay-festival-2014.jpg ) is a patronal festival held each year in Cagayan de Oro, Ph ...

. The boulevard's "Tree of Life" historical marker was installed at Isla De Oro along the CDO river as memorial to the

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It originated from the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South and Southeast As ...

shelter for 50 natives during the 2011 typhoon

Tropical Storm Washi Severe Tropical Storm Washi, known in the Philippines as Severe Tropical Storm Sendong, was a late-season tropical cyclone that caused around 1,200 to 2,500 deaths and catastrophic damage in the Philippines in late 2011. Washi made landfall o ...

Fishery

The stream is an important seasonal freshwater artisanal fishery producing an annual catch, as of 2016, of about US$500,000 from an average weekly catch of by each fisherman. In the lower reaches of the stream, this low catch of smaller immature fish is evidence of lack of management of the fishery. Less than 1% to as much as 10% of the local population may be engaged at least part-time as fishermen, most are men. Full-time fishermen earn about US$1,000 to 2,000 per year, which is below the poverty line.

Gill net Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is ...

cast net A casting net, also called a throw net, is a net used for fishing. It is a circular net with small weights distributed around its edge. The net is cast or thrown by hand in such a manner that it spreads out while it's in the air before it sin ...

s, long lines,

fish hook A fish hook or fishhook, formerly also called an angle (from Old English ''angol'' and Proto-Germanic ''*angulaz''), is a hook used to catch fish either by piercing and embedding onto the inside of the fish mouth (angling) or, more rarely, by i ...

s and line sets,

spears A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to t ...

, traps and

traditional fishing boat Traditionally, many different kinds of boats have been used as fishing boats to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Even today, many traditional fishing boats are still in use. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Org ...

s are used. The catch includes Snapper (Aha-an),

Flagtail The flagtails (' or ' in the Hawaiian language) are a family (Kuhliidae) of centrarchiform ray-finned fish of the Indo-Pacific area. The family consists of about 12 species in one genus, ''Kuhlia''. Most are euryhaline and often found in brackish ...

(Aligaman),

Crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura (meaning "short tailed" in Greek language, Greek), which typically have a very short projecting tail-like abdomen#Arthropoda, abdomen, usually hidden entirely under the Thorax (arthropo ...

(Alimango), Red-tailed goby (Anga), Squaretail mullet (Balanak),

Goby The Gobioidei are a suborder of percomorph fish. Many of these fishes are called gobies. It is by far the largest and most diverse order within the order Gobiiformes, and one of the most diverse groups of ray-finned fish in general. The subord ...

(Batinga),

Silver perch Silver perch is a common name for several fishes and may refer to: *'' Bairdiella chrysoura'', native to the east coast of the United States *''Bidyanus bidyanus The silver perch (''Bidyanus bidyanus'') is a medium-sized freshwater fish of the ...

(Bugaong), Otomebora Mullet (Bunak),

Indo-Pacific Tarpon The Indo-Pacific tarpon (''Megalops cyprinoides''), also known as the oxeye herring or simply herring due to its superficial resemblance to the Clupeidae, true herrings, of which it is not a member, is the smaller of the two species of Megalops, ...

(Buwan-buwan), Loach goby (Dalapakan), Mountain bass (Damagan), Indian pellona (Ibis),

Flathead grey mullet The flathead grey mullet (''Mugil cephalus'') is an important food fish species in the mullet family Mugilidae. It is found in coastal temperate, tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. Its length is typically . It is known with numerous En ...

(Gisaw),

Gourami Gouramis, or gouramies , are a group of fresh water, freshwater Anabantiformes, anabantiform fish that comprise the family (biology), family Osphronemidae. The fish are native to Asia—from the Indian Subcontinent to Southeast Asia and northeas ...

(Gurami), Mudfish (Halu-an),

Shrimp A shrimp (: shrimp (American English, US) or shrimps (British English, UK)) is a crustacean with an elongated body and a primarily Aquatic locomotion, swimming mode of locomotion – typically Decapods belonging to the Caridea or Dendrobranchi ...

(Hipon,

(Iswil),

Carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

(Karpa), Eel (Kasili), Spotted Scat (Kikilo), Mullet (Muli),

Cyprinidae Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family, including the carps, the true minnows, and their relatives the barbs and barbels, among others. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family, and t ...

(Pait),

Catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order (biology), order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Catfish are common name, named for their prominent barbel (anatomy), barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, though not ...

(Pantat), Rock goby (Pigok),

Mangrove red snapper The mangrove red snapper (''Lutjanus argentimaculatus''), also known as mangrove jack, grey snapper, creek red bream, Stuart evader, dog bream, purple sea perch, red bream, red perch, red reef bream, river roman, or rock barramundi (though it is ...

(Tadlungan),

Tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically mos ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cagayan River (Cagayan de Oro) Rivers of the Philippines Landforms of Misamis Oriental Landforms of Bukidnon Tourist attractions in Cagayan de Oro