Santo Niño, officially the Municipality of Santo Niño (; ; ), is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''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 ...

Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...

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 12,519 people. Formerly known as Limbancauayan, it consists of the northern island of Camandag and the larger Santo Niño Island about to the south. In between those two islands is the smaller Pilar Island. The municipality's ''

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 ...

'' (town center) is located in Santo Niño Island.

History

This town has an ancient Bisayan name Limbankawayan which derived from the word ''limba'' meaning red and ''kawayan'' means bamboo thus a red colored bamboo (phyllostachys iridescens) which is abundant during those days. It was separated from Calbayog and made a pueblo and a parish by a Royal Decree of September 29, 1898. The Bishop of Cebu had recommended in 1895 that it achieve parish status, though final approval and confirmation was not relayed from Madrid through Manila until the year 1897.

Geography

Santo Niño consists of three islands: Santo Niño Island, Camandag Island and Pilar Island. These islands are located in the

Samar Sea The Samar Sea is a small sea within the Philippine archipelago, situated between the Bicol Region of Luzon and the Eastern Visayas. It is bordered by the islands of Samar to the east, Leyte to the south, Masbate to the west, and Luzon to the nor ...

about south-west of

Calbayog Calbayog, officially the City of Calbayog (; ), is a component city in the province of Samar, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 186,960 people. It lies along the coastal region of the province stretching about ...

on the main island of

. ;Santo Niño Island The larger Santo Niño Island is about north-west of

Maripipi Maripipi, officially the Municipality of Maripipi (; ; ), is a municipality in the province of Biliran, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 6,373 people, making it the least populated town in the province. The town' ...

Biliran Biliran, officially the Province of Biliran (Waray language, Waray-Waray: ''Probinsya han Biliran''; ; ), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region (Region VIII). Biliran is one of ...

province with an area of about . Both islands are volcanic in origin with Santo Niño having the highest elevation in the municipality at .U.S. Army Corps of Engineer (1954)
"Bogo (topographical map)"
University of Austin Library. Retrieved on 2013-11-11. ;Camandag Island The circular Camandag Island is located north of Santo Niño Island, about shore to shore. It has area of about with an elevation of . ;Pilar Island The smallest island of the municipality is located off north-west of Santo Niño Island and about south-west of Camandag Island. Pilar Island has an elevation of .U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (1919). "United States Coast Pilot, Philippine Islands, Part 1", pg. 205. Government Printing Office, Washington.

Barangays

Santo Niño is politically subdivided into 13

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 ...

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Transportation

There are no airports on the islands of Santo Niño and Camandag. The islands are reached by boats from the Port of

.Fabian, Galwin (2013-09-21)
"Santo Niño Island in Samar"
Intrepid Wanderer. Retrieved on 2013-11-11.