Sibalom, officially the Municipality of Sibalom, (; ; ), 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 ...

Antique An antique () is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely to describe any object that i ...

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 63,833 people. Thus, making it a suburb of San Jose (the provincial capital), the second most populous municipality in the province of Antique and fifth largest municipality in terms of land area, with a total area of 201.30 square kilometers. Sibalom is home to the

University of Antique The University of Antique (UA), formerly the Polytechnic State College of Antique, is a state university in the Philippines. It is mandated to provide higher technological, professional and vocational instruction and training in science, agricu ...

Geography

Sibalom is located at . It is from the provincial capital,

San Jose de Buenavista San Jose de Buenavista, officially the Municipality of San Jose de Buenavista (; ; ), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality and capital of the Philippine Province, province of Antique (province), Antique, Philippines. According ...

. According to the

Philippine Statistics Authority The Philippine Statistics Authority (; PSA) is the central statistical authority of the Philippine government that collects, compiles, analyzes, and publishes statistical information on economic, social, demographic, political affairs, and gene ...

, the municipality has a land area of constituting of the total area of Antique.

Climate

Barangays

Sibalom is politically subdivided into 76

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 ...

. From 1953 to 1955, Barangay Catmon was known as Barangay Pajarito.

Demographics

In the 2020 census, Sibalom had a population of 63,833. The population density was .

Economy

Sibalom Natural Park

Sibalom Natural Park, one of the last patches of lowland forest on

Panay Island Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of and a total population of 4,542,926, as of 2020 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City of I ...

and the first protected area in the island, harbors many unique species of plants and animals, some of which are on the brink of extinction. About of forest in Sibalom from Mount Porras extending to Mount Igmatindog, covering

Sibalom river The Sibalom River is the longest river in the province of Antique (province), Antique in Panay island Philippines. With a total length of and a drainage basin covering , it is the largest river system in Antique and fourth longest in Panay afte ...

and its main tributaries Mao-it river and Tipulu-an river, was declared a natural park on April 23, 2000. Of this forest, are undisturbed by any human activity while about constitutes the 50-year-old reforestation site. One highlight is the '' Rafflesia speciosa'', discovered in Mount Porras and surrounding Barangays in 2002. Dubbed the biggest bloom in the world, its discovery put Sibalom in the map of tourist stopovers in the Philippines. Sibalom also has century-old industries and structures, as well as boulders of gemstones and treacherous mountain trails.

Tourism

Sibalom's tourism industry dawned after the proclamation of the Sibalom Natural Park.

References

External links

* Philippine Standard Geographic Code {{Authority control Municipalities of Antique (province)