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Sultan Kudarat | |
|---|---|
| Other transcription(s) | |
| • Jawi | سولتان كودرت |
    (from top: left to right) Sultan Kudarat Provincial Capitol,Tacurong, Aerial view ofLebak, and Public Park inKalamansig. | |
 Flag  Seal | |
| Motto: SK Sikat Ka | |
 Location in the Philippines | |
OpenStreetMap  | |
| Coordinates:6°33′N124°17′E / 6.55°N 124.28°E /6.55; 124.28 | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Region | Soccsksargen |
| Founded | November 22, 1973 |
| Named after | Sultan Muhammad Dipatuan Kudarat |
| Capital | Isulan |
| Largest city | Tacurong |
| Government | |
| • Type | Sangguniang Panlalawigan |
| • Governor | Datu Pax Ali S. Mangudadatu |
| • Vice Governor | Prince Raden M. Sakaluran |
| • Legislature | Sultan Kudarat Provincial Board |
| Area | |
• Total | 5,298.34 km2 (2,045.70 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 18th out of 81 |
| Highest elevation | 1,503 m (4,931 ft) |
| Population (2024 census)[2] | |
• Total | 863,651 |
| • Rank | 34th out of 81 |
| • Density | 163.004/km2 (422.179/sq mi) |
| • Rank | 56th out of 81 |
| Demonym | Kudaratnon |
| Divisions | |
| • Independent cities | 0 |
| • Component cities | |
| • Municipalities | |
| • Barangays | 249 |
| • Districts | Legislative districts of Sultan Kudarat |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (PHT) |
| IDD : area code | +63 (0)64 |
| ISO 3166 code | PH-SUK |
| Spoken languages | |
| Income classification | 1st class |
| Website | sultankudaratprovince |
Sultan Kudarat, officially theProvince of Sultan Kudarat (Hiligaynon:Kapuoran sang Sultan Kudarat;Maguindanaon:Dairat nu Sultan Kudarat,Jawi: دايرت نو سولتان كودرت;Cebuano:Lalawigan sa Sultan Kudarat;Ilocano:Probinsia ti Sultan Kudarat;Filipino:Lalawigan ng Sultan Kudarat), is aprovince in thePhilippines located in theSoccsksargenregion inMindanao. According to the2020 census, it had a population of 854,052 people. Its capital isIsulan while the commercial center and largest city isTacurong.
The nameSultan Kudarat given to the province was derived from theMaguindanaon Muslim ruler,Sultan Muhammad Dipatuan Kudarat who began to assert his leadership in the year 1619 and reigned in theSultanate of Maguindanao from 1625 to 1671. Through his leadership, Spanish forces were successfully repelled from encroaching the Cotabato region of south-central Mindanao.[3] He is considered a national hero, and in his honor, the province was named after him.[4]
Sultan Kudarat was once part of theSultanate of Maguindanao. It became one of the strongholds of theMaguindanao society as some royal families established their own Sultanate in the region.
Sultan Kudarat was part of the former province ofCotabato, until its creation as an independent province (along withMaguindanao andNorth Cotabato) on November 22, 1973, throughPresidential Decree No. 341.[5]
Sultan Kudarat was transferred from Central Mindanao region to ARMM after its creation in 1989.[6] On December 18, 1998, Sultan Kudarat was transferred back to Central Mindanao through Republic Act No. 8744,[7] until Central Mindanao was renamed Soccsksargen in 2001.
One notable event that took place in Sultan Kudarat was the Palimbang Massacre (also called theMalisbong Masjid Massacre), which saw themass murder ofMoro residents of Barrio Malisbong inPalimbang by units of thePhilippine Military on September 24, 1974,[8][9]–1,500[8] two years afterFerdinand Marcos declaredmartial law. Accounts compiled by the Moro Women's Center inGeneral Santos state that 1,500 male Moros aged 11–70 were killed inside amosque, 3,000 women and children aged 9–60 were detained – with the women being raped – and 300 houses were razed by the government forces.[8]
On May 10 and 11 of 2024,Tacurong held the 8th "Sultan Kudarat Bird Festival" at the 2.5-hectare BarasBird Sanctuary, the largestnesting site of 20,000bird species, particularly those ofegrets andherons.[10]
Sultan Kudarat is situated in the southwestern section of centralMindanao. It is bounded on the north by the provinces ofMaguindanao del Norte,Maguindanao del Sur andCotabato; on the south bySouth Cotabato andSarangani; on the east byDavao del Sur; and on the west by theMoro Gulf and theCelebes Sea. The province's total land area is 5,298.34 square kilometres (2,045.70 sq mi).[11]
Two major mountain ranges encompass the province; theAlip Mountain Range in Columbio and theDaguma Mountain Range within the towns of Bagumbayan, Isulan, and Esperanza.[12] The three coastal towns on the province's western side (Lebak, Kalamansig, and Palimbang) are lined with mountain ranges that separate the central part of the province from the sea. There are also mountains on the eastern side, leaving flat land in between.[13]
The province has an irregular coastline of 132 kilometres (82 mi) in its three coastal towns, which face the Celebes Sea.[14] These coastal areas are prone totsunamis coming from the Celebes Sea.[12] Approximately 2/3 ofLake Buluan's area is covered by the province in the towns of Lutayan and President Quirino. There are 7 major rivers within the province:Alip,Allah,Kapingkong,Tran,Salaman,Palimbang andKabulnan. Additionally, there are 23 large creeks and 11 major springs within the province.[14]
Forestland constitutes the majority of the province's land use (50.32% ), followed by agricultural land (44.77%), fishing grounds (2.42%), non-agricultural land (1.16%), "other bodies of water" (1.02%), and fishponds (0.31%).[15]
Five major soil types are found within the province, the majority of which is classified asMountain Soil (71%), followed bySandy Loam (12.036%),Silty Clay Loam (4.880%),Clay Loam (4.612%) andLoamy Sand (0.185).[16]
The climate of Sultan Kudarat falls under Type IV of Climate (characterized by rain showers or evenly distributed rainfall throughout the year). Heavy rainfall occurs from April to November. Unlike most other provinces in the country, Sultan Kudarat is generally free fromtyphoons as it is situated outside the "typhoon belt".[12]
The average temperature is 35 °C (95 °F), with 38 °C (100 °F) as the average maximum normally occurring in March. The lowest recorded was 18 °C (64 °F) in the Kulaman area from December to early January.[12]
Sultan Kudarat comprises 11municipalities and 1city. Three of the municipalities (Kalamansig,Lebak, andPalimbang) are coastal towns, while the rest of the province is located inland. The 11 municipalities and Tacurong City are further subdivided into 249barangays.
Tacurong is the smallest unit in the province by land area, but is the most urbanized and is considered the province's commercial center. Other growth centers areLebak andIsulan, the latter being the provincial capital.
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1918 | 37,439 | — |
| 1939 | 53,965 | +1.76% |
| 1948 | 4,784 | −23.60% |
| 1960 | 77,783 | +26.16% |
| 1970 | 191,315 | +9.41% |
| 1975 | 238,812 | +4.55% |
| 1980 | 303,784 | +4.93% |
| 1990 | 435,905 | +3.68% |
| 1995 | 522,187 | +3.44% |
| 2000 | 586,505 | +2.52% |
| 2007 | 677,062 | +2.00% |
| 2010 | 747,087 | +3.65% |
| 2015 | 812,095 | +1.60% |
| 2020 | 854,052 | +1.07% |
| 2024 | 863,651 | +0.27% |
| Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[17][18][18] | ||
The population of Sultan Kudarat in the 2020 census was 854,052 people,[2] with a density of 160 inhabitants per square kilometre or 410 inhabitants per square mile.
At the 2000 census, the province had a total population of 586,505 inhabitants, which grew to 747,087 in the 2010 census. About 113 ethnic groups were identified in the province in the 2000 Census.[19] Though an ethnically diverse province, theHiligaynons constitute the majority of Sultan Kudarat's population,[19] with Hiligaynon being the province's most widely spoken language.[20] Other languages spoken in the province areMaguindanaon,Karay-a,Dulangan Manobo,Blaan,Teduray,Ilocano, andCebuano.[12]Filipino andEnglish are also widely understood and used in education, business, and administration as the national official languages, the former serving as dominant language in local media and of everyday communication of speakers of different languages, making it a secondary lingua franca in the province.
Aside from the Hiligaynons, who settled in Sultan Kudarat around the 17th to 18th centuries along with the Karay-as,[citation needed] whereas their fellow new settlers from Visayas continued until the Philippine independence, other ethnic groups in the province include theMaguindanaons (who constitute the majority of the provincial Muslim population), as well as theManobos,Tedurays andBlaans, the three autochthonous ethnic groups of the province.[19] Ilocanos and Cebuanos meanwhile are relative newcomers to the province, with the former comprising the majority of the population in the towns of Lambayong and President Quirino, and the latter in the town of Kalamansig.
| Religion | percentage | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catholic | 47.9% | |||
| Islam | 29.5% | |||
| Iglesia ni Cristo | 2.1% | |||
| Seventh-day Adventist | 1.49% | |||
| Others | 19.82% | |||
The two major religious groups in Sultan Kudarat areCatholic (47.9%) andIslam (29.5%).[22] Other Christian groups constitute most of the remainders such as theIglesia ni Cristo,Seventh-day Adventist,Evangelical Christians,United Church of Christ in the Philippines,Jehovah's Witnesses,United Methodist Church, Southern Baptists, as well as "tribal religions".[23]In 2015 the Philippine Statistics Authority recorded Islam followed by 29.48% of the population.[24]
The economy of Sultan Kudarat is predominantly agricultural. The leading crops produced in the province are rice, corn, coconuts, coffee, bananas, mangoes, durians and African palm.[33] The province is self-sufficient in poultry, swine and root crops, and is one of the few producers ofIrish potatoes in the Philippines. The southern Philippines Grain Complex in Tacurong is the largest grains-processing complex in the country. There are more than 200 rice mills in the province.[citation needed]
Fishing is an industry in the three coastal towns of the province (Kalamansig, Lebak and Palimbang).[34]Tuna caught along the coasts along theCelebes Sea are exported to Japan and Europe.
Other economic activities includecottage industries, which includecrafts made ofrattan,coconut shells,coir,driftwood and other types of wood.[35]
Metallic minerals, which include copper, gold and silver, are found within the mountainous areas of Isulan, Bagumbayan, Sen. Ninoy Aquino, Palimbang and Columbio. Non-metallic minerals which include sand, gravel and marbleized limestone are also found in the province.[36]
For the school year 2009–2010, the province has 475 schools (401 public and 74 private), 368 of which were elementary schools, 90 were secondary, and 17 were tertiary.Sultan Kudarat State University is the only public tertiary school within the province, with its main campus at Tacurong City. Its other campuses are situated in Bagumbayan, Isulan, Kalamansig, Lutayan, Palimbang, and Senator Ninoy Aquino.[37]
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In 2010, Sultan Kudarat had 27 hospitals (5 government-owned, 22 private and 1 mobile hospital), which are classified into 17 primary(6-25 beds capacity), 8 secondary (25-100 beds capacity) and 2 tertiary (over 100 beds capacity). Tacurong had the most number of hospitals in the province with 11, followed by Isulan with 5.[38]
As of 2010, the provincial road network spanned a total length of 3,749.5813 kilometres (2,329.8818 mi) of which 49.26% werebarangay roads, 27.97% provincial roads, 13.51% municipal/city roads and 9.25% national roads. Bagumbayan had the longest road network at 516.789 kilometres (321.118 mi), while Lutayan had the shortest at 107.38 kilometres (66.72 mi).[37]
Sultan Kudarat has two seaports: thePort of Lebak in Kalamansig and theSan Roque Port in Palimbang, and four airports (2 government-owned: Lebak Municipal Airport and President Quirino Airport, and 2 privately owned: Kalamansig Airport and Kenram Airport).[39]
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The following are the elected government officials and their years of tenure:
Elected Officials(2016-2019):
Elected Officials(2010-2013):
Elected Officials(2007-2010):
Elected Officials(2004-2007):
| Elected Officials(1998-2000; 2000–2004):
Elected Officials(1995-1998):
Elected Officials(1992-1995):
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The former governors who have administered the province are:[40]
Festivals celebrated within the province include:
PSA-CentralMindanao2000Census was invoked but never defined (see thehelp page).
Media related toSultan Kudarat at Wikimedia Commons
Geographic data related toSultan Kudarat atOpenStreetMapPlaces adjacent to Sultan Kudarat | |
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 Province ofSultan Kudarat | |
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Isulan (capital) | |
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