Commission on Population     
 Regional Population Office No. 10
       J.V. Seriņa St., Carmen, Cagayan de Oro City

"Tatlumpu't limang taong paglilingkod tungo sa matatag na Pilipinong pamilya"
  
 

Province of MISAMIS OCCIDENTAL
 
   

 

The name "Misamis" is believed to have been derived from the Subano word "Kuyamis" which is variety of sweet coconut - the staple food of the early settlers in this place.  During the years the name persisted as an inference of geographical location and upon the advent of the Sapnish settlers, the word "Kuyamis" easily gave way to the more conveniently pronounceable word "Misamis".

The original inhabitants of this area were the Bukidnon who gradually retreated into the interior following the steady influx of settlers from Cebu and Bohol.

 

Physical Characteristics

Geographic Location and Significance

Misamis Occidental is located near the narrow strip of land linking Northwestern Mindanao, to the Northcentral part of the island.  Shaped like a collapsible fan it is bounded on the northeast by the Mindanao Sea, east by the Iligan Bay, southeast by the Panguil Bay, and the west by the Zamboanga del Norte and Sur.  The fact that three of its boundaries are bodies of water gives away water life as one of its natural resources and fishing as one of its main industries.  Except along the coastal area, hilly and rolling land characterized the provincial terrain.  Towards the western border, the terrain is particularly rugged.

Political Subdivision

The province consists of fourteen municipalities, including the lately created Don Victoriano Chiongbian municipality and three cities namely:  Ozamiz, Oroquieta, and Tangub.  The provincial capital is Oroquieta City.  

Legislative Act No. 3537 passed November 2, 1929 divided the old province of Misamis into Misamis Occidental.  The Occidental comprise the towns of Baliangao, Lopez Jaena, Tudela, Clarin, Plaridel, Oroquieta, Aloran, Jimenez, and Misamis.  The original nine municipalities of the province grew into the present three cities of Ozamiz, Oroquieta and Tangub and fourteen municipalities of Aloran, Baliangao, Bonifacio, Calamba, Clarin, Concepcion, Don Victoriano, Jimenez, Lopez Jaena, Panaon, Plaridel, Sapang Dalaga, Sinacaban and Tudela with a total number of 490 barangays.  

Land Area

The province has a total land area of 1,939.32 square kilometers representing .65 percent of the total land area in the Philippines.  The municipality of Don Victoriano has the biggest land area equivalent to 16.22 percent of the total.  The municipality of Panaon shares the smallest area of only 20.48 square kilometers.

Topography and Land Classification

From the vast tracks of rice land along the coastal areas, 12 municipalities and 3 cities are located.  The terrain is rising gently towards the hilly and rolling land westward to Mount Malindang and Mount Ampiro where 2 municipalities are situated.  The soil in the rugged interior are suited to coconuts which is the chief crop grown in this province.  the second major crop is rice.  Other crops like corn, abaca, cacao also thrive in flat and rolling lands.

Under the present land classification system, lands of public domain with slopes of more than 18% (approximately 10 degrees) are retained for permanent forest purposes.

those with 18% slope and below classified as alienable and disposable (A and D) lands.  Those lands may be released for non-forest purposes (agriculture, industrial and residential) subject to additional conditions such as contiguity of area and environmental considerations.

As of 1995 about 127,929.54 hectares or 63.20% of the total land area of the province has been classified as A and D while the remaining percentage of 34.03 percent accounts for forest lands.  Parks and wildlife reserved 53,262 hectares or 71.50% of the total classified forestlands.  The area for fishpond, Civil Reservations and Established Timberlands constituted 21,226.46 or 28.50% of the total classified forestland.

Soil Type

Soil of the uplands consisting of 64.65% of the total area is composed mostly of Adtuyon Clay Loam and Gauimbalaon Clay Loam.  Other types were Adtuyon Loam, Baliangao Clay Loam, Castella clay Loam, Jasaan clay Loam.

The 6.316% of the total area were soil of lowlands which type belongs to Bantog clay, Kabacan Clay, Mabini Sandy Loam, Pulopandan sandy Loam and Quingua Silt Loam.  The miscellaneous type which consists of 28.93% were beach sand, Hydrosol Mountain soils and a 0.21% unsurveyed.

Climate and Rainfall

The climate of this province belongs to the fourth type where rainfall is more or less fairly distributed throughout the year.  The rainiest month is November and the driest month is February.  The entire province is outside the typhoon belt, but it is sometimes affected by freak storms.

General Land Uses

The land uses in the province are classified into agricultural area, grassland/shrubland areas, wooded or forest areas, wetland areas, and miscellaneous land uses.  The agricultural areas account for 115,487.8 hectares or 59.55% of the total land area of the province while forestland/woodland and grassland/shrubland area extend to 16.67% and 19.80% respectively.

 

Demography

Population

Misamis Occidental has a total population of 486,723 in 2000 representing an increase of 27,758 from the population in 1995 of 458,965.  This figure is translated to An anuual growth rate of 1.27 percent, a decrease of 0.21 percentage point from the 1990 to 1995 period.  At this rate, the province is expected to double its population if 54 years.  The number of house was recorded at 99,901, higher by 8,491 households from 1995.  This gave an average household size of 4.86 persons, a slight decrease from the 1995 (5.01) and national average (5 persons).  

Provincial Population, 2000


City/Municipality


Total
Population


Household Population


Number of Households


Household
Size

MISAMIS OCCIDENTAL

486,723

485,978

99,901

4.9

Oroquieta City (Capital)

59,843

59,566

12,417

4.8

Ozamiz City

110,420

110,104

22,170

5.0

Tangub City

49,695

49,658

9,480

5.2

Aloran

23,127

23,116

4,766

4.8

Baliangao

14,552

14,548

3,255

4.5

Bonifacio

27,810

27,804

5,502

5.1

Calamba

17,594

17,562

3,665

4.8

Clarin

29,712

29,697

6,094

4.9

Concepcion

6,900

6,900

1,487

4.6

Don Victoriano Chiongbian

9,319

9,319

1,815

5.1

Jimenez

23,212

23,203

4,997

4.6

Lopez Jaena

20,948

20,944

4,308

4.9

Panaon

7,441

7,421

1,645

4.5

Plaridel

29,279

29,279

6,423

4.5

Sapang Dalaga

17,794

17,789

3,774

4.7

Sinacaban

16,030

16,030

3,486

4.6

Tudela

23,047

23,038

4,617

5.0

Source: NSO 


Population Distribution

Among the three cities and 14 municipalities in the province, Ozamiz City has the largest population of 110,420 which comprised 22.69 percent of the total population.  This is followed by Oroquieta City and Tangub City with population of 59,843 and 49,695 respectively.  Among the municipalities, Clarin has the largest population with 29,712, closely followed by Plaridel with 29,279 persons.

The municipality of Concepcion is the fastest growing area in terms of population growth rate  of 7.06%, although its actual population remains the lowest.  The two municipalities with negative growth rate are Panaon and Sapang Dalaga with -3.18% and -3.57% respectively.


Population by Age Group

The province has a young age structure.  Age group 0-14 comprised 35.81% of the population.  the productive age group whose age range from 15-64 constituted 59.13%.  The older age group which comprises age group 65 and over constituted roughly 5.06%.  The median age in 2000 is 22, which means that half of the population of the province is below 22 years old and half of it is above 22 year old. 

The effect of the province's young age structure is high dependency ratio.  The overall dependency ratio in 2000 was 69, which meant that for every 100 persons engaged in economic activity, 69 are dependent for economic support.  This ratio is lower than the 1995 dependency ratio of 71.58

Population by Sex

The male population slightly outnumbers their female counterpart with a sex ratio of 101.8, indicating an almost even distribution between male and female population in the province.  There are ore male than female in the 0-44 age group, while more female in the 45 years and over.

Urban-Rural Distribution

Records from previous censal survey showed, that the province was predominantly rural.  In 1995, rural population accounted for 68.1% and 31.9% urban, while in year 2000, 74% are living in the rural areas and 26% are in the urban areas.

Urban-Rural Population Distribution, 2000 


City/Municipality


Total Population


Number


Percent Distribution

Urban

Rural

% Urban

% Rural

MISAMIS OCCIDENTAL

486,723

124,543

362,180

25.59

74.41

Oroquieta City (Capital)

59,843

28,020

31,823

46.82

53.18

Ozamiz City

110,420

46,331

64,089

41.96

58.04

Tangub City

49,695

8,230

41,465

16.56

83.44

Aloran

23,127

1,298

21,829

5.61

94.39

Baliangao

14,552

1,620

12,932

11.13

88.87

Bonifacio

27,810

1,403

26,407

5.04

94.96

Calamba

17,594

6,189

11,405

35.18

64.82

Clarin

29,712

6,544

23,168

22.02

77.89

Concepcion

6,900

313

6,587

4.54

95.46

Don Victoriano Chiongbian

9,319

-

9,319

0

100.00

Jimenez

23,212

7,203

16,009

31.03

68.97

Lopez Jaena

20,948

3,284

17,664

16.68

84.32

Panaon

7,441

1,325

6,119

17.81

82.19

Plaridel

29,279

5,204

24,075

17.77

82.23