Province and cities in Cordillera

Ethnics group in Cordillera

-A VAST MOUNTAINOUS REGION
As a physical region, the Cordillera — Gran Cordillera Central, to be complete — is a
row of great mountain ranges occupying half of Northern Luzon in the Philippines. Its
rugged mountainous backbone contains many peaks exceeding 2,000 meters in
height, with rolling hills and stretches of river valleys along its flanks.

Around 230 km long and 120 km wide, with an irregular shape, the mountainous
region's estimated total area is about 17,500 square km.

Thus, the Cordillera is both the highest and the single largest mass of mountains in the
entire Philippine archipelago.
SIX PROVINCES AND A CITY

 As a recently-defined administrative region, the Cordillera is composed of the six

provinces of Apayao, Kalinga, Abra, Mountain Province, Ifugao, and Benguet, plus
the chartered city of Baguio. These provinces have a total land area of almost 18,300
square km.

 The bulk of the Cordillera mountain range, as a physical region, is covered by this
Cordillera administrative region (CAR). The Cordillera's foothills extend into a few
other adjacent provinces in the nearby Ilocos and Cagayan Valley regions.
 Factors that affects the cuisine
EXPLORING THE WILD SIDE OF THE CORDILLERA CULINARY CULTUREA
trip to the Cordilleras can be transformed into a culinary adventure with wild ethnic dishes and native wines in the extreme or by
sampling our one-of-a-kind local restaurants.Although the Cordillera mountain range supplies 80% of the Philippines’ daily
vegetable requirements, the folks here really prefer to eat meat — smoked, boiled, grilled — using the simplest cooking
techniques with long preparation times.Foremost is the Pinikpikan, a chicken dish that is rooted in the native ritual of reading
signals from the gods to determine one’s course of action. Sometimes humorously called ‘Battered Chicken,’ native chickens,
smaller in variety with darker, tastier meat are beaten with a wooden and grilled over open fire. Etag is added to the brew.

Etag or Itag is salted meat, cured and aged underground in an earthen jar. The flavor is comparable to blue cheese but is much
oilier and flavorful after it’s cooked. It is also used as an ingredient to flavor the Pinikpikan.

Similar to the Filipino dinuguan, Pinuneg is a native blood sausage composed of minced pork and innards mixed with cooked rice
(usually the red variety known as kintoman), salt, vinegar, garlic and other flavors and then stuffed into clean animal intestines.
The Cordillera version of the longganisa (native sausage) is then eiher sun dried, smoked, poacked or simply boiled and served as
a main course or appetizer with a vinegar and chili dip.

Sabusab is mixed dish using fermented rice, sliced meat, green onions, ginger and moistened with Tapey. And then there is the
Tapuey, sometimes called Tapuy or Tapey, a native wine made by fermenting rice with a special yeast in a clay or wooden jar
using mountain spring water, resulting in a strong brew popular atcañaos or mountain feasts. A great souvenir to bring home or
give as a gift, it is available in bottles at the Baguio City Market.
 History
 During the Spanish occupation of the Philippines, Christianization and eventual subjugation
of the mountain region proved difficult for the Spanish colonial
government. Several comandancias were established by the Spanish colonial government
in strategic areas of the mountain region. Among them were Amburayan,
Cabugaoan, Kayapa, Quiangan, Itaves, Apayaos, Lepanto, Benguet, Bontoc, Banaue,
and Tiagan.[4][5][6]
 On August 18, 1908 during the American regime, Mountain Province was established by
the Philippine Commission with the enactment of Act No. 1876. Ifugao, which was part
of Nueva Vizcaya province,[7]and the former
Spanish comandancias of Amburayan, Apayao, Benguet, Bontoc, Kalinga and Lepanto,
were annexed to the newly created province as sub-provinces. Amburayan was later
abolished in 1920 and its corresponding territories were transferred to the provinces
of Ilocos Sur and La Union. Lepanto was also reduced in size and its towns were integrated
into the sub-provinces of Bontoc and Benguet, and to the province of Ilocos Sur.
 On June 18, 1966, Republic Act No. 4695 was enacted to split Mountain Province and
create four separate and independent provinces namely Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga-
Apayao, and Mountain Province. Ifugao and Kalinga-Apayao were placed under the
jurisdiction of the Cagayan Valleyregion, with Benguet and Mountain Province placed
under the Ilocos Region.
 Geography and Topography
 The region is the only landlocked region in the Philippines, bounded on the northeast
and east by the Cagayan Valley, and on the southwest and west by the Ilocos Region.
 The region is primarily mountainous, positioned in the Cordillera Central mountain
range, which includes Mount Pulag, the highest mountain in Luzon.[24]
 Further information: Cordillera Central, Luzon
 Within the region are several streams and rivers including the Chico River, which is
a tributary of the Cagayan River. Other major rivers include[25][26]
 Abra
 Abulog
 Agno
 Ahin
 Amburayan
 Apayao
 Bued
 Siffu
 Religion
 Roman Catholic is the single largest denomination in this region. However unlike
most other provinces and regions of the Philippines, they only form a slight
majority in the region forming 60%-70% of the population while Protestants
specifically Anglicans and Evangelicals have a very strong presence that forms
20%-30% of the population. Other religions such as traitional Animism have a
significant presence in the region and it's mainly practiced by tribal people.

Regional economy
The primary economic drivers are agriculture, mining, export
processing, and tourism.
 Belief and Rituals
 The two main ethnic tribes, ''kankana-ey'' and ''ibaloy'' are not far apart in their belief
system, except that they are dissimilar in linguistics. Their belief system is common to
both with little deviation in methods of performance but do not change the intent
and purposes.
 The Benguet people believe in the existence of unseen beings that emanate from the
Skyworld and the underworld. That these unseen beings are called spirits thought to
have power over man. It is further believed that these unseen beings (spirits) can be
manipulated by man to his advantage. With this belief, the people strive to win the
favor of the spirits using prayers and material offerings in a ritual.
 This belief resulted to a belief system from which customs, traditions and taboos are
establish. Through the centuries, the people had adopted this system as part of their
life ways and thoughtways. Although this belief system is unwritten, it was preserved by
the native priest in the form of ritual prayers, which was passed from one generation
to another until this day.
Paintings
Dance art