Bongao

Bongao is a municipality and the capital of Tawi-Tawi province, in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Formally incorporated on July 1, 1958 under Executive Order No. 355, it had a 2024 census population of 131,887 across 365.95 square kilometers and spans Bongao Island, Sanga-Sanga Island, Pababag Island and the western end of Tawi-Tawi Island across 35 barangays. The Bolobok Rock Shelter Cave within the municipality preserves evidence of human habitation dated between roughly 8,810 and 5,190 years old, among the earliest known in Southeast Asia, and was declared an Important Cultural Treasure in 2017.