Bayawan

Bayawan is a component city in the province of Negros Oriental on the southern part of the island of Negros in the Philippines, officially the City of Bayawan. It was formerly known as New Tolong and has carried its present name only since 1952, and it became a chartered city in December 2000. It covers about 699 square kilometres, and the 2024 census counted 126,744 residents, up from 122,747 in 2020. The town is the home of the Minagahat language, the Indigenous language of southern Negros as listed by the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino, which is considered vital to the culture and arts of the people of the area. Cebuano is the main language of daily life, and the Cebuano name of the city is Dakbayan sa Bayawan.