Butuan

Butuan is a highly urbanized city and the regional centre of Caraga on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. It had 385,530 residents at the 2024 census, the most of any city in the Caraga Region. It lies in the northeastern part of the Agusan Valley, spread across the Agusan River, with Butuan Bay to the northwest. From before 1001 until about 1521 it was the capital of the Rajahnate of Butuan, known for gold work and boat building and for trade reaching as far as Champa, Srivijaya and Majapahit; eleven balangay boats found at Ambangan in Barangay Libertad are cited as evidence of that trade. It is the de facto capital of Agusan del Norte, although it is governed independently of the province.