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City of Butuan Dakbayan hong Butuan Lungsod ng Butuan
—  Highly-urbanized city  —
Official seal of City of Butuan Seal
Nickname(s): The Home of the Balangays, Timber City of the South, Historical Meca of the Philippines,
Map of Agusan del Norte showing the location of Butuan City.
City of Butuan Location in the Philippines
Coordinates: 8°57′N 125°32′E / 8.95°N 125.533°E / 8.95; 125.533Coordinates: 8°57′N 125°32′E / 8.95°N 125.533°E / 8.95; 125.533
Country	Philippines
Region	Region XIII (Capital City of CARAGA)
Province	Agusan del Norte (Seat of Government)
Districts	Second District of Agusan del Norte
Barangays	86
Official Languages	Cebuano Widely Spoken, Butuanon, Filipino, English
Incorporated (town)	1902
Incorporated (city)	August 2, 1950
Government
• Mayor	Ferdinand M. Amante Jr.(LP) (2010-Present)
• Vice Mayor	Lawrence Lemuel H. Fortun (LP) (2010-Present)
• Congress	Jose Aquino II (LKS KMPI) (2007-Present)
Area
• Total	817.28 km2 (315.55 sq mi)
Population (2010)[1]
• Total	309,709
• Density	379/km2 (980/sq mi)
Time zone	PST (UTC+8)
ZIP code	8600
Area code(s)	85
Income class	1st Class Highly Urbanized City
Website	www.butuan.gov.ph

The City of Butuan (Filipino: Lungsod ng Butuan; Butuanon: Dakbayan hong Butuan) is the regional center of Caraga, serving as an administrative region of the Philippines; it is a highly urbanized city. It is located at the northeastern part of Agusan Valley, Mindanao, sprawling across the Agusan River. It is bounded to the north, west and south by Agusan del Norte, to the east by Agusan del Sur and to the northwest by Butuan Bay. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 309,709 people.^[2]

The name "Butuan" is believed to have originated from the sour fruit, batuan. Other etymology sources say that it comes from a certain "Datu Buntuan", a chieftain who once ruled over Butuan.^{[citation needed]}

Butuan was the capital of Agusan del Norte until 2000 when Republic Act 8811 transferred the capital to Cabadbaran City. However many of the provincial government offices are still located there, including the provincial capitol, as are many the Caraga regional offices of the national government agencies.

History[link]

By the 10th century, Butuan had established trading relations with the Kingdom of Champa, in what is now southern Vietnam, and Srivijaya empire of Sumatra.

By the 11th century, Butuan was a center of trade and commerce in the Philippines and was the location of the prehispanic Indianized Kingdom of Butuan. Archaeological finds from that era include the nine balanghai called "the Butuan boats," and the finds in Ambangan, Libertad near the old El Rio de Butuan and Masao River.

Controversy has been generated with regard to the holding of the first mass—whether it was held in Limasawa, Leyte in Masao, Butuan City, in the hidden isle made up of barangays Pinamanculan and Bancasi inside Butuan, in the latest discovered site in between agusan sur and surigao sur, the little barangay of Barobo, or elsewhere. It is sure, however, that Ferdinand Magellan did not drop anchor by the mouth of Agusan River in 1521 and hold mass to commemorate the event which was held at Mazaua, an island separate from 1521 Butuan which was in the geographical conception of Europeans who wrote about it was a larger entity than what it is now. Antonio Pigafetta who wrote an eyewitness account of Magellan's voyage described in text and in map a Butuan that stretched from today's Surigao up to the top edge of Zamboanga del Norte.

The first municipal election in Butuan took place on March 1902 in accordance with Public Law No. 82^[3] which coincided with the American occupation of the place.

During the Japanese occupation of the Philippines in World War II, Butuan was razed to the ground when the guerrilla forces attacked the enemy garrison during the middle of 1943. In 1945, the Philippine Commonwealth troops in Butuan together with the recognized guerrillas attacked the Japanese forces during the Battle of Agusan. On October 20, 1948, still recovering from the war, the entire municipality was ruined by a fire.

The boom of the logging industry from the 1950s to the middle of 1970s made Butuan the "Timber City of the South" and led to an influx of business and fortune seekers from other provinces. The flourishing logging industry inspired and prompted Congressman Marcos M. Calo to file a bill converting Butuan into a city and on August 2, 1950, Butuan became a city.^[4]

Butuan was reclassified from a chartered city to a "highly urbanized city" on February 7, 1995.

Geography[link]

Topography[link]

Butuan City has a land area of 816.62 km², which is roughly 4.1% of the total area of the Caraga region. With an estimated total population of 300,000, it has an average density of 367 persons per km², higher than the regional average density of 101 persons per km².

The existing land use of the city consists of the following uses: agriculture areas (397.23 km²), forestland (268 km²), grass/shrub/pasture land (61.14 km²) and other uses (90.242 km²). Of the total forestland, 105 km² is production forest areas while 167.5 km² is protection forest areas.

The forestland, as mentioned earlier, comprised both the production and protection forest. The classified forest is further specified as production forest and protection forest. In the production forest industrial tree species are mostly grown in the area. The production forest on the other hand, is preserved to support and sustain necessary ecological performance. One is the watershed areas will dry up and during heavy rain, rapid water run-off will occur creating flash floods. And in sunny days, rapid evaporation happens, leaving the area arid.

The city is endowed with swamplands near its coastal area. These swamp areas are interconnected with the waterways joined by the Agusan River. Most of the swamplands are actually mangroves that served as habitat to different marine species.

Filling material needs of the city are extracted usually from the riverbank of Taguibo River. Others are sourced out from promontories with special features and for special purpose.

The fishing ground of Butuan is the Butuan Bay of which two coastal barangays are located. It extends some two kilometers to the sea and joins the Bohol Sea. These are barangays Lumbocan and Masao.

Barangays[link]

Butuan City is politically subdivided into 86 barangays (abbreviated as "Brgy." or "Bgy."). Of these, 36 are classified as urban and the remaining 50 are classified as rural.