| Banaue | |||
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| — Municipality — | |||
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| Map of Ifugao showing the location of Banaue. | |||
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Banaue
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| Coordinates: | |||
| Country | Philippines | ||
| Region | Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) | ||
| Province | Ifugao | ||
| District | Lone District | ||
| Founded | |||
| Barangays | 18 | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Jerry U.Dalipog | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 191.20 km2 (73.8 sq mi) | ||
| Population (2007) | |||
| • Total | 21,448 | ||
| • Density | 112.2/km2 (290.5/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | PST (UTC+8) | ||
| ZIP code | 3601 | ||
| Income class | 4th class | ||
| Website | banaue.gov.ph | ||
| Population Census of Banaue | |||
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| Census | Pop. | Rate | |
| 1995 | 20,514 |
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| 2000 | 20,563 | 0.05% | |
| 2007 | 21,448 | 0.58% | |
Banaue (or alternatively spelled as Banawe) is a 4th class municipality in the province of Ifugao, Philippines. According to the latest census, it has a population of 21,448 people in 3,952 households. It is widely known as the site of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Batad Rice Terraces and Bangaan Rice Terraces.
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Banaue is politically subdivided into 18 districts.
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Sometimes called by locals as the "Eighth Wonder of the World", the Ifugao Rice Terraces begin at the base of the mountain range and extend several thousand feet upwards. Two of the terrace clusters in Banaue, namely Bangaan and Batad, are part of the UNESCO World Heritage inscription. It is said that their length, if put end to end, would encircle half of the globe. Built 2,000 years ago, the rice terraces manifest the engineering skill and ingenuity of the sturdy Ifugaos. They are irrigated by means of mountain streams and springs that have been tapped and channeled into canals that run downhill through the rice terraces.
The rice terraces once stretched northeast to Cagayan and as far south as Quezon. However they are now slowly being abandoned and showing signs of deterioration. A severe 1990 earthquake damaged some of the terraces' irrigation systems, while El Niño triggered droughts that led giant earthworms to erode the terraces' soil. Furthermore, the rice variety most suited to the area's cool climate is not a high-yielding crop; because it takes so long to mature, some Ifugao families have abandoned their land in the rice terraces in favor of land that reaps faster rewards.
An Ifugao Terraces Commission was created in 1994 but has since been superseded by the Banaue Rice Terraces task force, which was closed in 2002.
UNESCO has listed the Batad Rice Terraces and Bangaan Rice Terraces as a World Heritage Site since 1995, under the designation, Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras.[1]
Contrary to popular notion, the Banaue Rice Terraces as seen from the viewpoint are not included in the UNESCO inscription, due to the presence of numerous modern structures. However, it is a National Cultural Treasure under the Ifugao Rice Terraces.
The Banaue Rice Terraces was chosen as one of the two green globe destinations of the country by the World Travel and Tour Council. It received an “International Historic Engineering Landmark Award” from the American Society of Civil Engineers. It was also acknowledged by the World Travel and Tour Council as a green globe destination in the Philippines.[2]
The stone walled rice terraces were built by means of primitive tools and early methods in order to maximize the use of land space, They exceed the height of the world’s tallest building if the vertical distance between top and bottom row are measured.[2]
Banaue can be reached by jeepney, bus, or private car from Baguio City, or can be reached from Manila via Cabanatuan City.
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