Concept

Ilocos Region

Summary
Ilocos Region (Rehion/Deppaar ti Ilocos; Sagor na Baybay na Luzon/Rehiyon Uno; Rehiyon ng Ilocos) is an administrative region of the Philippines, designated as Region I, occupying the northwestern section of Luzon and part of Central Luzon plain, primarily by Pangasinan. It is bordered by the Cordillera Administrative Region to the east, the Cagayan Valley to the northeast and southeast, and the Central Luzon to the south. To the west lies the West Philippine Sea. The region comprises four provinces (Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union and Pangasinan) and one independent city (Dagupan). Its regional center is San Fernando, La Union whereas the largest settlement is San Carlos City, Pangasinan. The 2000 Census reported that the major languages spoken in the region are Ilocano at 64% of the total population at that time, Pangasinan with 32.5%, and Tagalog and other languages with 3.21%. The region was first inhabited by the aboriginal Negritos, before they were pushed by successive waves of Austronesian immigrants that penetrated the narrow coast. Tingguians (Igorot) in the interior, Ilocanos in the north, Pangasinenses in the south, and Zambals in the southwesternmost areas settled the region. As commercial trading routes became established in Southeast Asia, the pre-Hispanic Luyag na Caboloan (present-day Pangasinan) area in the vicinity of Lingayen gulf became maritime trading centers, as gold mined from the Cordillera Mountain Range came down along the Aringay-Tonglo-Balatok gold trail, and was also traded in the neighboring settlement of Agoo, whose coast at the time was shaped in such a way that it was a good harbor for foreign vessels. Evidence of trade between the then-Pangasinense port of Agoo and China has been excavated in the form of porcelain and pottery pieces unearthed at the site of the Catholic church during its renovation, - which are now kept in the Museo de Iloko. Japanese fishermen eventually established their first settlement in the Philippines there, passing on their fishing skills and technologies to the local populace.
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