Catarman (Northern Samar) 6.28

Catarman is a first class municipality and the capital of Northern Samar, Philippines. It is the largest town in terms of land area and population in the province. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 94,037, making it the most populous municipality in Eastern Visayas. It is the commercial, educational, financial, political and government center of the province. It lies on the northern part of Samar Island, bounded to the east by Mondragon, to the west by Bobon, to the south by Lope de Vega, and to the north by the Philippine Sea.GeographyOn the Pacific coast are flat lowlands with the interior characterized by outlying low hills. Mount Puyao in Barangay Liberty is the highest peak in the area. The Catarman River, a major provincial river, divides the eastern and the western parts of the town. It is fed by the Paticua, Hibulwangan, Mahangna, Tura, and Danao creeks together with lesser prominent estuaries.BarangaysThe Municipality of Catarman is politically subdivided into 55 barangays, 17 of them in the poblacion.HistoryBefore the coming of the Spaniards, Catarman or was a settlement by the mouth of the river of the same name in the region called Ibabao. The Spanish Conquistadores freely applied the name Ibabao to the northern part of Samar island when it established its civil government. The similarities in the vocabularies and pronunciation of the dialects of these areas traces them to a common root as a people.