Welcome to Cordillera Administrative Region!
The Cordilleras is a highland region in the northern part of Luzon. Its landscape and geography is dominated by the Cordillera Central, which also extends to parts of the nearby Ilocos Region. This article only covers the area forming the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
The region is the homeland of the Igorot, a group of various culturally-related tribes such as the Kalinga, Ifugao, Kankana-ey, Illian, Baliwon and many others, spread in isolated communities in the various parts of the region. Despite differences in ethnicity and language, the Igorot have commonalities in costumes, music, dances, and even customs. The Igorot consider themselves culturally distinct from most Filipinos but are also proud of their Austronesian roots.
In the central part of the Cordillera, rice terraces abound - from Ifugao to Mountain Province, famous of which is the Banaue Rice Terraces. UNESCO declared five clusters of rice terraces in various towns in Ifugao as World Heritage Sites. Other hidden rice terraces can be found in Natonin, Mountain Province. Scenic terrains of cornfields can be found in Paracelis, Mountain Province, a town next to Natonin.
Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), also known as Cordillera Region (Ilocano: Rehion/Deppaar Administratibo ti Kordiliera, Tagalog: Rehiyong Pampangasiwaan ng Cordillera), is an administrative region in the Philippines, situated within the island of Luzon. It is the only landlocked region in the insular country, bordered by the Ilocos Region to the west and southwest, and by the Cagayan Valley Region to the north, east, and southeast. It is the least populous region in the Philippines, with a population less than that of the city of Manila.
The region comprises six provinces: Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Mountain Province. The regional center is the highly urbanized city of Baguio.
The region was officially created on July 15, 1987, and covers most of the Cordillera Mountain Range of Luzon and is home to numerous ethnic peoples. The Nueva Vizcaya province has a majority of the Igorot population but was placed by the American colonial government in the Cagayan Valley Region instead during the early 20th century.