Political Subdivision
Oriental Negros is composed of 20 municipalities, five (5) cities and 557 barangays. It is divided into three (3) congressional districts. The first district in the North is composed of Canlaon City and the municipalities of Vallehermoso, Guihulngan, La Libertad, Jimalalud, Tayasan, Ayungon, Bindoy and Manjuyod. The second district is composed of the municipalities of Mabinay, Pamplona, Amlan, San Jose, Sibulan and the cities of Bais, Tanjay and Dumaguete. The third district is composed mainly of the municipalities in the south, namely, Bacong, Valencia, Dauin, Zamboanguita, Siaton, Sta. Catalina and Basay and the City of Bayawan.
The data indicate that among the five (5) cities, the largest in terms of land area is Bayawan which covers an area of 637.95 sq. kms., while the smallest is Dumaguete (the capital city) with 55.80 sq. kms.
The largest municipality in terms of land area is Sta. Catalina with 523.10 sq. kms. while the smallest is Bacong with 25.00 sq. kms. Other municipalities with land area less than 100 sq. kms. are Amlan, San Jose and Zamboanguita.
The towns of Guihulngan, Mabinay, La Libertad, Tayasan and Jimalalud are larger in terms of the most number of barangays. Municipalities with less than 20 barangays are Amlan, Basay, Zamboanguita, Pamplona, San Jose, Sibulan and Vallehermoso. As presented in Table 1, the area of the municipality does not determine the number of barangays in a particular municipality. For instance, the case of Sibulan, its area is 163.00sq. kms. and yet it has fewer number of barangays as compared to Bindoy with an area of 173.70 sq. kms. or Bacong with only 25.00 sq. kms. and yet has 22 barangays.
