Loreto, Agusan del Sur

In 1600, the Spanish conquistadors first came to the upper reaches of Agusan. In 1879, Fr. Saturnino Urios, a Spanish Jesuit missionary from Xativa, came to what was then known as Umajam and met the Manobos. Fr. Urios convinced the Manobos to relocate into one single settlement that he named as Loreto (not from his town in Spain, as sometimes it's said).

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the municipality has a land area of 1,462.74 square kilometres (564.77 sq mi) ^[9] constituting 14.64% of the 9,989.52-square-kilometre- (3,856.98 sq mi) total area of Agusan del Sur.

Loreto is a river town situated south-west of Agusan del Sur. It is bounded on the north by La Paz, north-east by Bunawan, and southeast by Veruela. The provinces of Bukidnon and Davao del Norte bound its Western and Southern portions.

Loreto is a strategically situated as a junction point to various destination within Agusan del Sur and nearby provinces. The accessibility of Loreto to Provincial Center, Patin-ay in Prosperidad has three main routes: the Loreto-Santa Josefa-Trento route of 118.36 kilometres (73.55 mi), the Loreto-La Paz Talacogon route of 85.53 kilometres (53.15 mi), and the Loreto-Bunawan route of 87.52 kilometres (54.38 mi) with two hours of Pump boat cruising the Agusan River.

Barangays

Loreto is politically subdivided into 17 barangays.^[11] Each barangay consists of puroks while some have sitios.

More information PSGC, Barangay ...

PSGC	Barangay	Population			±% p.a.
		2024[12]		2010[13]
160305001	Binucayan	6.4%	2,781	3,605	▾	−1.84%
160305002	Johnson	3.3%	1,433	1,547	▾	−0.55%
160305013	Kasapa	4.0%	1,738	3,122	▾	−4.10%
160305014	Katipunan	1.2%	525	677	▾	−1.80%
160305015	Kauswagan	5.6%	2,445	2,182	▴	0.82%
160305003	Magaud	7.6%	3,314	2,303	▴	2.63%
160305004	Nueva Gracia	5.2%	2,270	1,928	▴	1.17%
160305005	Poblacion	14.6%	6,384	6,456	▾	−0.08%
160305017	Sabud	10.0%	4,367	779	▴	13.10%
160305006	San Isidro	3.7%	1,601	1,532	▴	0.32%
160305007	San Mariano	5.5%	2,411	2,709	▾	−0.83%
160305008	San Vicente	4.9%	2,163	2,227	▾	−0.21%
160305009	Santa Teresa	5.3%	2,325	2,324	▴	0.00%
160305016	Santo Niño	2.5%	1,088	1,221	▾	−0.82%
160305010	Santo Tomas	8.8%	3,859	3,674	▴	0.35%
160305011	Violanta	3.3%	1,439	1,174	▴	1.46%
160305012	Waloe	5.4%	2,358	2,014	▴	1.13%
	Total		43,761	39,474	▴	0.74%

Close

According to the 2020 census, Loreto had a population of 43,880.^[18] The population density was 30 inhabitants per square kilometre (78/sq mi).

Poverty incidence of Loreto

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority^{[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]}