Province of Agusan del Norte  

    Agusan Province was named after a Malay word Agasan, meaning, “where water flows”, probably because of the mighty river that traverses the whole area. Early immigrants from Borneo and Celebes came to the region in Balanghai or wooden boats. Nine such boats were excavated. One dates back to 320 A.D. The Malay settlers drove the aborigines, called Mamanwas, to the hinterlands.

    By the time the Spaniards arrived, the natives were already trading with foreign merchants, as attested by 10th-century Chinese ceramics unearthed near Butuan. Some historians claim that Magellan held the first mass in the Philippines at the mouth of the Agusan River, and not in Limasawa, Leyte, on Easter Sunday, of 1521. Agusan was part of Surigao province during the Spanish colonial administration. By virtue of R.A. 1306 during the American regime, it became the independent province of Agusan. On June 17, 1967, Congress passed R.A. 4979 dividing the lone province into Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur.

    Butuan City, which was then a component city of Agusan del Norte, used to be the capital and seat of government. That ended in 2000 when congress passed Republic Act 8811 making Cabadbaran as the new capital and administrative center of the province that year.

    The Kalagans, called Caragans by the Spaniards, occupied the District that was composed of the two (2) provinces of Surigao, Northern part of Davao Oriental and Eastern Misamis Oriental. The two (2) Agusan Provinces were later organized under the administrative jurisdiction of Surigao and became the independent Agusan Province in 1914. In 1960, Surigao was divided as Norte and Sur. And in June 1967, Agusan followed suit. While Butuan then was just a town of Agusan, by virtue of Republic Act 523, the City Charter of Butuan was approved on August 2, 1950.

    On February 23, 1995, Republic Act No. 7901, “An Act Creating Region XIII to be known as Caraga Administrative Region and for other purposes”, was signed into law by President Fidel V. Ramos, constituting the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and the cities of Surigao and Butuan, which serves as the regional center. On August 24, 2006, Republic Act No. 9335 created a new province from Surigao del Norte, the Dinagat Islands Province which constituted the fifth province of Caraga.