Davao City is the premier city of Davao Region, which is located in the southeastern portion of the island of Mindanao surrounding the Davao Gulf.
Considered a melting pot of various cultures and peoples, the city has a population of 1.6 million as of August 2015, and is considered the largest in terms of land area in the country with 2,444 sq km. The Davao Region as a whole has a total land area of 19,671.83 sq km, equivalent to 6.6 percent of the Philippines’ land area and 16.3 percent of the total land area of Mindanao.
Economic activities
The city has been tagged an attractive business and investment hub of Mindanao with its 10 preferred investment areasnamely agribusiness, tourism and recreational facilities, light manufacturing and assembly, property development, health and wellness, educational and sports facilities, environment protection or green projects, information and communications technology, generation of new sources of energy, transportation and infrastructure and public-private partnership projects.
In 2017, Davao Region’s gross domestic product (GDP) grew 10.9 percent from 9.5 percent the previous year.
Davao Region’s economy was reportedly the second fastest among the country’s regions in 2017, following Cordillera Administrative Region’s 12.1 percent GDP growth.
Agricultural activities
The region likewise gained the name “Cacao Capital of the Philippines” as bulk of the country’s cacao production comes from the region. In 2016, its cacao production reached about 5,000 metric tons.
Government data further showed that in 2016, the region was also the country’s number one producer of banana and coconut, while it ranked fourth in hog production and sixth in chicken production.
The region adopted the Industry Clustering Strategy particularly for investors, development and job opportunities highlighting the industries of banana, mango, coconut, seaweeds, wood, mining, tourism, livestock and poultry, durian, bangus, rubber, rice, abaca, cacao, palm oil and renewable energy.
Davao Region has 18 ethnic groups, and the largest are the Mandaya, B’laan and T’boli. The common dialects beside those of tribal communities are Cebuano, Ilonggo, Ilokano and Tagalog.
In celebration of the bountiful harvest among lumad, Davao City holds the annual Kadayawan Festival every August. The festival conducts street dance contests and culminates with a floral float parade.
—Hezron G. Pios, Justine M. Mirandilla,
Inquirer Interns
(Sources: davaocity.gov.ph, nnc.gov.ph, denr.gov.ph,
invest.davaocity.gov.ph,
industry.gov.ph, psa.gov.ph, web.tourism.gov.ph,
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