"Lanao" means "lake", derived from ranao. The province, situated at basinofLake Lanao, is known as the land of the "Maranaos" (which means "the "people of the lake").[3]
Prior to the arrival of Islam, the region already had a sophisticated culture, as embodied in various Maranao epics, chants, and recorded history. The people of Lanao used to adhere to Hinduism, polytheist animism, and Buddhism. During this era, various cultural icons developed, such as the torogan, the singkil dance, the darangen epic, the unique Maranao gong and metal craft culture, the sarimanok, the okir motif, and an indigenous suyat script.[4][5]
Lanao was first explored by the Spaniards in 1689, upon which they discovered a well-settled community named Dansalan at the lake's northern end. Lanao was the seat of the Sultanate of Lanao.[3]
During the Pre-Spanish time, there were 4 important boundaries which held the power of appointing a new sultan namely: Bakayawan, Dalama, Madamba and Sawer. In appointing a new sultan the permission of these four boundaries are needed to validate the new sultan appointed to his position.
In 1956, Republic Act No. 1552 changed the name DansalantoMarawi, taken from the word rawi, referring to the reclining lilies abundant in the Agus River.[6]
In 1959, Lanao was divided into two provinces, Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur, under Republic Act No. 2228. Marawi was designated as the capital of Lanao del Sur.[7] The city was renamed the "Islamic City of Marawi" in 1980, and is currently the Philippines' only city having a predominantly Muslim population.[3]
In a 1989 plebiscite, Lanao del Sur voted to join the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), but the city of Marawi voted to remain outside the ARMM.[3] It later joined ARMM in 2001 following the plebiscite that sought to expand the autonomous region.
The Battle of Marawi began and ended in 2017. The battle was against ISIL-affiliated militants, a number of which were Malaysian citizens. The battle destroyed most of the cityscape of Marawi and killed hundreds of civilians and Filipino soldiers.
A petition was released in support for the usage of the torogan as inspiration for the rehabilation of Marawi after the Battle of Marawi. The petition was released in opposition to the possible Manila Rehabilation Effect that the government plans to impose. The Manila-style rehabilation would establish shanty houses and buildings without Maranao architectural styles, thus destroying Marawi's Maranao cultural skyline. The petition advocates a Warsaw-style Rehabilation Effect, where the culture and styles of a particular area is used as foundation for rehabilitation of built heritage and landscape. Among the local architectural styles that may be used under the Warsaw-style are the okir, sarimanok, and inspirations from the torogan. The Warsaw-style is also foreseen to boost tourism in the city in the long-run due to the cultural aesthetics it would bring.[citation needed]
Satellite view of Lanao Lake, situated entirely within the province
Lanao del Sur is bounded on the north by Lanao del Norte, on the east by Bukidnon, on the west by Illana Bay, and on the south by Maguindanao and Cotabato. The landscape is dominated by rolling hills and valleys, placid lakes and rivers.
Located within the province is Lanao Lake, the second largest in the country, its waters drained by the Agus River which eventually empties into Iligan Bay.[3]
The climate in the province is characterized by even distribution of rainfall throughout the year, without a distinct summer season. The province is located outside the typhoon belt.[3]
The population of Lanao del Sur in the 2020 census was 1,195,518 people,[2] with a density of 310 inhabitants per square kilometre or 800 inhabitants per square mile.
Most of the people of Lanao del Sur are practitioners of Islam.[3] The majority of them are Sunni. The number of Muslims in this province is 872,678 or 94.00% of the total population of the province of Lanao del Sur.[13]
UNESCO has inscribed one Maranao element, the Darangen Chants of the Maranao People of Lake Lanao, in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. The element was earlier inscribed in the UNESCO Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity Representative List in 2005. The organization has also designated the Old Town of Tugaya as a UNESCO Home for Culture and Heritage. UNESCO has recommended for the nomination of Tugaya and all of Lanao del Sur's traditional crafts heritage in Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, following reports made in 2014 and 2015. The Philippine ambassador to UNESCO and France noted that it will be better to inscribe Maranao's traditional crafts in the List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding as they have been endangered due to the 2017 Battle of Marawi. The nomination is being finalized by the Philippine government, as announced in 2018. The torogans of Lanao are also recommended by UNESCO to be nominated in the World Heritage List once proper documentation and restoration has been completed. Two torogans have been bought by a controversial heritage resort company, Las Casas Filipinas de Acuzar, and were transported to Bataan, sparking a provincial campaign to get back the two royal houses to their ancestral homeland.[22]
^Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Department of Agriculture: Lanao del SurArchived January 19, 2015, at the Wayback Machine (There are major discrepancies among authoritative sources: 4121.3 km² (NAMRIA); 1,349,437 ha (NSCB, this value seems unreasonable and must be assumed as erroneous, see Talk:Lanao del Sur#Area))
^ abcdefghiLancion, Conrado M. Jr. (1995). "The Provinces; Lanao del Sur". Fast Facts about Philippine Provinces. cartography by de Guzman, Rey (The 2000 Millennium ed.). Makati, Metro Manila, Philippines: Tahanan Books. pp. 94–95. ISBN971-630-037-9. Retrieved December 25, 2015.
Media related to Lanao del Sur at Wikimedia Commons
Geographic data related to Lanao del SuratOpenStreetMap
Province of Lanao del Sur
