ISO 3166 code PH-12 Team Socsargen Marlins | Municipalities 45 | |
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Points of interest Mount Matutum, Lake Sebu, Seven Falls Zipline ‑S, 7 Falls Road, Tuka Marine Park Destinations General Santos, Lake Sebu - South Cotabato, Kidapawan, Koronadal, Digos | ||
Soccsksargen region treasures of sox
Soccsksargen (officially styled as SOCCSKSARGEN) (pronounced [sokˈsardʒɛn]) is an administrative region of the Philippines, located in south-central Mindanao. It is numerically designated as Region XII. The name is an acronym that stands for the Region's four provinces (South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani) and one of its cities (General Santos). The region used to be called Central Mindanao. The regional center is Koronadal located in the province of South Cotabato, and the center of commerce, industry and the most populous city is General Santos.
Contents
- Soccsksargen region treasures of sox
- Map of Region XII Philippines
- Geography
- History
- Administrative divisions
- Musical heritage
- Government
- References
Map of Region XII, Philippines
Soccsksargen encompasses Cotabato City situated within the borders of Maguindanao, a province of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Geography
The region is bounded on the north by Northern Mindanao, on the west by the Davao Region, and on the southwest by the Celebes Sea. The province of Maguindanao is situated between Cotabato City, Cotabato province and Sultan Kudarat.
The region has extensive coastlines, valleys and mountain ranges. Known for its river system, the region is the drainage basin of Mindanao, particularly at the Cotabato Basin, a large depression surrounded by mountain ranges on three sides. Within the basin runs the Rio Grande de Mindanao, the longest river in Mindanao and the second longest in the Philippines. The river empties into the Illana Bay of the larger Moro Gulf at the west of Cotabato City.
At the south of the basin lie the Tiruray Highlands, a moderately high mountain range blocking the basin from the southern coastline. Southeast of the mountains lie the Sarangani Bay.
History
The region used to be named Central Mindanao. Prior to the creation of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) it comprised the following provinces:
With the creation of ARMM, Lanao del Sur (excluding Marawi) and Maguindanao (excluding Cotabato City) were removed from the region, leaving Lanao del Norte, Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat, and Marawi and Cotabato City as constituent provinces and cities. Lanao del Norte was later transferred to Northern Mindanao, while Marawi became part of the ARMM.
On September 2001, Executive Order No. 36 was signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo transferring South Cotabato, Sarangani, General Santos (also known as the SocSarGen District), and Koronadal from Southern Mindanao to Region XII, and renaming the region, from Central Mindanao, to SOCCSKSARGEN.
Administrative divisions
Soccsksargen comprises 4 provinces, 1 highly urbanized city, 1 independent component city, 3 component cities, 45 municipalities and 1,195 barangays.
Musical heritage
The culture of native Maguindanaon and other native groups both Muslim and non-Muslim revolves around kulintang music, a specific type of gong music, found in the SoCCSKSarGen.