Tuguegarao in the context of "Cagayan Valley"

Iloco (also Ilóko, Ilúko, Ilocáno or Ilokáno; /iːloʊˈkɑːnoʊ/; Iloco: Pagsasaó nga Ilóko) is an Austronesian language primarily spoken in the Philippines by the Ilocano people. It is one of the eight major languages of the Philippines with about 11 million speakers and ranks as the third most widely spoken native language. Iloco serves as a regional lingua franca and second language among Filipinos in Northern Luzon, particularly among the Cordilleran (Igorot) ethnolinguistic groups, as well as in parts of Cagayan Valley and some areas of Central Luzon.

As an Austronesian language, Iloco or Ilocano shares linguistic ties with other Philippine languages and is related to languages such as Indonesian, Malay, Tetum, Chamorro, Fijian, Māori, Hawaiian, Samoan, Tahitian, Paiwan, and Malagasy. It is closely related to other Northern Luzon languages and exhibits a degree of mutual intelligibility with Balangao language and certain eastern dialects of Bontoc language. Iloco is also spoken outside of Luzon, including in Mindoro, Palawan, Mindanao, and internationally in Canada, Hawaii and California in the United States, owing to the extensive Ilocano diaspora in the 19th and 20th centuries. About 85% of the Filipinos in Hawaii are Ilocano and the largest Asian ancestry group in Hawaii. In 2012, it was officially recognized as the provincial language of La Union, underscoring its cultural and linguistic significance.

Basco, officially the Municipality of Basco, is a municipality and capital of the province of Batanes, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 9,647 people.

The town is the most populous town in Batanes and is located on Batan Island, the second largest among the Batanes Islands, the northernmost group of islands of the Philippines. The town has a domestic airport, Basco Airport, that serves flights from Manila, Tuguegarao, and Itbayat.

Cagayan (/kɑːɡəˈjɑːn/ kah-gə-YAHN, [kagɐˈjan]), officially the Province of Cagayan (Ilocano: Probinsia ti Cagayan; Ibanag: Provinsiya na Cagayan; Itawit: Provinsiya ya Cagayan; Isnag: Provinsia nga Cagayan; Ivatan: Provinsiya nu Cagayan; Gaddang: Provinsia na Cagayan; Filipino: Lalawigan ng Cagayan), is a province in the Philippines located in the Cagayan Valley region, covering the northeastern tip of Luzon. Its capital is Tuguegarao, the largest city of that province as well as the regional center of Region 2 (Cagayan Valley). It is about 431 kilometres (268 mi) northwest of Manila, and includes the Babuyan Islands to the north. The province borders Ilocos Norte and Apayao to the west, and Kalinga and Isabela to the south.

Cagayan was one of the early provinces that existed during the Spanish colonial period. Called La Provincia de Cagayan, its borders essentially covered the entire Cagayan Valley, which included the present provinces of Isabela, Quirino, Nueva Vizcaya, Batanes and portions of Kalinga, Apayao, and Aurora. The former capital was Nueva Segovia, which also served as the seat of the Diocese of Nueva Segovia. Today, only 9,295.75 square kilometres (3,589.11 sq mi) remain of the former vastness of the province. The entire region, however, is still referred to as Cagayan Valley.

The Ibanag language (also written as Ybanag or Ibanak) is an Austronesian language spoken by up to 500,000 speakers, mostly comprising the Ibanag people, in the northeastern provinces of Isabela and Cagayan in the Philippines. Ibanag is spoken widely in the cities of Tuguegarao, Solana, Abulug, Camalaniugan, Lal-lo, Cabagan, Tumauini, San Pablo, Santo Tomas, Santa Maria, and Ilagan, as well as in the area around the Cagayan River. Ibanag is also spoken by Filipinos in the Middle East, United Kingdom, and the United States. Most speakers of Ibanag can also speak Ilocano, the lingua franca of northern Luzon island. The name Ibanag comes from the prefix I- which means 'people of', and bannag, meaning 'river'. Ibanag is closely related to Gaddang, Itawis, Agta, Atta, Yogad, Isneg and Malaweg.