Archdiocese of Davao
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The archdiocese's total population of 1,692,888 is made up of native Davaoenos (people of Davao), Filipino migrants from other provinces and Lumads from the Ata, Bagobo, Kalagan, Mandaya, Mangguangan, Mansaka, Tagakaolo and Samal tribes. Foreign residents include Americans, Australians, Chinese, Germans, Indians, Indonesians, Italians, Japanese, Koreans, Malaysians, and other nationals from Asia-Pacific and Europe. The most widely-spoken dialect is Cebuano followed by Tagalog. English is the medium of instruction used in schools and the business community.




















The local political structure is characterized by the election of a "Sangguniang Panglungsod" or city council. The city is subdivided into 184 barangays (smallest political unit).


Davao has regular air, sea, and land linkages to major points in the country. Davao City is only an hour and 40 minutes away from Manila by plane and 30 minutes away from the central Philippine city of Cebu. Davao can also be accessed from other major cities in the Philippines by air and it also has flights to Singapore, Indonesia and Palau. Forms of land transportation include motorcycles, tricycles, utility vehicles, taxicabs, cars, trucks, trailers and buses.




Davao has no pronounced wet or dry season. Weather predictability makes it highly conducive to agro-crop production. Around 40 percent of its total land area is used in agriculture (big plantations of banana, coconut, coffee, and pineapple) and 50 percent is classified as timberland or forest. As the country's fruit basket, Davao City largely contributes to export demands. It produces banana, pineapple, pomelo, mango, coconut, papaya, mangosteen, and also flowers for export. Other industries include fishery and pearling. Other Davaoenos work as computer programmers, medical practitioners, accountants, engineers and lawyers in government or private companies. Financial institutions operating in the region include over a hundred branches of Philippine and international banks.


There are 15 broadcast television stations, 15 AM-band radio stations 25 FM-band radio stations, some 50 national and local newspapers. In Davao City, high-speed Digital Subscribers Lines (DSL) support telecommunication operations and at least six companies offer fiber-optic links and wireless broadband.


The government provides free education at the primary (grade school) and secondary (high school) levels. Government scholars can enjoy free college education in state-run universities such as the University of the Philippines and the University of Southeastern Philippines. The Davao City government reports 98.05 percent literacy rate and most of the city's college graduates (school year 2004-2005) finished Education, Commerce, and Nursing degrees.


Music, song, dance, and drama are characterized by the intermingling of tri-peoples' (Lumad, Muslim and Christian) cultures.

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