| The City of Baguio is a 1st class highly urbanized city in northern Luzon in the Philippines. Baguio City was established by Americans in 1900 at the site of an Ibaloi village known as Kafagway. Baguio City was designated by the Philippine Commission as the Summer Capital of the Philippines on June 1, 1903 and incorporated as a city by the Philippine Assembly on September 1, 1909. There is a presidential mansion, as well as supreme court and legislative offices in Baguio. Baguio is the seat of government of the Cordillera Administrative Region. The name of the city is derived from the word bagiw in Ibaloi, the indigenous language of the Benguet Region, meaning 'moss'. The city is at an altitude of approximately 1500 meters (5100 ft) in a moist tropical pine forest conducive to the growth of mossy plants and orchids.
According to the 2000 census, it has a population of 252,386 in 52,302 households.
Geography
The three main access roads leading to Baguio from the lowlands are Kennon Road, Marcos Highway, and Naguilian Highway. Kennon Road starts from Rosario, La Union and winds through a narrow, steep valley. This is the fastest route to Baguio but is dangerous, with landslides during the rainy season. Marcos Highway, which starts from Agoo, La Union, and Naguilian Highway, which starts from Bauang, La Union, are longer routes but are safer than Kennon Road and are the preferred routes for coaches, buses and lorries. Due to Baguio's Indepence in 1909, Baguio is not a part of the Benguet province. Though geographically speaking it's located in Benguet, Baguio is a charter city and is said to be the 7th province in the Cordillera Region.
History
The region around Baguio was first settled by the Cordilleranos, primarily the Kankane-y, Ibaloi, and Itogon tribes. In nearby La Trinidad, Spaniards established a commandante or military garrison, although Kafagway, as Baguio was once known, was barely touched. In 1901 Americans in an engineering built Kennon Road, the first road directly connecting Kafagway with the lowlands of Pangasinan. Before this, the only road to Kafagway was ˜Naguilian Road, now known as the Quirino Highway. In September 1, 1909 Baguio was declared a chartered city. It was planned according to the American architect Burnham, but his plan was used only to a small extent, primarily due to the hilly terrain. Americans declared Baguio the Summer Capital of the Philippines and The Mansion as the residence of the American governor-general to escape Manila's Summer heat. Americans further developed Baguio, building parks and public structures such as Wright Park, Burnham Park, Governor Pack Road, Session Road, Assumption Road.
Baguio is also best known as the surrender venue of General Tomoyuki Yamashita and Vice Admiral Okochi, where they also gave up the entire Imperial Japanese Armed Forces to American authorities at the High Commissioner's Residence in Camp John Hay on September 3, 1945, marking the beginning of the end of World War II.
With Philippine independence in 1946, Americans settled in the city and English became the primary lingua franca. Ilocanos joined the Cordilleranos in Baguio, and the population of Americans, Dutch, Belgians, and Germans soared. Baguio was relatively quiet from 1946 to July 16, 1990, when an earthquake destroyed most of Baguio. The city was quickly rebuilt.
Around May 2003, a petition initiated by Dion Fernandez to declare Baguio a heritage zone was circulated on the Internet and national print media, gaining more than 10,000 signatures. The petition calls upon unspecified officials to create the Zone prior to the Baguio centennial in 2009. In May 2005, the Heritage Conservation Society submitted to the Baguio City Council a proposed Special Heritage Bill drafted by HCS Trustee Ivan Henares. It has been approved on second reading but is being opposed by a group of businessmen.
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