Los Baños, Province of Laguna, Calabarzon, Philippines

History | Barangays | Tourist Industry

🇵🇭 Los Baños, officially the Municipality of Los Baños, is a 1st class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines.

It has a total land area of 56.5 square km and is bordered on the south and south-west by Mount Makiling, on the north by Laguna de Bay., on the north-west by Calamba and on the east by the town of Bay. The town is located 63 km (39 mi) south-east of Manila and is easily accessible via the South Luzon Expressway along with the Manila South Road segment of the Philippine Highway Network.

The municipality lies on the northern slopes of the long dormant volcano Mount Makiling and is known among tourists for its hot spring resorts. Los Baños also hosts two constituent universities of the University of the Philippines System: the University of the Philippines Los Baños and University of the Philippines Open University, along with other foreign and local and international research centres, such as the International Rice Research Institute, the ASEAN Center for Biodiversity, the Philippine Rice Research Institute, Philippine Carabao Center at UPLB, and SEAMEO-SEARCA, making the town a temporary home for tens of thousands of both local and foreign undergraduate and graduate students, researchers and support staff.

Los Baños was declared as the Special Science and Nature City of the Philippines through Presidential Proclamation No. 349. The proclamation, however, does not convert the municipality to a city or give it corporate powers that are accorded to other cities.

Aside from its importance in academics, science and research, Los Baños is a well-known tourist destination. Because of the town's proximity to Metro Manila, Los Baños' hot spring resorts are frequent weekend or summer getaways for residents of the vast metropolis and tourists from other places in the Philippines and abroad. Tourists who visit Los Baños also come to the several native delicacies stores in the town to buy the town's famous buko pie (coconut meat pie) as well as a home-grown brand of chocolate cake. Currently, it is Laguna's richest municipality in terms of assets amounting to Php 652.95 M.

History Los Baños started as a settlement, a barrio of Bay, called Mainit, the Tagalog term for "hot", alluding to the thermal springs at the foot of Mount Makiling. By 1589, through a Franciscan friar, it became popularly called by its present name, "Los Baños", which is Spanish for "bathing place".

In 1595, a temporary building made of bamboo and cogon was built to serve as shelter for the patients who journeyed to Mainit to seek cures for their ailments. It was on 17 September 1615 when the friars administered Los Baños as a separate town from Bay.

In 1671, more permanent structures like churches and hospitals were built only to be destroyed by a fire in 1727. The structures were re-erected at a slow rate. The church which now stands in the municipal centre of Los Baños dates back to 1851. The Spanish Governor's palace was built in 1879 but was only completed in 1892.

Barangays Los Baños is politically subdivided into 14 barangays. • Anos • Bagong Silang • Bambang • Batong Malake • Baybayin • Bayog • Lalakay • Maahas • Malinta • Mayondon • Putho-Tuntungin • San Antonio • Tadlac • Timugan.

Tourist Industry • University of the Philippines Los Baños and other places of interest within its administered area ◦ Mount Makiling ▪ Makiling Botanic Gardens ▪ ASEAN Center for Biodiversity ▪ UPLB Museum of Natural History ▪ Flatrocks – creek usually frequented by hikers ▪ Mudspring – Presumed volcanic crater of Mt. Makiling ▪ Peak 2 – Highest peak of Mt. Makiling ▪ Pook ni Maria Makiling, an eco-tourism site adjacent to the Jamboree Site, National Arts Center, and U.P. Los Baños ▪ Boy Scouts of the Philippines and Jamboree Site – a campsite at the foot of Mount Makiling adjacent to U.P. Los Baños, which is being managed by the Boy Scouts of the Philippines and the site of the 10th World Scout Jamboree in 1959, the 1st and 12th Asia Pacific Jamboree in 1973 and 1991, and the 1st ASEAN Jamboree in 1993. ▪ National Arts Center – a patch of land at the foot of Mount Makiling adjacent to U.P. Los Baños, which is being managed by the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the site of the Philippine High School for the Arts, a special school for young artist scholars. ◦ International Rice Research Institute ◦ Philippine Rice Research Institute ◦ Dairy Training & Research Institute ◦ Philippine Carabao Center at UPLB (PCC at UPLB) – conducts R&D in water buffalo; implements other programs related to water buffalo development; one of the 13 regional centres of PCC ◦ Agricultural and Life Sciences Complex ▪ National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (NIMBB/BIOTECH) – UPLB ▪ Institute of Plant Breeding ▪ APEC Center for Technology Exchange and Training for Small and Medium Enterprises (ACTETSME) ▪ National Crop Protection Center (NCPC) ▪ College of Agriculture AgriPark ◦ Baker Hall (also known as Los Baños Internment Camp during World War II) • University of the Philippines Open University • Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) • Department of Science and Technology Regional Office for Region IV (DOST IV) • Magnetic Hill • Dampalit Falls • Immaculate Conception Parish – a centuries-old church at the town proper (Poblacion/Bayan) • Paciano Rizal Shrine – house of Paciano Rizal, brother of National Hero Jose Rizal • Paciano Rizal Park – park dedicated to Paciano Rizal, brother of National Hero Jose Rizal • Trace Aqua Sports Complex and Museum – aquatic sports venue for the 2005 SEA Games and Philippine Olympic Festival • Yamashita Shrine – execution site of Gen. Homma and Gen. Yamashita

Pedro Guevara Avenue, Santa Cruz, Province of Laguna 
Pedro Guevara Avenue, Santa Cruz, Province of Laguna
Image: Santacruzgis

Los Baños has a population of over 115,353 people. Los Baños also forms one of the centres of the wider Laguna province which has a population of over 3,382,193 people.

To set up a UBI Lab for Los Baños see: https://www.ubilabnetwork.org Twitter: https://twitter.com/UBILabNetwork

Twin Towns, Sister Cities Los Baños has links with:

🇺🇸 Davis, USA
Text Atribution: Wikipedia Text under CC-BY-SA license

Antipodal to Los Baños is: -58.775,-14.182

Locations Near: Los Baños 121.225,14.1819

🇵🇭 Santo Tomas 121.143,14.106 d: 12.2  

🇵🇭 Calamba 121.109,14.174 d: 12.5  

🇵🇭 Cabuyao 121.124,14.272 d: 14.8  

🇵🇭 San Pablo City 121.325,14.07 d: 16.5  

🇵🇭 San Pablo 121.326,14.071 d: 16.5  

🇵🇭 Tanauan 121.098,14.101 d: 16.4  

🇵🇭 Santa Rosa 121.12,14.32 d: 19.1  

🇵🇭 Santa Cruz 121.398,14.268 d: 21  

🇵🇭 Biñan 121.08,14.33 d: 22.7  

🇵🇭 San Pedro 121.058,14.358 d: 26.6  

Antipodal to: Los Baños -58.775,-14.182

🇧🇷 Tangará da Serra -57.491,-14.621 d: 19868.4  

🇧🇷 Vilhena -60.11,-12.708 d: 19796.6  

🇧🇷 Várzea Grande -56.139,-15.652 d: 19688.1  

🇧🇷 Cuiabá -56.096,-15.596 d: 19687  

🇧🇷 Lucas do Rio Verde -55.917,-13.067 d: 19682.2  

🇧🇷 Sorriso -55.7,-12.533 d: 19635.3  

🇧🇷 Cacoal -61.447,-11.439 d: 19594.4  

🇧🇷 Sinop -55.633,-11.833 d: 19586.1  

🇧🇷 Ji-Paraná -61.941,-10.881 d: 19512.4  

🇧🇷 Primavera do Leste -54.333,-15.517 d: 19515.2  

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