Kalinga

This article is about the province in the Philippines. For the ancient region in India, see Odisha

Kalinga is a province in the Cordillera region of Luzon in the Philippines. Long feared for its tribal conflicts and headhunters, it is nowadays renowned for its natural and cultural attractions such as indigenous villages, whitewater rafting, unspoiled mountains and even an indigenous tattoo artist.

Map of Kalinga

Kalinga is divided into one city and seven municipalities, all rural and sparsely populated, each having a central town.

• 17.443611121.2008331 Balbalan
• 17.35121.1833332 Lubuagan — historic capital and home to Awichon Cultural Village.
• 17.389444121.1597223 Pasil
• 17.573056121.3652784 Pinukpuk
• 17.5121.65 Rizal
• 17.406944121.44256 Tabuk — provincial capital and only city. Also a destination for whitewater rafting
• 17.281389121.2302787 Tanudan
• 17.265121.1488898 Tinglayan

• 17.228121.0881 Buscalan — A village of Tingalayan known for being the home of Whang-od, a centenarian tattoo artist who applies traditional Butbut tattoos.
• 17.45121.12 Balbalasang-Balbalan National Park — A wild stretch of the Cordilleras along the boundary with Abra featuring towering peaks, hot springs and isolated villages mostly untouched by modern civilization.

Kalinga occupies over 3,200 km² (1,200 sq mi) of land area, mostly mountainous terrain. The capital is Tabuk. The province occupies some of the highest peaks of the Cordillera Mountains.

The province is bounded on the south by Mountain Province, on the west by Abra, to the north by Apayao and to the east by Cagayan and Isabela. It is predominantly inhabited by the Kalinga, whose name means "enemy" in the language of the neighboring Ibanag people of Cagayan Valley.

Kalinga's climate varies extensively. While the flat, grassy eastern plateau can be hot in summer, the western highlands have a more temperate climate due to its altitude.

Many visit the province during the dry season between November and April, where temperatures are at its coolest and rainfall at its lowest. The rainy season is rather the same as with the rest of Luzon, but precipitation is somewhat higher. Heavy rain, especially those brought by typhoons, can cause seasonal road closures due to landslides and rockfalls.

Archeological evidence suggests that Kalinga has long been settled as early as the prehistoric era, as seen by excavations of prehistoric fossils from animals hunted down by humans in what is now Rizal town. Throughout the 17th to 19th centuries, the Spaniards based in Cagayan Valley tried to subjugate Kalinga with limited success. In retaliation, Kalinga tribes raided lowland villages and beheaded residents in headhunting raids.

During the Philippine-American War, the town of Lubuagan briefly became the capital of the First Philippine Republic in 1900. The Americans occupied Kalinga shortly afterwards and turned it into a subdistrict of the Mountain Province encompassing much of the Cordillera region in 1908.

In 1966, Kalinga was merged with Apayao subdistrict to became the province of Kalinga-Apayao. In the 1970s and 1980s, the area became a hotbed of rebellions led by the communist New People's Army and a Cordilleran separatist splinter group, the Cordillera People's Liberation Army (CPLA). At the same time, the Kalingas managed to resist attempts by the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marco to build a large dam along the Chico River that would have inundated large large parts of the province.

After Marcos was overthrown in 1986, the government of Corazon Aquino reached a peace agreement with the CPLA, leading to Kalinga-Apayao's transfer from the Cagayan Valley Region to the Cordillera Administrative Region in 1988. Despite being the CPLA's home base, Kalinga rejected autonomy for the Cordilleras in referendums in 1990 and 1998. Following a referendum in 1995, Kalinga-Apayao was dissolved into two separate provinces comprising its constituent halves.

Historically an agricultural and mining society, Kalinga's economy is gradually opening up to tourism in the 21st century, although the province's geography, poor infrastructure and bouts of tribal conflict and political instability make it challenging for large-scale tourist enterprises to take hold unlike in Baguio.

The native language is Kalinga, which has various dialects per town. An alternative lingua franca is Ilocano, brought by lowland migrants who settled in the province, followed by Tagalog and English.

Kalinga is mainly accessed through roads from Tuguegarao in Cagayan. The nearest airport is also in Tuguegarao. Apart from Metro Manila, the main transport hubs leading to Kalinga include Baguio, Bontoc in Mountain Province and Tuguegarao. There are secondary roads linking Kalinga with Isabela, Santiago City via Mountain Province and Ifugao, Apayao, Laoag and Vigan via Abra and Baguio via Bontoc.

Unlike other provinces, public transportation to Kalinga operates at an infrequent pace, with some transport companies offering only 1-2 daily trips to the province by transport companies and others operating a monopoly on select areas. There are direct bus services to Tabuk from Metro Manila, Baguio and Bontoc, while passenger vans to Tabuk can be taken from Tuguegarao.

One can get around the province by public transportation such as jeepney, bus, and passenger van. Tricycles used between towns.

Due to infrequent services, it is better to take a 4WD or any vehicle suitable for mountain roads. Many attractions are accessible following extended hikes.

Most visitors come to Kalinga either to do whitewater rafting along the Chico River or see Balbalasang National Park, an overlooked and mostly unclimbed stretch of the Cordillera mountains. Since the 2010s, a growing trend is to go to the isolated village of Buscalan and have an tattoo from Whang-Od, a centenarian woman from of the Butbut tribe who is known as the last indigenous tattoo artist (mambabatok) in the Cordilleras, although she continues to train apprentices from the village.

Kalinga is also known for its heritage villages of Naneng in Tabuk and Awichon in Lubuagan, offering visitors the chance to live like the natives.

Partake in cultural activities such as pounding rice, community dances and listening to the chants of the indigenous songs and epics.

Like the rest of the Cordilleras, Kalinga cuisine is comprised of highland rice, starch vegetables and game.

Rice wine is the native drink. Another famous, albeit expensive option is civet coffee, which are coffee beans ingested by Asian palm civet (musang) and expelled afterwards, giving off a distinct aroma and flavor following fermentation in the animal's stomach.

The bulk of tourist accommodation is in Tabuk. Most accommodation consists of small inns, hostels or homestays.

Accidents and landslides are common along the mountain roads, with the danger compounded by low or nonexistent guard rails and fog. Ensure that your vehicle is in good condition.

Kalinga is a hotspot for the illegal cultivation of marijuana. Do not accept offers to buy or transport the drug, as you can be flagged down at police checkpoints in the region, especially if your license plates give you away as an outsider. Possession of marijuana is punishable by imprisonment.

Although headhunting was finally outlawed in Kalinga after World War II, tribal warfare between clans is not an uncommon issue in Kalinga. This can lead to some villages being closed to visitors.

Drive very carefully in Kalinga. Most residents take the loss of livestock and pets from hit and run accidents very seriously and will sometimes react violently towards involved motorists, resulting in news stories mischaracterizing such incidents as tribal warfare.