Prior to that, the Spaniards had already established their first permanent settlement in Nueva Vizcaya in 1714 in the town of Buhay, now Barangay Santa Clara.

In January 1767, the intrepid Spanish Missionary Manuel Corripio succeeded in persuading an Igorot King called Ari Mengal and his tribe to live in the town.

[5] During the American Era on 30 June 1917, through the initiative of Councilor Jose Aleman, the application for township of Aritao to higher authorities was finally approved by the Secretary of the Interior.

During World War II, Japanese troops entered Aritao in 1942 and were pushed out by Allied forces in 1945 after heavy fighting in the village of Kirang, which lay on the foot of the Cordillera mountain trails towards Baguio.

Poverty incidence of Aritao Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Aritao, belonging to the lone congressional district of the province of Nueva Vizcaya, is governed by a mayor designated as its local chief executive and by a municipal council as its legislative body in accordance with the Local Government Code.