The whole island makes up the barangay of Babuyan Claro, that constitute the municipality of Calayan in Cagayan province.

Babuyan was depopulated by the Spanish and only repopulated at the end of the 19th century with families from Batan Island, most of them speakers of one of the Ivatan dialects.

[6] Near the western point of the island is Smith Volcano, also known as Mount Babuyan, about 2,257 ft (688 m) high.

In the middle of the island and east-southeastward from Smith is Babuyan Claro, also known as Mount Pangasun, about 3,491 ft (1,064 m) high, between which the mountains are much lower, so that from a considerable distance eastward it appears as a round mountain with a detached hillock northward.

There are three other volcanic cones with no historic eruptions on the island: Cayonan, Dionisio and Naydi.