The discovery of hanging coffins and artistic material in the caves of Banton Island demonstrates the existence of a rich and ancient civilization and aboriginal culture.

The encomienda of Donblon (Romblon[a]), established on April 24, 1571, was granted to Don Gonzalo Riquel.

In the first census done by Spanish navigator Miguel de Loarca in 1582, Romblon Island was shown to have 240 residents engaged in wax gathering.

[7] In the local Visayan dialect, the word means a bird warming an egg in its nest.

[6] In 1635, the island of Romblon was evangelized by Spanish Recollect fathers and became a dependency of the Captaincy General of the Philippines.

[13] On March 25, 2018, the Sandiganbayan, a special appellate collegial court that tries graft and corruption cases, affirmed its ruling sentencing Romblon mayor Mariano Mateo, former mayor Leo Mérida and eight other former local officials to 10 years in prison.

The case, which was filed in 2010, stemmed from the municipal government's purchase of a backhoe amounting to P13.95 million in November 2005 without public bidding.

The municipality proper is situated along the coast of Romblon Bay, a natural harbor and safe haven for ships passing in the area during inclement weather.

Romblon falls under Type III of the Corona climatic classification system which was devised in 1920.

Generally, the wet season is from June to November and sometimes extends up to December when the southwest monsoon is predominant.

Romblon marble is of very high quality and comes in shades of white, green, pink, red and black.

The Mines and Geosciences Bureau has estimated that Romblon is endowed with about 150 million metric tons of marble.

Aside from marble quarrying and processing, tourism, fishing and coconut farming are also basic livelihood sources in the island.

The Romblon National High School hosts the first and only artificial football pitch in Mimaropa in 2024.

[29] The capital town of Romblon has a number of tourist places, which include: Barangay Capaclan in the municipality hosts the Romblon Provincial Capitol Complex, where the governor, the vice governor, and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan hold office.

Pursuant to Chapter II, Title II, Book III of Republic Act 7160, the Local Government Code of 1991,[31] the municipal government is composed of a mayor (alkalde), a vice mayor (bise alkalde) and members (kagawad) of the legislative branch Sangguniang Bayan alongside a secretary to the said legislature, all of which are elected to a three-year term and are eligible to run for three consecutive terms.