[4] The province in pre-colonial times was much influenced by the Rajahnate of Butuan which was nestled in present-day Agusan del Norte.

In particular during World War II, the allegedly magical province had a significant impact on the history of the nation.

From 1890 to 1990 its boundaries were gradually reduced giving rise to six municipalities, Loreto, Cagdianao, Libjo, Basilisa, Tubajon and San Jose.

It was named Loreto in 1881 by the Spanish priest who frequents the town, in honor of the wife of the Alcalde Mayor of the Province of Surigao.

It was on this shore that the 6th Ranger Battalion of the 6th U.S. Army under Col. Mucci landed at Sitio Campintac of Barangay Panamaon in Loreto.

The northern part of the island served as a refuge for the American soldiers, while the western border was held by Japanese forces.

The first families to settle in the town were Ga, Ventura, Ecunar, Gealogo, Jarligo, Geraldino, Ensomo, Gier, and Eviota.

They even managed to steal the bell of the Immaculada Concepcion Parish, the only church in the town then, and dumped it in a well in now Sitio Busay in Barangay New Mabuhay.

The pillaging was eventually stopped by the first gobernadorcillo of the town, Pedro Ga Ventura and his brother Leon.

On December 2, 1959, the two Municipal Councils of Dinagat and Loreto held a joint session at Barrio Libjo.

The northern portion of the municipality was part of Loreto, namely, Barrio Quezon, Libjo, Bolodbolod and San Jose.

The southern portion that included Barrio Osmeña, Cahayag, Arellano and Plaridel were part of the Municipality of Dinagat.

The first Municipal Mayor was Jacinto S. Pinat, Sr. Dinagat island experienced a population boom shortly after the foundation of the Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association (PBMA) in 1965.

[17] Although the original decision was made final and executory on May 18, 2010, reverting Dinagat Islands back to Surigao del Norte, the officials elected in 2010 continued to serve the province until the Supreme Court reversed its ruling in 2011.

[13] On April 12, 2011, the Supreme Court reversed its earlier ruling,[18] upholding the constitutionality of Republic Act No.

An Entry of Judgment on October 24, 2012, ended the legal battles surrounding the status of the province, and finalized the separation of Dinagat Islands from Surigao del Norte.

Mount Redondo on Dinagat Island is the highest point of the province reaching 939 metres (3,081 ft) above sea level.

Religious breakdown in the province shows Catholicism at majority with 53% adherence while Iglesia Filipina Independiente or Aglipayan is the significant minority religion at 23%.

Recent cultural, religious and socioeconomic changes of the province have allowed the rebound of Catholics (and Aglipayans in some degree) and their numbers have constantly increased; the province had experienced a Catholic decline in several decades (1970s-early 2000s) due to immigration of the members of Philippine Benevolent Missionaries Association in the 1960s.

Dinagat Islands has a multitude of fascinating white sandy beaches with arrays of colossal rock formations.

The provincial People's Hall building, built in 2024, was inspired by Japanese Yamato-class Battleship during Battle of Surigao Strait in World War II.

The Dinagat Islands is one of the most environmentally significant provinces in the Philippines, where endemism of fauna is unique in its region.

Animals that are endemic to the province include the critically endangered Dinagat bushy-tailed cloud rat that was rediscovered in 2012 after decades of disappearance,[26] the endangered Dinagat hairy-tailed rat, Dinagat gymnure that has been declared by the EDGE Species Programme of the Zoological Society of London as one of the top 100 most evolutionary distinct and globally endangered species in the world, and a strange sub-species of the Philippine tarsier that is unusually larger and darker in color than the common Philippine tarsier.

UPLB MNH Professor Edwino S. Fernando and Dr. Peter Gordon Wilson of the Australian Institute of Botanical Science, discovered 'Tristaniopsis flexuosa,' a Tristaniopsis new species found only in Mount Redondo, Dinagat Island.