Its capital is Lagawe and it borders Benguet to the west, Mountain Province to the north, Isabela to the east, and Nueva Vizcaya to the south.

[5] In 2008 and 2015, the Hudhud chants of the Ifugao and the Punnuk (Tugging rituals and games) were inscribed in the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists.

On August 18, 1908, Ifugao was separated from Nueva Vizcaya[16] and, along with Amburayan, Apayao, Benguet, Bontoc, Kalinga and Lepanto, was annexed to the newly created Mountain Province established by the Philippine Commission with the enactment of Act No.

[10][12][17][18] Ifugao became the center of warfare in the last year of World War II when Gen. Tomoyuki Yamashita launched his last stand against the American and Philippine Commonwealth forces at Mount Napulawan.

On July 15, 1987, the Cordillera Administrative Region was established by then-President Corazon Aquino through Executive Order 220, and Ifugao was made one of its provinces.

The Philippines' part in the new element is represented by the tug-of-war of the Ifugaos (in Barangay Hapao, Municipality of Hungduan) called the punnuk.

[32] Ifugao covers a total area of 2,628.21 square kilometres (1,014.76 sq mi)[33] occupying the southeastern section of the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon.

Situated within the Cordillera Central mountain range, Ifugao is characterized by rugged terrain, river valleys, and massive forests.

The 11 municipalities of the province comprise a total of 176 barangays, with Santa Maria in Alfonso Lista (Potia) as the most populous in 2010, and Banga in Lagawe as the least.

The most significant religion other than Roman Catholicism is Protestantism that make up 20%-30%[39][40] of the population and are mostly found in the central and south-western parts of this province.

The author emphasizes that the Ifugao people kept their culture and identity alive by spending large amounts of time in rice fields, since they treated them as ritual areas to “reinforce community solidarity.

The domestication of pigs and terrace cultivation within the Ifugao region provides a perfect scenario of how societies respond to challenges and needs in their immediate environment.

The bigger the feast, the higher regard a person was likely to receive from both kin and non-kin members as the ceremony would involve the sharing of sacrificed pig meat.

[15] The relationship between the elites who in this case owned the land and the lower social classes worsened during the period after the Spanish conquest.

The cultural value attached to the pig and rice cultivation guaranteed the survival of the communities, in spite of moving to the highlands as they migrated further from the invading Spanish.

The importance of rituals and ceremonies meant that people were pushed into practicing pig domestication not merely as a source of food, but as a way of honoring their culture.

On the other hand, the cultivation of rice on the terraces required extensive organization of labor, which led to the creation of socio-political shifts.

Their social status is measured by the number of rice field granaries, family heirlooms, gold earrings, and carabaos (water buffaloes).

Ifugao are unique among all ethnic groups in the mountain province for their narrative literature such as the hudhud, an epic dealing with hero ancestors sung in a poetic manner.

Also unique to the Ifugao is their woodcarving art, most notably the carved granary guardians bulul and the prestige bench of the upper class, the hagabi.

UNESCO describes the element as follows:[30] The Hudhud consists of narrative chants traditionally performed by the Ifugao community, which is well known for its rice terraces extending over the highlands of the northern island of the Philippine archipelago.

Since the Ifugao’s culture is matrilineal, the wife generally takes the main part in the chants, and her brother occupies a higher position than her husband.

The language of the stories abounds in figurative expressions and repetitions and employs metonymy, metaphor and onomatopoeia, rendering transcription very difficult.

The chant tells about ancestral heroes, customary law, religious beliefs and traditional practices, and reflects the importance of rice cultivation.

Although the rice terraces are listed as a World Heritage Site, the number of growers has been in constant decline.The few remaining narrators, who are already very old, need to be supported in their efforts to transmit their knowledge and to raise awareness among young people.The Punnuk of the Ifugao was inscribed in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2015 under the multinational inscription of the Tugging Rituals and Games element.