They reside in the municipalities of Lagawe (capital of Ifugao), Aguinaldo, Alfonso Lista, Asipulo, Banaue, Hingyon, Hungduan, Kiangan, Lamut, Mayoyao, and Tinoc.

[2] The term Ifugao is derived from ipugo, which means "earth people", "mortals" or "humans", as distinguished from spirits and deities.

The groups that migrated to the Cordilleran highlands were believed to be those that resisted the Spanish colonial control, which became prevalent in the lowlands.

According to Acabado, the rugged nature of the highlands around the Ifugao region did not out rightly provide a hindrance to the Spanish conquest.

Archeological research shows Ifugao practices of successful resistance by strengthening their political and economic resources.

[6] According to Queeny G. Lapeña and Stephen B. Acabado, in order to successfully resist against a colonizing power, a constructive military organization within a complete polity is required.

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.

Due to being isolated by the terrain, Ifugaos usually speak in Ilocano, Tagalog, and English as their alternative to their mother tongue.

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

[2] The more affluent Ifugao, known as kadangyan or baknang, were usually generous by nature, lending rice to poor neighbors in time of food shortage(s) and/or hardship(s), in return for labor.

Acting as village or spiritual leaders, creditors or commercial managers, these rich families exhibited their wealth by providing for many feasts, or cañaos.

[11][12] Shifting to wet rice cultivation is one factor that intensified the social ranking that was already present among the Ifugao society.

"In Ifugao, the adoption of wet-rice agriculture is at the forefront in discussions regarding social ranking vis-à-vis prestige economy.

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.

The bulul sculptures are highly stylized representations of the ancestors of the Ifugao and are thought to gain power and wealth from the presence of the ancestral spirit.

Also, the Ifugaos believe in life after death so those who are murdered are given a ritual called opa to force their souls into the place where his ancestors dwell.

[18] In addition to such acts of revenge, attacks were also organized in which a successful outcome increased the prestige of the mostly young participating men.

[20] Wooden rice spoons with sacred carved images of bulul representing deities or ancestral spirits (anito) are traditional among the Ifugao people.

In head-hunting societies, like the Ifugao, tattoos were records of how many heads the warriors had taken in battle, and were part of the initiation rites into adulthood.

[22] Common Ifugao motifs include the kinabu (dog), usually placed on the chest; tinagu (human figures); and ginawang or ginayaman (centipedes).

[23] Betrothals are common among the Ifugao, especially among the wealthy class; and they perform several customs in marriage like bubun (providing a pig to the woman's family).

[25] During the marriage ceremony (uya-uy), the man usually wears a headress known as the kango (literally "hornbill"; also yang ngo).

[2] William Scott describes the details associated with the Ifugao house, "Square in floor plan, it is elevated to about shoulder height by four posts (tukud), around which are fitted cynlindrical wooden rat-guards (halipan), carrying two transverse girders (kuling) which support three floor joists into which the floorboards (dotal) are fitted and wallboards (goab and pamadingan) and studs (bagad) are mortised.

The four studs, placed at the corner of the house, are mortised at their upper end into four tie-beans or purlins (wanan) which form a square to carry much of the weight of the roof as well as the central crossbeam (pumpitolan) on which stand two queenposts (taknang).

These queenposts terminate in a small square (ambubulan) which supports the upper ends of the rafters (bughol), the roof being a true pyramid in form with four triangular sides and thus rising to an apex without any ridgepole.

The wallboards are rabbeted into a transverse beam (huklub) at waist or chest height, at which point a shelf (patie) is fitted between them and the roof, whose eaves descend as low as the level of the floor.

Above the tie beams a reed floor or platform is often fitted to make an attic-like storage space (palan) for unthreshed rice.

Wooden panels close doorways on two opposite sides of the house, and entrance is gained by means of a ladder which is removed at night.

This type of house is called bale (or fale), but the same basic building with a few modifications - the wallboards extend up to the roof, there is only one door, and the whole thing is smaller - serves as a rat-proof granary (alang).