The city is also called the "Summer Capital of the South" due to its higher elevation and cooler climate,[7][failed verification] a nickname it shares with Malaybalay.

[8][better source needed] On May 23, 2017, the city suffered extensive damage during the Siege of Marawi as militants affiliated with the Islamic State invaded the city and engaged in a five-month urban warfare,[9] until when Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana announced the ending of the battle in October.

[10] On the other hand, this present name is in honor of the city's martyred hero in Kuta Marahui (Fortress of Marawi) in 1895.

[citation needed] Around the original Meranaw fortification, Spanish captain Francisco Atienza founded a settlement called Dansalan in October 1639.

However, it was abandoned later the same year when thousands of Meranaw soldiers invested the then-fortifying settlement, pressing the Spaniards hard and thus they returned to Iligan, having failed in their quest.

[10][11] It was in this municipality when, on March 18, 1935, a group of 189 Maranao leaders and its leader, Hadji Abdulhamid Bongabong of Unayan, signed a document known as the Dansalan Declaration, urging then United States President Franklin Roosevelt and its Congress to grant Mindanao and Sulu separate independence by the United States instead of inclusion in the country's independence.

[11][17] During World War II, the Japanese invaded Dansalan and established a "comfort station" in the city, where local girls, teenagers, and young adults were kidnapped and turned into sex slaves under brutal "comfort women" system, where victims were routinely gang-raped and killed by Japanese soldiers.

261 in the defunct Batasang Pambansa, the country's former parliament during the Marcos regime, reportedly to attract funds from the Middle East.

[27] The 2017 siege resulted to internally displaced persons contributing to a significant population increase in certain barangays, later led to the creation of new ones.

[30][31] The plebiscite for the creation of two barangays on March 18, 2023, marking the first exclusively local electoral exercise in the city post-siege,[28] was held in five polling precincts.

[44][better source needed] Mountains, rolling hills, valleys, and a large placid lake dominate the city's landscape.

Mupo, located within the Sacred Mountain National Park, is known for its untouched trees and beautiful, perfect cone.

With the elevation along Lake Lanao at around 2,300 feet (700 m),[3] this raised altitude together frequent heavy showers at all seasons, ensures that hot conditions are seldom observed.

Maranao or Meranaw is widely spoken in Marawi; however, many local inhabitants can also speak Maguindanaon, Iranun, English and/or Tagalog.

Other institutions and colleges are well established in the city and are as follows: Other notable secondary schools are: TESDA is also stationed in Marawi which caters to technical training of students for the province.

It has huge, collection of indigenous art, displayed ethnic music tape recorded, the native folk dances from different regions of Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan, the native tools and weapons used by the Muslims and different artistic designs of houses are the main attractions of museum.