[3] The town's original name was Capan-awan, then Langangan (Lang-ga-ngan), which means "Sagapa", a round piece of rattan work to hold in place earthen pots,[5] Municipal officials then petitioned for a change of name through the Congressman Benjamin Ligot.

The early settlers in this municipality were the Agamanos, Agnir, Aguinaldo, Aguirre, Agullana, Bumanglag, Estabillo, Llapitan, Madamba, Pagdilao, Ragsac, Rivera, and the Sanchez families.

These barangays were once part of Santa Praxedes but lost them when the municipality was transferred to the provincial jurisdiction of Ilocos Norte.

It borders the Ilocos Norte municipality of Pagudpud to the west; Calanasan, Apayao, to the south-west; Claveria, Cagayan, to the east.

The poblacion of the municipality consists of two barangays, Centro-Uno and Centro-Dos, which are situated in the valley surrounded by the northern tip of the Cordilleras.

Poverty Incidence of Santa Praxedes Source: Philippine Statistics Authority[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] Economic activity consists mainly of fishing, farming and tourism.

Although it has a small population, it enjoys full coverage of Smart and Globe cellular networks which residents use to connect to the Internet.