Batuan, officially the Municipality of Batuan, is a 5th class municipality in the province of Masbate, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 14,610 people.

It is located at the southern point of Ticao Island. It is the smallest municipality in Masbate, both in land area and population.

In 1951, the barrios of Batuan, Burgos, Gibraltar, Costa Rica, Panisihan, and Matabao were separated from San Fernando to form the Municipality of Batuan.

The municipality is home to the Bongsanglay Natural Park.

Geography

Barangays

Batuan is politically subdivided into 14 barangays.  Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Climate

Demographics

Population census of Batuan

Year Pop. ±% p.a. 1960 8,004 —     1970 9,939 +2.19% 1975 10,234 +0.59% 1980 10,406 +0.33% 1990 10,525 +0.11% 1995 12,705 +3.59%	Year Pop. ±% p.a. 2000 12,038 −1.15% 2007 12,585 +0.61% 2010 13,764 +3.31% 2015 15,086 +1.76% 2020 14,610 −0.63%
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

In the 2020 census, the population of Batuan, Masbate, was 14,610 people, with a density of 260 inhabitants per square kilometre or 670 inhabitants per square mile.

Economy

Poverty incidence of Batuan

10 20 30 40 50 2006 34.50 2009 37.04 2012 46.07 2015 36.97 2018 29.28 2021 25.60 Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

Archaeological and Ecological Landscape and Seascape of Ticao

The municipality is part of Ticao island, which is known as an archaeological landscape, possessing thousands of pre-colonial artifacts such as the Baybayin-inscribed Rizal Stone, Ticao gold spike teeth, Burial jars of varying designs and sizes, jade beads, human face rock statues, and the Ticao petrographs. Much of the homes in Ticao island use these archaeological finds to design their interiors. The island is also an ecological frontier for the conservation of manta rays. The island also possesses a 'rare subspecies' of Visayan warty pig, that is almost near extinction.