| Flag Size: | 120x80px | ||
| Seal Size: | 100x80px | ||
| Image Map1: |
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| Pushpin Map: | Philippines | ||
| Pushpin Label Position: | left | ||
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location within the | ||
| Subdivision Type: | Country | ||
| Subdivision Name: | Philippines | ||
| Subdivision Type1: | Region | ||
| Subdivision Name1: | Davao Region | ||
| Subdivision Type2: | Province | ||
| Other Name: | San Vicente | ||
| Nickname: | El Dorado's Last Frontier | ||
| Subdivision Type3: | District | ||
| Established Title: | Founded | ||
| Parts Type: | Barangays | ||
| Parts Style: | para | ||
| P1: | (see Barangays) | ||
| Leader Name: | Antonio "Ay-Eng" L. Libuangan | ||
| Leader Title1: | Vice Mayor | ||
| Leader Name1: | Mark Anthony S. Libuangan | ||
| Leader Name2: | Ruwel Peter S. Gonzaga | ||
| Leader Title3: | Councilor | ||
| Leader Name4: | voters (electorate_point_in_time}}|) | ||
| Elevation Max M: | 375 | ||
| Elevation Min M: | 91 | ||
| Population Density Km2: | auto | ||
| Population Blank1 Title: | Households | ||
| Timezone: | PST | ||
| Utc Offset: | +8 | ||
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code | ||
| Demographics Type1: | Economy | ||
| Demographics1 Title2: | Poverty incidence | ||
| Demographics1 Info2: | % | ||
| Demographics1 Title3: | Revenue | ||
| Demographics1 Title4: | Revenue rank | ||
| Demographics1 Title5: | Assets | ||
| Demographics1 Title6: | Assets rank | ||
| Demographics1 Title7: | IRA | ||
| Demographics1 Title8: | IRA rank | ||
| Demographics1 Title9: | Expenditure | ||
| Demographics1 Title10: | Liabilities | ||
| Demographics Type2: | Service provider | ||
| Demographics2 Title1: | Electricity | ||
| Demographics2 Title2: | Water | ||
| Demographics2 Title3: | Telecommunications | ||
| Demographics2 Title4: | Cable TV | ||
| Blank1 Name Sec1: | Native languages | ||
| Blank2 Name Sec1: | Crime index | ||
| Blank1 Name Sec2: | Major religions | ||
| Blank2 Name Sec2: | Feast date | ||
| Blank3 Name Sec2: | Catholic diocese | ||
| Blank4 Name Sec2: | Patron saint | ||
Laak, officially the Municipality of Laak (Cebuano: Lungsod sa Laak; Tagalog: Bayan ng Laak), is a 1st class municipality in the province of Davao de Oro, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 79,744 people.
The town of Laak was founded on April 4, 1979, as San Vicente from several barangays of Monkayo, Montevista and Asuncion. Laak was created into a municipality by virtue of Batas Pambansa Bilang 23.[1] It was made part of the newly made Compostela Valley province in 1998.[2] The original name that the pioneer residents used to call this place even before the very formation of its nucleus in 1965 is no other than the native name Laak, derived from the name of a small thorn less bamboo. It is similar to but smaller than the bamboo called Lunas by the Bisayan tribes.
The name Laak, however, was not adopted when this place was created into a municipality. The name San Vicente was instantly coined just to insure the passage of the law creating this place into a town. The term San was attached to the name Vicente after the name of the father of then First Lady Imelda Romualdez Marcos. Coincidentally, the law creating this town was approved on the eve of the feast day of Sr. San Vicente Ferrer.
As the town residents found no meaning in calling this place San Vicente, they unanimously approved during the plebiscite called for the purpose on May 28, 1994, the adoption of the name Laak. Mayor Reynaldo B. Navarro, and the Sangguniang Bayan Members at that time led the move for the change of the name pursuant to the desire of the people.
Laak, although it has an overall population of 70,856 in per census of 2010, is very isolated from other populated towns in its vicinity such as Monkayo and Nabunturan. The main cause of this is of its being a predominantly agricultural town; there are also some factors which contribute to its isolation such as its huge land area of 947.06 km2.(94, 706 hectares) and its heavily forested geographical features.
The municipality borders the following towns: Kapalong, Davao del Norte to the west; Loreto and Veruela, Agusan del Sur to the north and northeast; Montevista and Monkayo, Davao de Oro to the east and southeast; and San Isidro, Davao del Norte to the southwest.
Laak is politically subdivided into 40 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks while some have sitios.
In the 2020 census, the population of Laak, Compostela Valley, was 79,744 people, with a density of NaNPD/km2NaNPD/km2.
Laak's economy is primarily driven by agriculture, with almost 65% of its income coming from agricultural sector (it includes agro-forestry, inland fishery and livestock raising) and business enterprises contribute only 35% of the municipality's income.
The town of Laak is accessible by bus, passenger jeeps, and habal-habal motorcycles from both Tagum City and Trento, Agusan del Sur. Most passenger vehicles going to Laak had to pass the Tagum-Asuncion-San Isidro-Laak road since this road is one of the only two transportation accesses to the town, the other one being Loreto-Veruela-Trento road; the town does not have roads connecting to other towns of Davao de Oro, such as Nabunturan and Monkayo.