The two Lanaos formed just one province before, and as such was home to the Maranaos, a native tribe of the region, a fierce and proud people who resisted colonization by the Spaniards and later by the Americans. The old province of Lanao was never really subjugated. The Maranaos continued to wage their bloody wars of resistance. Fortresses Iligan today are mute relics of those bloody encounters. In 1913 they were finally subdued by the Americans. In 1914 the province of Lanao was formally organized.

With new stability in the region, migrants from islands north of Mindanao poured in the northern part of the province. Because of the large numbers of Christian migrants that settled there, as Muslims also settled in the south, the division of Lanao into two provinces was deemed necessary. This division finally took place in 1959, and since then Lanao del Norte has become more Christian, while Lanao del Sur has become more Muslim.

The province of Lanao del Norte, of which Iligan is the capital, lies in the northern part of Mindanao, where the Zamboanga Peninsula joins with the mainland of Mindanao between Yllana and Iligan Bays.

Source: CBCP-Diocese of Iligan