Panabo City 
(Cebuano: Dakbayan sa Panabo, Filipino: Lungsod ng Panabo) is a 1st class city near Davao City in the province of Davao del Norte, Philippines. The city has an area of 249 square kilometers. According to the 2010 LGPMS Census, it has a population of 164,035 people in 32,807 households.




History

Long before the rich lowland was discovered by civilization, a group of stocky-haired aborigines called Aetas have already staked a claim and declared this place their own. Far from being civilized, these people led nomadic life and co-existed with the living creatures of the wilds. They have few wants and were easily satisfied. With the use of their bow and arrow "pana-sa-boboy" as they call it - they hunted for food which primarily consisted of rootcrops and meat of wild boars. "Pana-Sa-Boboy" was their most essential tool and it became part of their life.

Even the Christian settlers came at the onset of the century, the place was already a thriving trading community; thus, the place was already knwn as Taboan, which means "trading center". After the Cristian settlers began pioneering the region, these friendly natives moved further to the hinterlands along with them their "pana-sa-boboy". These later evolved into present day name Panabo.

Economy

The city is known as the "Banana Capital of the Philippines" due to numerous banana plantations scattered throughout the city. In fact, Panabo is the home of the world’s biggest banana plantation, which is owned by the Tagum Agricultural Development Company (TADECO), which covers around 6,900 hectares of banana fields and produce millions of boxes of export-quality bananas annually. The city itself cultivated 40% of its land or around 10,000 hectares into planting export-quality bananas, which is better known as "Cavendish Bananas". Thus, banana cultivation and exportation are the main economic lifeblood of the city.