page_title: Sogod, Southern Leyte
section_title: Geography
hierarchical_section_title: Sogod, Southern Leyte / Geography
caption_attribution_description: English: Rice Field in Barangay Salvacion
context_page_description: Sogod, officially the Municipality of Sogod, is a 2nd class municipality in the province of Southern Leyte, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 44,986 people.
  The name of the municipality originated from the Cebuano word, sogod, meaning "to start." Founded as a Catholic mission station by the Society of Jesus in 1601, Sogod became a regular municipality on June 10, 1853.
  Sogod is located along the Southern Leyte section of the Pan-Philippine Highway, 126 kilometers south of Tacloban City, the regional center of Eastern Visayas. Rugged mountains enveloped most of the town's northern terrain with numerous river systems crept throughout the southern lowlands. Known as the center of trade, commerce and industry in the south-central region of Leyte, Sogod is also home to Southern Leyte State University Main Campus and Saint Thomas Aquinas College.
context_section_description: The town covered a total land area of 236.4 square kilometers (91.3 square miles) until 1953. Due to the enactment of Republic Act No. 522 on June 15, 1950, which establishes the municipality of Bontoc, the municipal area of Sogod decreased. However, the newly ordained act was proven to be lax in nature. The juridical boundaries of the town of Bontoc were not fully indicated, causing much tension between the two municipalities. After the 1959 promulgation of the Executive Order No. 368, all conflicting areas between the municipalities of Sogod and Bontoc were reorganized and reevaluated. Many complaints and petitions were sent to the Provincial Board of Southern Leyte and to the Regional Trial Court (RTC) to reconcile the disputed villages to Sogod, but all were in vain. As a result, the land area of the municipality was reduced to 19,270 hectares (47,600 acres) in land area.
  With the coordinates of 10°23'10 North Longitude and 124°58'48 East Latitude, Sogod is situated in the northern portion of the province of Southern Leyte and in the south-central side of Leyte Island, facing the Sogod Bay. It is approximately 72 kilometers east from the city of Maasin, the provincial capital of Southern Leyte; 127 kilometers south from Tacloban City, the regional center of Eastern Visayas and the provincial capital of Leyte; 106 kilometers from Ormoc City, a port city on the north-western coast of Leyte.
  The town is bounded by the municipality of Mahaplag, approximately 38 kilometers northbound via the Maharlika Highway; in the east are the municipalities of Silago, Hinunangan, and Saint Bernard; in the southeast is the municipality of Libagon, about 22 kilometers eastbound via the national highway; facing to the south is Sogod Bay, the only water form that divides the province from west to east; 6 kilometers south-west lies the municipality of Bontoc; in the west are the towns of Bato, Hindang, Hilongos, and Inopacan.
  The Mahaplag-Sogod mountain rim is the boundary line of the two provinces of Leyte and Southern Leyte. Two bridges in sitio Balintulay, barangay Kahupian serve as markers for the boundary. In the east and west sides of the municipality are much similar to the north. The slopes serve as barricades from the municipalities facing the eastern Pacific region. Every rainy season, frequent landslips would mar the soil condition of upland barangays causing the feeder roads to be impassable. The southern part is bordered by rivers and creeks. The Santa Cruz Creek serves as a demarcation line between the towns of Bontoc and Sogod. Gakat Creek functions as boundary between Sogod and Libagon.
caption: Rice paddies in barangay Salvacion with the Abuyog-Liloan Cordillera in the background. Wide plains characterize much of the south-eastern terrain of the town.
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