Aparri

The origin of the name Aparri has been disputed. One version says that the town was named by Spanish conquistador Juan Pablo Carreron, who upon landing there in 1581, named the town after the colloquial word for supper in his hometown. Another version claims that the name comes from the Spanish word aparte, or "separate", referring to the town's separation from Camalaniugan and Buguey in 1680. Yet another version says that the town's name comes from the Ibanag word apparian, a place where there are many priests.[6]

Aerial view of Aparri, 1923

Aparri was formerly Japanese trading post because of its location at the northern tip of Luzon at the mouth of the Cagayan River. It was the main area for trade for Japan on the island of Luzon. Much of the area was once home to the native Ibanag people, who were at the time in alliance with Japan as an early form of an informal protectorate city-state. It was formally established under Spanish rule in 1605 after the Spanish Crown seized the Philippines and made it part of the Spanish East Indies. The river where Aparri is in was the site of the famed 1582 Cagayan battles, the only major skirmish between Spanish Tercios and Japanese ronin (masterless samurai). Since it was on the route of Spanish Galleons during the great tobacco monopoly in the 16th to the 17th centuries, Aparri was therefore made one of the major Spanish ports of the Galleon Trade on May 11, 1680. The original inhabitants of this town were the Ybanags. Later, as the Spaniards settled and because of its strategic location, Ilocanos and Chinese people settled in the area. In 1771 it was raided by Moro vessels from Jolo. Towards the end of the Spanish occupation and in 1901, at the start of the American occupation, attempts were made to make Aparri the provincial capital of Cagayan, all of which were unsuccessful.[7]

During the Philippine Revolution, Aparri was the site of the landing of soldiers of the Philippine Revolutionary Army led by Daniel Tirona, which marked the beginning of the end of Spanish rule in Cagayan Valley, on 25 August 1898.[6]

In 11 May 1926 Joaquín Loriga and Eduardo Gallarza landed on his first-ever long way in autogyro from Spain to Manila. Before the outbreak of World War II, it became a transshipment point for smuggled goods from China, Taiwan, and other neighboring Southeast Asian nations. Aparri was one of the first places occupied by the Japanese in their invasion of the Philippines during the war, landing there on December 10, 1941. Donald Blackburn's guerrilla forces and the local troops of the Philippine Commonwealth Army and Philippine Constabulary supported the Sixth United States Army Force B, in the capture of Aparri on 20 June 1945.[8]^{: 295–304}

On February 19, 2023, Vice Mayor Rommel Alameda was shot and killed along with five others in an ambush in Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya.[9]

In the 2020 census, the population of Aparri, was 68,839 people,[3] with a density of 240 inhabitants per square kilometre or 620 inhabitants per square mile.

The Schools Division of Cagayan governs the town's public education system.[24] The division office is a field office of the DepEd in Cagayan Valley region.[25] The office governs the public and private elementary and public and private high schools throughout the municipality.

• Aparri East National High School
• Cagayan State University (Aparri Campus)
• Aparri West National High School
• Aparri East Central School
• Aparri South Central School
• Aparri School of Arts and Trades
• Lyceum of Aparri
• Cagayan Valley Institute Incorporated
• St. Paul School of Aparri
• Aparri Kete Chinese School
• Maura Elementary School
• Punta Elementary School
• San Antonio Elementary School
• Dodan Elementary School
• Backiling Elementary School
• Bulala Sur Elementary School
• Paruddun Norte Elementary School
• Minanga Elementary School
• Sanja Elementary School
• Gaddang Elementary School
• Linao Elementary School
• Navagan Elementary School
• Aparri West Central School
• Caroronan Primary School
• Binalan Elementary School
• Bangag Elementary School
• Nanappatan Elementary School
• Zinarag Elementary School
• Plaza Primary School
• Bukig National Agricultural and Technical School

Aparri's main media outlet is radio. The following are radio and TV stations in the town

Aparri as a birthplace has produced a number of famous personalities of various fields (e.g. Filipino actress, Filipino diplomat (1939-2016), Filipino actor and comedian):

• Maja Ross Andres Salvador - is a Filipino actress, endorser, dancer, singer, host, producer, and talent manager.

• Domingo Lim Siazon Jr. - was a Filipino diplomat. He served as the Director-General of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization from 1985 to 1992, the 18th Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs from 1995 to 2001, and the Philippine Ambassador to Japan from 1993 to 1995 (1st term) and 2001 to 2010 (2nd term).

• Kakai Bautista - is a Filipina actress, host, singer, and comedienne.