Calbiga and Hinabangan, Samar. It has an estimated land area of 562.9 square kilometers, 12,619 hectares of which are alienable and disposable, while a bigger portion (32,521 hectares) are timberlands. It has a population density of 448 persons per square kilometer.

It is composed of 61 barangays, nine of which are considered as Poblacion barangays, while there 8 other barangays that are not considered as Poblacion barangays but are contiguous with it. The biggest barangay as per land area is San Gabriel with 31.8 square kilometers while the biggest as per population is Balud, with 2,645, nearly 19% of the total population. The least populated barangay is Sohutan with 128; just two short that of Cabalagnan. The barangay with the smallest land size outside of the Poblacion and the neighboring barangays is Divinubo, an island barangay.

Some of the potential tourist destination in Borongan are the Santa Monica Caves where relics of Samar folks have been found; Divinubo Island with crystal clear waters; Hamorawon Spring, at the very heart of the municipality believed to be miraculous, including the enchantment of for non-locals to marry a Boronganon in case he or she takes a bath there; Guintagican Beach; the Pangi Falls at San Gabriel; the Tagpuyukan and Mono Cascades and Falls at Bagong Barrio, Pinanag-an; and many more.

A BRIEF HISTORICAL BACKGROUND. The earliest Malay settlers who forcibly dispersed inland the Negroid type of aborigines coined the title Borongan, after the word "borong," the local term of fog.

The earliest Jesuit missionaries recount this flourishing "pueblo" of fertile valley cradle by twin ranges of low laying hills with the opalescent waters of Sabang and Loom Rivers flowing the base. The pueblo has a torrential natural spring gushing out of rock boulders over which towers a giant tree called "Hamorawon" after which the local got its name. People have clustered around this place and deemed it wise to build a wood-stone-nipa combination church on the mound, just above this miraculous Hamorawon spring.

In time, the wood-stone-nipa church combination, which was built by the tireless Jesuits, formally constituted the church civil authority as community parish on September 8, 1701. The comandancia and the very reverend father superior of the Jesuit mission, then residing at Palapag, Samar, came down by himself the whole length of the stormy coast facing the Pacific to enthrone and officiate at the blessing and inauguration rites.

On September 8, 1756, Franciscans took over the civil missionary administration from the Jesuit fathers. It was on the subsequent years that the wood-stone-nipa church was replaced by bricks and coral rocks, with S-shape stucco decorating the buttresses. Highlighted by a five (5) storey cylindrical bell tower, bearing architectural traces of Chinese ancestry, it become roofless in 1935 when a strong typhoon damaged a great number of houses and cut-off the concrete Borongan bridge at Sabang.

The outbreak of he revolution, however, found the flourishing parish as the sanctuary and scene of fighting during the uprising led by the "pulahanes." The short-lived revolution resulted in the partial damaged to the church and the community.

The presidencia formally reserved only for the "great" and the "near great" become the center of communal democracy. With Sr. Magno Abenis and Andres Hipe installed as president and vice president respectively (1899-1903), civic growth and prosperity began.

The subsequent establishment of civil government encouraged more participation in civic affairs. Don James McGuire and Eugenio Daza jointly began the task of rehabilitation and reconstruction. More and better streets were laid out. Low places were filled up with adobe stones and progressive ordinances were enacted. Public instruction was given a lift when a Gabaldon Building was opened for classes. Parents soon become obsessed with the idea of making their children educados.

The Pacific War and the Japanese occupation of the country caused a temporary standstill in the program and progress of the community. Many guerilla leaders, notably Pablo Rosales (also known as Buaya) organized resistance movement against the Japanese invaders. It was probably only through the intercession of the patroness that not much human lives and property were incurred.

After the war, the municipality slowly gained ground in the way toward progress. Although its fullest growth is undermined by being a frequent host to typhoons, by the oftentimes slow means of communications, brownouts, distance from the main artery of commerce, lack of faster means of transportation, the presence of the NPA, lack of investments, and many other factors, the municipality is in full gear toward development. However modest, there is a steady economic growth, construction of infrastructure projects, foreign and nationally funded projects and programs, and many other indications that this municipality is on its way toward prosperity and the coveted dream of someday becoming a city - as the sunshine city of the East!