The municipality has a land area of 264.51 square kilometers or 102.13 square miles which constitutes 2.81% of Cagayan’s total area. Its population as determined by the 2020 Census was 50,336. This represented 3.97% of the total population of Cagayan province, or 1.37% of the overall population of the Cagayan Valley region.

A bit of History…

Once upon a time, a young Spanish missionary on his way to Tuguegarao from Lallo lost his way. It was but human for him to panic, but he prayed hard that he would be safe.

At day break, he was dragging himself out of a quicksand pit. Slapping leeches and mud off his legs, he almost fainted when he mistook a cluster Amulung vines for that snakes. Suddenly, as though to mock this pathetic gesture of weakness he heard a remote crowing of a cock. He thought that he must be near some village. Pushing his way further through under bush and leech country, he was relieved at an arroyo. Not far from where he stood, a native was clearing a tree vines, which he intended to chop down for firewood. Still dazed the missionary staggered toward the native.

“Hoy Indio! Que pueblo es este? ( Hey Indian! What place is this?)

When the native saw a desperate man’s scowl into the face of the missionary, he too panicked and groped for words to say.

Irked by his silence, the missionary demanded instantly, “ Poor Dios Indio! Que pueblo es este?”

Since the native could not understand any word od Spanish said, he debated on the idea whether the missionary wanted to know the name of the place or the offending times. When he avoided the eyes of the missionary, a squeak came from his lips, but loud enough for the Spaniard to make out as “ Am amulung”. For the convenience of pronunciation, the missionary dropped the first AM for brevity, from that time on, the place was called Asmulung, meaning the vine with aroid leaves in abundance in the outlaying woods of the community.

The native whom the missionary encountered chopping wood was a settler in the village founded by two brothers noted for their pioneering spirit namely Ikik and Allan. Before the founding of Amulung, Ikik had sent his brother to explore the land north of their place. When Allan return, Ikik and his followers moved westward to the village later to be called Iguig.

After and his group moved to a place up north formerly known as salaminan, the present site of Calamagui or salamagui. They choose to settle there because of a creek enhanced by a clear running brook and Big vine-coated tress they felled for lumber. This group of natives, except for new families who choose to settle in the outskirts of the community, he lived there until the days of the Spanish conqests.