Chico River (Philippines)

Chico River
Río Chico de Cagayán
The river along Bontoc
Chico River mouth
Chico River (Philippines) (Philippines)
Location
CountryPhilippines
Region
Province
Physical characteristics
Source 
 • locationMount Data, Cordillera mountains
 • coordinates16°55′01″N 120°54′26″E / 16.91694°N 120.90722°E / 16.91694; 120.90722
 • elevation2,079 m (6,821 ft)
MouthCagayan River
 • location
Santo Niño, Cagayan, Cagayan Valley
 • coordinates
17°57′43″N 121°36′37″E / 17.96202°N 121.61020°E / 17.96202; 121.61020
 • elevation
5 m (16 ft)
Length233 km (145 mi)
Basin size5,850 km2 (2,260 sq mi)
Discharge 
 • locationCagayan River
 • average410 m3/s (14,000 cu ft/s)
Basin features
ProgressionChico–Cagayan
Tributaries 
 • left
  • Mabaca River
  • Saltan River
  • Pasil River
 • right

The Chico River (Spanish: Río Chico de Cagayán), is a river system in the Philippines in the island of Luzon, encompassing the regions of Cordillera and Cagayan Valley. It is the longest tributary of the Cagayan River with a total length of 233 km (145 mi).

The most extensive river in the Cordillera region, it covers the provinces of Mountain Province, Kalinga and Cagayan. It is referred to as a "river of life" for the Kalinga people who live on its banks, and is well known among development workers because of the Chico River Dam Project, an electric power generation project which local residents resisted for three decades before it was finally shelved in the 1980s - a landmark case study concerning ancestral domain issues in the Philippines.