Sarangani, officially the Province of Sarangani, is a province in the Philippines located in the Soccsksargen region. Its capital is Alabel. With a 230-kilometre (140 mi) coastline along the Sarangani Bay and Celebes Sea, the province is at the southernmost tip of Mindanao island, and borders South Cotabato and Davao del Sur to the north, Davao Occidental to the east, and the Celebes Sea to the south.
Sarangani is part of the South Cotabato-Cotabato-Sultan Kudarat-Sarangani-General Santos (Soccsksargen) development cluster, and is linked by paved roads to the international airport and harbor of General Santos.
The province is divided into two sections, separated by the Sarangani Bay and the city of General Santos, and it used to be part of South Cotabato until it was made an independent province in 1992.
The General Santos Metropolitan Area or Metro General Santos is a metropolitan area encompassing the highly urbanized city of General Santos, The Regional Agro-Industrial Center of Alabel, the towns of Glan, Kiamba, Maasin, Maitum, Malapatan and Malungon and the neighboring provinces of South Cotabato adding Metro General Santos adding Lake Sebu, Polomolok, T'Boli and Tupi.
The earliest civilization in the province can be found in Maitum, Sarangani, where the Maitum Anthropomorphic Pottery or Maitum Jars were found. The jars have been dated to approximately 5 BC to 370 AD, one of the oldest in the entire Southeast Asian region and the Philippines. The discovery testified to the long history of cultural exchanges in Sarangani and its people.
The Sarangani was once part of Sultanate of Maguindanao. The establishment of the Sultanate in the area caused more Maguindanaon settlers arrival. After the fall of the Sultanate of Maguindanao as a great power in Mindanao, Datu Uto of Buayan expanded his domain towards Sarangani Bay. Sarangani would eventually be under the Sultanate of Buayan until the American era.
Sarangani Island (now part of Davao Occidental) was named Antonia by the Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos in 1543, in honor of Antonio de Mendoza y Pacheco, the viceroy of New Spain who had appointed López de Villalobos to lead an expedition to the Western Islands (now the Philippines) because of their relation by marriage. The early inhabitants who first inhabited Sarangani were the indigenous natives, called MunaTo, a native term for "first people."
Before its inception in 1992, Sarangani was part of South Cotabato as the Third District of South Cotabato. The province was created by Republic Act No. 7228 on March 16, 1992, penned by Congressman James L. Chiongbian. His wife, Priscilla L. Chiongbian, was the first Governor of Sarangani.