Mindanao's gateway — durian capital, eagle sanctuary, and night market life
Davao is the largest city by land area in the world and the undisputed capital of Mindanao — a sprawling, orderly metropolis that surprises first-time visitors with its cleanliness, safety, and extraordinary natural surroundings. The city is the global durian capital: Davao varieties like Puyat, Arancillo, and the prized Musang King variant grow in the highland farms above the city and flood the night markets each season. The Philippine Eagle Center protects the world's largest eagle (endemic to Mindanao) just 36km from the city centre.
Davao was a small settlement of Bagobo and Mandaya indigenous peoples until the Spanish colonial period established a garrison here in the late 19th century. Japanese migrants arrived in large numbers after 1903, establishing hemp (abacá) plantations and building what became the second-largest Japanese community outside Japan by the 1930s. American governance brought the city layout, and post-war Davao grew rapidly as a regional commercial hub. The city became internationally noted for dramatic crime reduction in the 1990s–2000s under then-mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who later became President of…