Laur, officially the Municipality of Laur (, Ilocano: Ili ti Laur), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Nueva Ecija in Central Luzon region of Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 38,263 people. Laur is located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains. Laur is 15 km from Palayan, 145 km from Manila, and 117 km from Baler.

Etymology

The town got its name after the name of the wife of Gen. Manuel Tino, Laureana.

History

Originally, the town was a barrio of the municipality of Bongabon, named San Esteban, after its patron saint, Stephen I of Hungary. Immigrating settlers of the community were mostly Tagalog and Ilocanos from the provinces of Ilocos Region and Pangasinan with some Kapampangans from the provinces of Pampanga and Tarlac. On January 13, 1917, via Executive Order No. 98 by then Governor-General Francis Burton Harrison, Laur was separated as its own town from Bongabon, and named from the wife of Gen. Manuel Tinio, Laureana. Gen. Tinio himself will have the town of Papaya named after him, as "General Tinio" in 1957. Laur borders General Tinio to the south. Senators Benigno Aquino, Jr. and Jose W. Diokno were kept in solitary confinement for exactly thirty days in 1973 within Fort Magsaysay in Laur. It is now a museum and houses the AFP Center for Human Rights Dialogue.

Geography

Barangays

Laur is politically subdivided into 17 barangays. Each barangay consist of puroks and some have sitios.

Climate

Demographics

Economy

Government

Local government

Past Mayors of Laur are as follows: