Cotabato del Norte

Province of central Mindanao Island in the Philippines; area 6,566 sq km/2,535 sq mi; population (1995) 863,000. The capital is Kidapawan. The province is mountainous in the north and east, with Mount Apo (2,953 m/9,688 ft), the highest peak in the Philippines, lying on its eastern boundary in a national park. The timber industry is important in the highlands.

Cotabato del Norte became the centre of a Muslim secessionist movement in the 1990s.