an Esteban is at the shoreline part of the Province of Ilocos Sur. It is bounded on the north by the municipality of Sta. Maria, on the east by the Municipality of Burgos, on the south by the Municipality of Santiago, and on the west by the South China Sea. The town’s boundaries with these border areas run across mountains and rolling hills, except its northeastern part of separating it from Sta. Maria where the imaginary line crosses mostly level lands with only a small portion of elevated lands.

The town is most accessible by land transportation, but it can also be reached by water owing to its proximity to the sea and the presence of small ports in the town. In terms of distance, it is 36 kilometers south of the provincial capital town of Vigan; 90 kilometers north of San Fernando City, the regional capital; 154 kilometersnorthwest of Baguio City, the country’s summer capital; 15 kilometers north of Candon; and 125 kilometers south of Laoag City;

Specifically, San Esteban is located within  latitudes 17º19.6’ to 17º21’ North and within the longitude 120º26’ to 120º29’ East. Its western boundary faces directly the South China Sea, thereby having the shoreline as its natural boundary towards this direction.

LAND AREA

San Esteban has a total area of 1,946.499 hectares of 19.46 sq. kilometers. This represents 0.75% of the total land area of the province’s 260,540 hectares. It is politically subdivided into ten (10) barangays namely: Ansad, Apatot, Bateria, Cabaroan, Cappa-Cappa, Poblacion, San Nicolas, San Pablo, San Rafael and Villa Quirino.

The coverage of the municipal jurisdiction, however, includes the South China Sea water extending up to 15 kilometers from the shoreline.

LAND AREA BY BARANGAY

The largest barangay of the Municipality in terms of land area is Barangay Ansad with 459.5991 hectares representing 23.6% of the total land area of the municipality. Its smallest barangay is Villa Quirino with an area of 28 hectares only.

URBAN AND RURAL LAND AREA

The only urban barangay of the municipality as per NSO classification is Barangay Poblacion. However, only a portion of said barangay is urbanized and it is still predominantly agricultural, in terms of activities.

The present commercial business district composing of the contiguous built-up and buildable areas of Poblacion, San Rafael and San Nicolas with an approximate area of 23.07644 hectares is considered in this Land Use Plan as the Urban Core or the major urban center. Other minor urban areas are found in the other barangays, comprising of clusters of more than five structures.

TOPOGRAPHY

San Esteban comprises a portion of a distinct physiographic unit known as the Ilocos Coast Strip, which extends along the western side of  Luzon. It is irregular in shape with the widest portion hardly exceeding 5.5 kilometers.

It is relatively uneven in physical features. The relief ranges from level to hilly and mountainous. The narrow coastal plain is level to undulating with several low hills, scattered at random at its central, western and southeast portions. The elevation ranges from few meters above sea level to 120 meters. Its highest portion (120 meters above sea level), is located in Barangay Cabaroan.