Jolo is one of nineteen (19) municipalities that comprise the province of Sulu in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao ( ARMM ). The town is politically subdivided into eight (8) barangays, and is a part of the 1st Congressional District of Sulu.
Jolo is the capital and the largest town of the province, located on the main island of Jolo, a volcanic island that is the second largest in the Sulu Archipelago after Basilan Island.
The native inhabitants on the island are the Tausug, part of the larger Moro group which dominate the Sulu Archipelago.
The Moro had an independent state known as the Sulu Sultanate, which was politically and economically centered in Jolo. The town was the regional trading post and developed long before the Philippines even became a country. The sultanate’s economy was established through the network of trading partners with neighboring states in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and as far as China.
By the 14th century, Arab traders landed on the island to introduce and convert its inhabitants to Islam.