Cagayan de Oro City is located at the northern coast of Mindanao, Philippines. It is the capital of Misamis Oriental province and the regional center for Northern Mindanao (Region 10). The city is popularly known for its initials CDO or CDOC.

Cebuano or Bisaya is the city's main dialect. English on the other hand is widely used in schools, media, government and commercial transactions. People from Cagayan de Oro are called Kagayanons.

Most are brown-skinned of Malay descent and some with mixed ancestry popularly known to locals as mestizo.

The city is home to several universities and colleges. Xavier University, Liceo de Cagayan University and Capitol University are known in the fields of nursing, medicine, agriculture, engineering and commerce.

Cagayan de Oro is known as "The Gateway to Northern Mindanao" because of its location and good transportation facilities. However, it is through her warm and hospitable people that the city became more known as "The City of Golden Friendship".