Barangay Caranas

Situated in Gandara, Samar, Barangay Caranas is one of 69 barangays that make up the municipality within Eastern Visayas.

According to the 2020 Philippine census, Barangay Caranas had a population of 252. This made it the 56th largest of 69 barangays in Gandara by population, placing it among the smaller barangays of the municipality. Residents of Barangay Caranas accounted for approximately 0.72% of the total population of Gandara, which stood at 35,242 in the same census year.

Between the 2015 and 2020 censuses, the population of Barangay Caranas changed from 243 to 252, a shift of +3.7% over the five-year period. This places the barangay among those with growing populations in Gandara. Barangay Caranas is officially classified as rural, a designation applied to barangays with lower population density and predominantly non-built-up land use.

Gandara is a municipality comprising 69 barangays, and serves as the governing unit directly responsible for local services in Barangay Caranas, including public health, sanitation, peace and order, and civil registration. Within the wider province of Samar, which contains 951 barangays across its component cities and municipalities, Barangay Caranas ranks 801st by 2020 population. Samar is classified as a 1st by the Bureau of Local Government Finance, a category that reflects the province's annual regular income.

The barangay's legislative and executive affairs are handled by a Punong Barangay and the Sangguniang Barangay, elected nationwide during the Barangay and SK Elections. The next BSKE is scheduled for Monday, November 2, 2026, following the synchronized election schedule set by COMELEC Resolution No. 11191.