Barangay Elcano

Barangay Elcano forms part of Gandara, a municipality in Samar, and is classified as a very small barangay.

According to the 2020 Philippine census, Barangay Elcano had a population of 366. This made it the 39th largest of 69 barangays in Gandara by population, placing it in the middle tier of the municipality. Residents of Barangay Elcano accounted for approximately 1.04% 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 Elcano changed from 439 to 366, a shift of -16.6% over the five-year period. This places the barangay among those with contracting populations in Gandara. Barangay Elcano 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 Elcano, 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 Elcano ranks 665th 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.