CALABARZON

CALABARZON (Region IV-A),

formally known as the Southern Tagalog
Mainland, is comprised of five provinces.
The region is the most populous region in
the Philippines and the country’s second
most densely populated after the National
Capital Region.

The name of the region is an

acronym of its five components provinces:
Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon.
The region was created on September 24,
1972 as part of Marcos’ Integrated
Reorganization Plan as known as the
Southern Tagalog region, and was the largest region in the Philippines. On May 17, 2002,
the Southern Tagalog Region was split into two separate regions, Region 4A (Calabarzon)
and Region 4B (Mimaropa).

The region itself is flat but also consist of coastal areas and highlands. Each
province in the region is composed of different environments, ranging from low coastal
areas to rugged mountainous ones.

Provinces of CALABARZON
Cavite Imus
Laguna Santa Cruz
Batangas Batangas City
Rizal Antipolo
Quezon Lucena

Cavite: Historical Capital of the Philippines

Cavite is one of the most industrialized and fastest-growing provinces in the
Philippines. This province is the most populated province in the country after Cebu. The
name "Cavite" comes from the Hispanicized form of kawit or it may be a corruption of
kalawit, Tagalog words for "hook", in reference to the small hook-shaped peninsula
jutting out to Manila Bay. The de facto capital and the seat of the government of the
province is Trece Martires, although Imus is the official (de jure) capital. For over 300
years, the province played an important role in both the country’s colonial past and
eventual fight for independence earning the it the title "Historical Capital of the
Philippines". It became the cradle of the Philippine Revolution, which led to the
renouncement of Spanish colonial control, finally culminating in the Philippine Declaration
of Independence on June 12, 1898 in Kawit.

Laguna
Laguna was formerly called La Laguna and La Provincia de la Laguna de Bay. It
was named after Laguna de Bay, referring to the large body of freshwater (lake or lagoon)
that was named after the province’s first capital town of Bay. Its capital is Santa Cruz.
Laguna is home to 24 mountains, most of which are inactive volcanoes. Laguna lies on
the southern shores of Laguna de Bay, the largest lake in the country. The land near
Laguna de Bay can be considered to be narrow and flat, while become more rugged going
further inland towards the mountainous areas of Sierra Madre, Mount Makiling, and Mount
Banahaw.

Batangas: Land of Rolling Hills and Wide Shore Lands

Batangas is one of the most popular tourist destinations near Metro Manila. Its
capital is Batangas City. Batangas is often referred to by its ancient name Kumintáng.
The modern name of "Batangas" is derived from Spanish batangas, meaning "outrigger
(booms)". Batangas City has the second largest international seaport in the Philippines
after Metro Manila and home to the well-known Taal Volcano, one of the Decade
Volcanoes. Batangas is a combination of plains and mountains.

Rizal Province
Rizal Province is named after Jose Rizal, one of the main national heroes of the
Philippines. It is a mountainous province perched on the western slopes of the southern
portion of the Sierra Madre mountain range. Its capital is the city of Antipolo. Pasig served
as its capital until 1975, when it became a part of the newly created National Capital
Region. A provincial capitol has been in Antipolo since 2009, making it the administrative
center. On June 19, 2020, Antipolo was designated as the capital of Rizal.

Quezon Province
The province was named after Manuel L Quezon, the 2nd president of the
Philippines and the first to be freely elected. Lucena, the provincial capital, seat of the
provincial government, and the most populous city of the province, is governed
independently from the province as a highly urbanized city. It is the largest province of
CALABARZON and is characterized by a rugged terrain with patches of plain, valleys and
swamps.
 MIMAROPA

MIMAROPA, formally known as the

Southern Tagalog Region, is formerly
designated as Region 4B until 2016. It is
one of the two regions in the country having
no land border with another region (the
other being Eastern Visayas). The name is
an acronym combination of its constituent
provinces: Mindoro (divided into Occidental
Mindoro and Oriental Mindoro),
Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan.

The region was officially created with

the partitioning of Southern Tagalog
(Region IV) into two regions in May 2002.
In 2005, Palawan was moved to the region of Western Visayas but was criticized the
move. In 2016, Southwestern Tagalog Region was formally established to be known as
MIMAROPA Region that officially included Palawan and discontinued the designation of
the “Region 4B”.

Provinces of MIMAROPA
Marinduque Boac
Occidental Mindoro Mamburao
Oriental Mindoro Calapan
Palawan Puerto Princesa
Romblon Romblon

Marinduque: The Heart of the Philippines

Marinduque is an island province in the Philippines and is considered as the
geographical center of the Philippine archipelago by the Luzon Datum of 1911.
Marinduque is called "The Heart of the Philippines" as the shape of the provincial island
is similar to that of a human heart. Its location on the arrangement of the archipelago is
also similar to the anatomy of where the heart is, in the human body. Its capital is Boac
and its etymology is the Hispanicized corruption of malindig or malindug, Tagalog for "tall
and elegant," referring to the tallest peak in the island.
Oriental Mindoro
Occidental Mindoro is the province occupies the western half of the island of
Mindoro. The province’s general land surface features are mountains, rivers, hills, valleys,
wide plains and some small fresh water lakes. Its capital is Mamburao. The province is
also home to one of the more popular coral reefs in the Philippines, Apo Reef. Its name
is Hispanicized form of minolo or mintolo, local words of now-unrecognizable meaning,
referring to the name of Mindoro Island's principal trading town during the early Spanish
colonial period. One popular (but erroneous) origin of the name, mina de oro (gold mine)
was the result of the Spaniards giving meaning to a phrase that they could recognize,
despite the fact that no major gold-mining industry existed or exists in the island.

Oriental Mindoro
Oriental Mindoro is touted as the country's emerging eco-tourism destination. Most
of the endemic species in the Philippines are found in the Verde Island Passage between
Mindoro island and the main island of Luzon. UNESCO declared Puerto Galera a biosphere
reserve under its Man and the Biosphere Programme in the 1970s. The Verde Island
Passage is at the apex of the so-called Coral Triangle – the Philippines, Indonesia, and
Malaysia – which has the distinction of being the "center of the center of the world's
marine biodiversity" and the "center of the center of marine shorefish biodiversity".
Calapan, the only city in the island, is the provincial capital.

Palawan: Philippines’ Last Frontier

Palawan is an archipelagic province of the Philippines with a capital city is Puerto
Princesa. Palawan is known as the Philippines’ Last Frontier and as the Philippines’ Best
Island. It is the largest province in the country in terms of total area. In the Spanish
colonial era, the name of the island and the province was rendered in Spanish
orthography as Paragua which has been erroneously etymologized as meaning "umbrella"
or "sweet water" in Spanish. The province is composed of the long and narrow Palawan
Island, plus a number of other smaller islands surrounding it, totaling roughly 1,780
islands and islets.

Romblon: Marble Capital of the Philippines

Romblon is an archipelagic province situated at the center of the archipelago. Its
capital is the municipality of Romblon. According to legend, the name "Romblon" was
derived from the Romblomanon word Nagalumyom, which pertains to a chicken in the
act of sitting on its eggs on a nest. This eventually evolved to Lomlom, and later on to
Donblon, before finally evolving to Romblon.
 WESTERN VISAYAS

Western Visayas (Region 6) consists of

the major island of Panay and the smaller Guimaras,
as well as several outlying islands. It also includes
the western half of the larger island of Negros. It
consists of six provinces (Aklan, Antique, Capiz,
Guimaras, Iloilo and Negros Occidental) and two
highly urbanized cities (Bacolod and Iloilo City). In
2015, the region was realigned, when Western
Visayas (Region VI) lost both the province of Negros
Occidental and the highly urbanized city of Bacolod
to the newly formed Negros Island Region.
However, the region was dissolved, resulting in the
return of Negros Occidental and Bacolod to Western
Visayas Region on August 9, 2017.

Western Visayas consists of the major island of Panay and the smaller Guimaras,
as well as several outlying islands. It also includes the western half of the larger island of
Negros. The region is bordered to the north by the Sibuyan Sea, northeast by the Visayan
Sea, east by the province of Negros Oriental in Central Visayas, south by the Iloilo Strait
and the Panay Gulf, and west by the Sulu Sea.

Provinces of Western Visayas

Aklan Kalibo
Antique San Jose de Buenavista
Capiz Roxas
Guimaras Jordan
Iloilo Iloilo City
Negros Occidental Bacolod

Aklan: Oldest Province in the Philippines

Aklan is situated in the northwest portion of Panay and occupies the northern third
of the island of Panay. Its name was derived from the word “akean”, local word for “where
there is boiling or frothing”, describing the water flow of the Aklan River at shallow areas
near its mouth. Its capital is Kalibo, known for its Ati-atihan festival.
Antique
Antique was one of the sakups(districts) of Panay before Spanish colonizers arrived
on the islands. The province was known at that time as Hantík, the local name for the
large ants found on the island. Its capital is San Jose de Buenavista, the most populous
town in Antique. The province is home to the indigenous Iraynun-Bukidnon, speakers of
a dialect of the Kinaray-a language, who have crafted the only rice terrace clusters in the
Visayas through indigenous knowledge and sheer vernacular capabilities.

Capiz: Seafood Capital of the Philippines

The name of Capiz is a from the Placuna placenta oyster shell, “kapid” that is used
for decoration and making lampshades, trays, window and doors. The province is known
as the “Seafood Capital of the Philippines” and was among the top 15 most frequently
visited places in the Philippines. Its capital is the city of Roxas.

Guimaras: Mango Capital of the Philippines

Guimaras i s well known for its agricultural crops, particularly the mangoes, where
some +50,000 of these trees are planted. The island province is famous for producing
one of the sweetest mangoes in the world, thus earning the nickname "Mango Capital of
the Philippines" from local and foreign tourists. Its capital is Jordan. Its name is from the
Hispanicized corruption of himal-us, the indigenous name for the province's main island,
of unknown etymology. Early Spanish accounts render the name of the island in Spanish
orthography as Ymaraes or Ymaras.

Iloilo
Iloilo occupies a major southeast portion of the Visayan island of Panay. Its capital
is the City of Iloilo. The province is divided into two distinct geographic regions; the
highlands of the Central Panay Mountain Range on the western border and the lowland
plains which account for a larger portion of the province. Iloilo is Hispanicized corruption
of irong-irong, Hiligaynon for "nose-like," referring to the shape of the delta formed by
what are now called the Iloilo and Salog Rivers on which the settlement of the same
name thrived.

Negros Occidental: Sugarbowl of the Philippines

Negros Occidental occupies the northwestern half of the large island of Negros
and is also known as the “Sugarbowl of the Philippines” as it produces more than half of
the nation’s sugar output. Bacolod is the capital, seat of government and the most
populous city of the province. Negros was originally known to the natives as "Buglas",
meaning "cut off" in old Hiligaynon. When the Spaniards arrived, they named it "Negros"
because of the dark-skinned natives they found.
 CENTRAL VISAYAS

Central Visayas (Region 7) is consists of four

provinces: (Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, and
Siquijor). In 2015, the province of Negros Occidental
was removed from Central Visayas to form the Negros
Island Region along with Negros Occidental but was
later dissolved in 2017.

Central Visayas consists of the two major island

provinces of Cebu and Bohol, as well as the smaller
island of Siquijor and several outlying islands. It also
includes the eastern half of the larger island of Negros.
The straits of Cebu and Tañon are also part of the
region as well.

Provinces of Central Visayas

Bohol Tagbilaran
Cebu Cebu City
Negros Oriental Dumaguete
Siquijor Siquijor

Bohol
Bohol is an island province of Central Visayas consisting of the island itself and 75
minor surrounding islands. It is the 10th largest island of the Philippines. Its capital is
Tagbilaran. The province is a popular tourist destination with its beaches and resorts.
Bohol is ultimately derived from bo-ol, a kind of tree that flourished on the island. The
original name is survived through Bool, a town in Tagbilaran where Miguel Lopez de
Legazpi supposedly landed.

Cebu
Cebu is a province of the Central Visayas and one of the most developed provinces
in the Philippines. Its capital is Cebu City, "the Queen City of the South", the oldest city
and first capital of the Philippines. The name "Cebu" comes from the old Cebuano: sibu
or sibo ("trade"), a shortened form of 'the place for trading'. It was originally applied to
the harbors of the town of Sugbu, the ancient name for Cebu City. Sugbu or Sugbo, in
turn, is derived from the Old Cebuano term for "to walk on shallow waters.”
Negros Oriental
Negros Oriental is a province that occupies the southeastern half of the large island
of Negros. Its capital is the city of Dumaguete. Negros was originally known to the natives
as "Buglas", meaning "cut off" in old Hiligaynon. When the Spaniards arrived, they named
it "Negros" because of the dark-skinned natives they found.

Siquijor: The Island of Fire

Siquijor is an island province located in the Central Visayas Region. Its capital is
the municipality also named Siquijor. During the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines,
the Spaniards called the island del Fuego (Island of Fire). Siquijor is commonly associated
with mystic traditions that the island's growing tourism industry capitalizes on. Siquijor
comes from the Hispanicized form of the phrase si kihod, old Visayan for "where the tide
is ebbing," the toponym for a settlement (now the provincial capital) on the north side of
the island. Siquijor is the third smallest province of the Philippines, both in terms of
population as well as land area.
 EASTERN VISAYAS

Eastern Visayas, designated as Region 8, is

consists of three main islands: Samar, Leyte and Biliran.
The regions have 6 provinces: Biliran, Leyte, Northern
Samar, Samar, Eastern Samar, and Southern Leyte. These
provinces and cities occupy the easternmost islands of the
Visayas group of islands.

Tinikling, the Philippines' national dance is folkdance that

originated from the region. The region is also a destination
for marine adventures like scuba diving, snorkeling and
surfing.The smaller island of Biliran is popular to
beachcombers with its pristine white sand beaches.
Historical sites such as Homonhon and Limasawa islands,
two of the stops Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan
made during the first recorded voyage around the world, are located in the region.

Provinces of Eastern Visayas

Biliran Naval
Eastern Samar Borongan
Leyte Tacloban
Northern Samar Catarman
Samar Catbalogan
Southern Leyte Maasin

Biliran
Biliran is an island province in the Eastern Visayas Region. Formerly a sub-province
of Leyte, it became an independent province in 1992. Its capital is the municipality of
Naval on the western coast of the island. A theory states that the name came from the
word bilir, which was defined in an old Visayan dictionary to be the “corner or edge of a
boat, vase or anything protruding, like veins, or the furrow made by the plow.” The
dictionary also gives biliran as an alternate spelling for bilir.
Samar
Samar was carved out from Leyte in 1768. Its capital city is Catbalogan. amar is
connected to the island of Leyte via the San Juanico Bridge. In 2013, the province was
significantly damaged by Typhoon Yolanda. Samar is derived from Samad, the Visayan
word for "wound" or "cut", describing the rough physical features of the land which is
rugged and deeply dissected by streams.

Eastern Samar
Eastern Samar is located in Eastern Visayas Region. Its capital is the city of
Borongan. Eastern Samar occupies the eastern portion of the island of Samar. During his
circumnavigation of the globe, Ferdinand Magellan had set foot on the tiny island of
Homonhon in the southern part of the province. In 1965, Eastern Samar, as a province,
was created from Samar province.

Northern Samar
Northern Samar is a province of Eastern Visayas with its capital is Catarman. The
province is composed largely of low and extremely rugged hills and small lowland areas.
It also has small and discontinuous areas along the coasts and its rivers are usually
accompanied by alluvial plains and valleys. In 1965, Northern Samar, as a province, was
created from Samar province.

Leyte
Leyte occupies the northern three-quarters of Leyte island. Its capital is the city of
Tacloban, administered independently from the province. Leyte is situated west of Samar
Island, north of Southern Leyte and south of Biliran. The historical name of the
Philippines, "Las Islas Felipenas", named by Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos in
honor of Prince Philip of Spain, used to refer to the islands of Leyte and Samar only, until
it was adopted to refer to the entire archipelago. Leyte is also known as the site of the
largest naval battle in modern history, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which took place during
the Second World War. The island of Leyte was once the location of Mairete, meaning
land of Ete, a historic community which was ruled by Datu Ete centered in present-day
municipality of Leyte and nearby towns. It was the oldest city-state in the entire Eastern
Visayas region.

Southern Leyte
Southern Leyte’s capital is the city of Maasin. It was made into an independent
province from Leyte in 1959. Southern Leyte includes Limasawa, an island to the south
where the first Roman Catholic Mass in Philippine soil.
Notable Places and Nicknames
Amadeo Cavite Coffee Capital of the Philippines
Imus Cavite Flag Capital of the Philippines
Angono Rizal Art Capital of the Philippines
Antipolo Rizal Pilgrimage Capital of the Philippines
Taytay Rizal Garments Capital of the Philippines
Calamba Laguna Hot Spring Capital of the Philippines
Paete Laguna Woodcarving Capital of the Philippines
Occidental Mindoro Home of the Indigenous Mangyan
Sibuyan Romblon Galapagos of Asia
Puerto Galera Oriental Mindoro Poor Man’s Boracay
Puerto Princesa Palawan Eco-tourism Capital of the Philippines
Philippines’ Last Frontier
Donsol Sorsogon Whale Shark Capital of the World
Naga Camarines Sur The Queen City of Bicol
Bacolod Negros Occidental City of Smiles
Cadiz Negros Occidental City of Whales
Silay Negros Occidental The Paris of Negros
Carles and Estancia Iloilo Alaska of the Philippines
Iloilo City Iloilo City of Love
Bike Capital of the Philippines
Miag-ao Iloilo Onion Capital of the Visayas
Pototan Iloilo Christmas Capital of Western Visayas
Kalibo Aklan Ati-atihan Town
Malay Aklan Home of the Boracay Resort Island
Roxas Capiz Seafood Capital of the Philippines
Balamban Cebu The Ship Building Capital of the Philippines
Bantayan Cebu Holy Week Celebration Capital of the
World
Carcar City Cebu Heritage City of Cebu
Little Marikina Cebu
Cebu City Cebu The Queen City of the South (de facto)
Oldest City in the Philippines
First Capital of the Philippines
Cradle of Christianity in Asia
Danao City Cebu The Gunsmith Capital of the Philippines
 The City of Gentle People
Dumaguete City Negros Oriental The University Town of the Visayas
The Motorcycle Capital of the Philippines
Lapu-Lapu City Cebu Historic Resort City
Loboc Bohol Music Capital of Bohol
Mabinay Negros Oriental The Caves Capital of the Philippines
Manjuyod Negros Oriental Maldives of the Philippines
Oslob Cebu Whaleshark Capital of the Visayas
Siquijor Siquijor The Mystical Town
Mandaue City Cebu Furniture Capital of the Philippines
Basey Samar Banig Capital of Region 8
Guiuan Eastern Samar Magellan's First Landing Site
Surfing Capital of the Visayas
Limasawa Southern Leyte The First Mass Site in the Philippines
Tanauan Leyte Skimboarding Capital of the Philippines