''Poblacion'' (literally "town" or "settlement" in Spanish; ) is the common term used for the administrative center, central,

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's sometimes commercial, cultural and often the historical, political and geographic heart. It is often synonymous with its central business distric ...

old town In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins after thorough renovations. There are ma ...

central business district A central business district (CBD) is the commercial and business centre of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides with the "city ...

area of a Philippine

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

or municipality, which may take up the area of a single barangay or multiple barangays. It is sometimes shortened to Pob.

History

During the Spanish rule, the colonial government founded hundreds of towns and villages across the archipelago modeled on towns and villages in Spain. The authorities often adopted a policy of

Reducción Indian reductions in the Andes ( es, reducciones de indios, links=no) were settlements in the former Inca Empire created by Spanish authorities and populated by the forcible relocation of indigenous Andean populations, called "Indians" by the Spa ...

, for the resettlement of inhabitants in far-flung scattered barangays to move into a centralized ''cabecera'' (town/district capital) where a newly built church and an ''ayuntamiento'' (town hall) were situated. This allowed the government to defend, control and Christianize the indigenous population, to conduct population counts, and to collect tributes.

Features

The ''población'' is considered the commercial and industrial center of the city or municipality. Most citizens of a city or municipality residing in the outlying barangays and satellite '' sitios'' flock to the ''población'' on market days (which is set by a

local ordinance A local ordinance is a law issued by a local government. such as a municipality, county, parish, prefecture, or the like. China In Hong Kong, all laws enacted by the territory's Legislative Council remain to be known as ''Ordinances'' () af ...

of the local government) because most local products and goods from the

barrio ''Barrio'' () is a Spanish language, Spanish word that means "Quarter (urban subdivision), quarter" or "neighborhood". In the modern Spanish language, it is generally defined as each area of a city, usually delimited by functional (e.g. residenti ...

s are brought to the public market located in the ''población''. In this way their products could be sold faster by a wide range of buyers, though there are instances where some citizens would choose to go to another town's ''población'' because it is closer to their residences. In some cities and towns, the ''población'' (usually the areas surrounding the parish church) doubles as an

district that features one or more of a few remaining Spanish-built structures in the country. The ''cabecera'' (or the ''población'' of a ''municipio''/''pueblo'') has a basic plan, with a ''

plaza mayor A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

'', church and attached '' convento'', civic buildings such as the

town hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

, and houses of prominent Spaniards. Other features include the public market, the central

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

and high school, police station, and hospital. File:Inbound807053493928591831.jpg, Balanga city plaza showing the church File:Loboc Bohol 1.jpg, The ''población'' of Loboc, Bohol, showing structures typical to most town centres: the plaza, town hall, gazebo, and arena File:05411jfBonifacio Park Church Palaris San Carlos Pangasinanfvf 10.JPG, ''

Bonifacio Bonifacio may refer to: Places * Bonifacio, Corse-du-Sud, a town in Corsica, France * Strait of Bonifacio, separating Corsica from Sardinia * Bonifacio, Misamis Occidental, a municipality in the Philippines * Bonifacio Global City, a central bu ...

Park'' at Palaris (Poblacion), San Carlos, Pangasinan File:Plaza at Guiuan, Eastern Samar.JPG, Plaza at Guiuan, Eastern Samar with the church in the background File:ZAMBOANGA CITY Asia's Latin City City Hall and Plaza Rizal (Ayunamiento y Plaza Rizal).jpg, ''Plaza Rizal'' at Zamboanga City showing houses with Spanish Colonial architecture

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poblacion Barangays of the Philippines Spanish words and phrases

History

Features

See also

References