Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
is divided into three (3) major
island group
An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands, or sometimes a sea containing a small number of scattered islands.
Examples of archipelagos include: the Indonesian Archi ...
s of
Luzon
Luzon (; ) is the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the Philippines archipelago, it is the economic and political center of the nation, being home to the country's capital city, Manila, as ...
, the
Visayas
The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; tl, Kabisayaan ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Luzon and Mindanao ...
, and
Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of ...
. Luzon and Mindanao are both named after the largest island in their respective groups, while the Visayas (also referred to as the Visayan Islands) is an archipelago.
Administrative divisions
The islands of the Philippines are organized into three distinct island groups according to
regions
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
:
Luzon comprises 8 Regions: I to III, IV-A, V, NCR,
CAR
A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport people instead of goods.
The year 1886 is regarded as ...
and
Mimaropa
Mimaropa (usually capitalized in official government documents), formally known as the Southwestern Tagalog Region, is an administrative region in the Philippines. It was also formerly but still colloquially designated as Region IV-B until 2016 ...
.
Visayas comprises 3 Regions: VI to VIII.
Mindanao comprises 6 Regions: IX to
XIII
XIII may refer to:
* 13 (number) or XIII in Roman numerals
* 13th century in Roman numerals
* XIII (comics), ''XIII'' (comics), a Belgian comic book series by Jean Van Hamme and William Vance
** XIII (2003 video game), ''XIII'' (2003 video game), a ...
and
BARMM
ar, منطقة بانجسامورو ذاتية الحكم فى مسلمى مينداناو
, native_name =
, settlement_type = Autonomous region
, anthem = Bangsamoro Hymn
, image_skyline ...
.
If a
province
A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...
is reassigned into a new region, it may also be reassigned to a new island group, as is the case with
Palawan
Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in ...
, when it was temporarily assigned from
Mimaropa
Mimaropa (usually capitalized in official government documents), formally known as the Southwestern Tagalog Region, is an administrative region in the Philippines. It was also formerly but still colloquially designated as Region IV-B until 2016 ...
to
Western Visayas
Western Visayas ( hil, Kabisay-an Nakatundan; tl, Kanlurang Kabisayaan or ''Kanlurang Visayas'') is an administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VI. It consists of six provinces (Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Guimara ...
and thus temporarily was considered part of the Visayas.
The island groups themselves do not have governments of their own, but are instead divided into provinces,
cities
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 ...
,
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
and
barangay
A barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as barrio (abbreviated as Bo.), is the smallest administrative division in the Philippines and is the native Filipino term for a village, district, or ward. In metropolitan ...
s, which do have their own local governments. The island groups are used for statistical convenience and in some cases, there are national government agencies that have created positions that cover the island groups such as the Assistant Secretary for Regional Operations in Mindanao in the
Department of Public Works and Highways
The Department of Public Works and Highways ( fil, Kagawaran ng mga Pagawain at Lansangang Bayan}), abbreviated as DPWH, is the executive department of the Philippine government solely vested with the Mandate to “be the State's engineering ...
(DPWH) or the Assistant Secretary for Luzon Affairs in the
Department of Social Welfare and Development
The Philippines' Department of Social Welfare and Development ( fil, Kagawaran ng Kagalingan at Pagpapaunlad Panlipunan, Kagawaran ng Kagalingang Panlipunan at Pagpapaunlad, abbreviated as DSWD) is the executive department of the Philippine Go ...
(DSWD).
Although the island groups do not have local governments, hence capitals, certain cities have become the political, economic and cultural centers of the island groups.
Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...
is the national
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
and is the ''
de facto
''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...
'' capital of Luzon, though neighboring
Quezon City
Quezon City (, ; fil, Lungsod Quezon ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read in Filipino as Kyusi), is the List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a populatio ...
, a former capital, has more inhabitants than Manila.
Cebu
Cebu (; ceb, Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Sugbo; tl, Lalawigan ng Cebu; hil, Kapuroan sang Sugbo), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas region, and consists of a main island and 167 ...
, on the province and island of the same name, is the chief city of the Visayas. Mindanao's main city is Davao, towards its southeast.
Islands
See also
*
Luzviminda Luzviminda (sometimes LuzViMinda) is a ''portmanteau'' of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao, the names of the three major island groups of the Philippines. It is a feminine given name. List of Islands of the Philippines
The islands of the Philippines, also known as the Philippine Archipelago, comprises about 7,641 islands, of which only about 2,000 are inhabited.Geography of the Philippines