''Poblacion'' (from Spanish '' población'', meaning "population"), sometimes abbreviated as Pob., is a term used in the Philippines to refer to the

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

downtown ''Downtown'' is a term primarily used in American and Canadian English 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 district ( ...

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. In some cases, newer developments on t ...

, or

commercial area Commercial area, commercial district or commercial zone in a city is an area, district, or neighborhoods primarily composed of commerce, commercial buildings, such as a strip mall, business parks, office parks, downtown, central business distric ...

of a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

. It may consist of a single

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

or multiple barangays. Colloquially, the ''poblacion'' area is also referred to as the ''bayan'' (see also other definitions of '' bayan'') or ''plaza''.

History

During the Spanish rule, the colonial government founded hundreds of towns and villages across the archipelago modeled on towns and villages in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. The authorities often adopted a policy of Reducción, for the resettlement of inhabitants in far-flung scattered

s to move into a centralized ''cabecera'' (town/district capital) where a newly built church and an ''

ayuntamiento ''Ayuntamiento'' ()In other languages of Spain: * (). * (). * (). is the general term for the town council, or ''cabildo'', of a municipality or, sometimes, as is often the case in Spain and Latin America, for the municipality itself. is mai ...

'' (town hall) were situated. This allowed the government to defend, control and

Christianize Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...

the indigenous population, to conduct population counts, and to collect

taxes A tax is a mandatory financial charge or levy imposed on an individual or legal entity by a governmental organization to support government spending and public expenditures collectively or to regulate and reduce negative externalities. Tax co ...

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 ''

sitio A ''sitio'' ( Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own barangay if its popu ...

s'' 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. Hong Kong In Hong Kong, all laws enacted by the territory's Legislative Council remain to be known as ''Ordinances'' () ...

of the

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

) 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 delimited by functional (e.g. residential, comm ...

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. There are also some cases of cities that have multiple ''poblaciónes'', like

Iloilo City Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region of the Philippines, located on the southeastern coast of th ...

, where each geographical district has its own, as they were former independent municipalities during the

Spanish era The Spanish era (), sometimes called the era of Caesar, was a calendar era (year numbering system) commonly used in the states of the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th century until the 15th, when it was phased out in favour of the ''Anno Domini'' (A ...

. The ''cabecera'' (or the ''población'' of a ''municipio''/''pueblo'') has a basic plan, with a '' plaza mayor'', 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 municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

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

market Market is a term used to describe concepts such as: *Market (economics), system in which parties engage in transactions according to supply and demand *Market economy *Marketplace, a physical marketplace or public market *Marketing, the act of sat ...

, the central

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

and

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

, police station, fire station, and hospital. File:Inbound807053493928591831.jpg, Balanga city plaza showing the

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

File:Loboc Bohol 1.jpg, The ''población'' of Loboc, Bohol, showing structures typical to most town centres: the plaza, town hall,

gazebo A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal or Gun turret, turret-shaped, often built in a park, garden, or spacious public area. Some are used on occasions as bandstands. In British English, the word is also used for a tent-like can ...

, and arena File:View from Mayor's Office, San Narciso - panoramio.jpg,

San Narciso, Zambales San Narciso, officially the Municipality of San Narciso (; ; sambal language, Sambal: ''Babali nin San Narciso''), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Zambales, Philippines. According to the ...

''poblacion'', showing the church and town plaza File:Rizal Monument in the Guiuan Town Plaza in April 2022.jpg, Plaza at

Guiuan, Eastern Samar Guiuan (Help:IPA/Tagalog, �giˌwan; , ), officially the Municipality of Guiuan, is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Eastern Samar, Philippines. It constitutes the southeastern extremity ...

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 Zamboanga City, officially the City of Zamboanga (; ; Subanen languages, Subanen: ''Bagbenwa Sembwangan''; Sama–Bajaw languages, Sama: ''Lungsud Samboangan''; ; ; ) is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city i ...

showing houses with Spanish Colonial architecture

References

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

History

Features

See also

References