SafekipediaRegions of the Philippines
Adapted from Wikipedia · Discoverer experience
The Philippines is a country made up of many islands in Southeast Asia. To help manage the country better, it is divided into different areas called regions. These regions are like groups that bring together many smaller local governments, such as towns and cities. This helps the national government provide services more easily to everyone.
As of 2024, the Philippines has 18 regions. Seventeen of these are mainly for organizing and planning, with each one having a group called a regional development council led by the president. The National Capital Region, which includes the busy city of Metro Manila, also has a special group to help manage city services. One special region, the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, has its own elected government and parliament, with some powers given to it by the Congress of the Philippines.
History
Regions in the Philippines started on September 24, 1972, when President Ferdinand Marcos organized the country's provinces into eleven groups. Since then, more regions have been added, and some provinces have moved from one region to another.
Important changes over the years include the creation of Metro Manila in 1975, the formation of the Cordillera Administrative Region in 1987, and the establishment of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in 2019. Some regions have been renamed or reorganized, such as the Zamboanga Peninsula and the Davao Region, reflecting the country's evolving administrative setup.
List of regions
As of June 30, 2024, the Philippines is divided into 18 regions. These regions help organize government services and plan for the future. The country is split into three main island groups: Luzon, the Visayas, and Mindanao. Each of these groups contains several regions.
Some region names, like Calabarzon, Mimaropa, and Soccsksargen, are made from the names of the places they include. These names are often written with capital letters in official documents.
Types of regions
Administrative region
An administrative region groups nearby local government units together. The president of the Philippines can create or change these regions to help with economic planning and provide better services. These regions are not local governments themselves but groups of local governments with a special team to make policies and coordinate activities.
Metro Manila is a special region with its own development authority called the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.
Autonomous region
Main article: Autonomous regions of the Philippines
The Philippines can have special regions with more self-control, especially in areas with many Muslim people in Mindanao. So far, only one such region has been created after votes by the people approved it.
Table of regions
Judicial regions
The country is also divided into judicial regions for courts, which mostly match the administrative regions from 1980.
Legislative districts
The way people were represented in the national legislature once used regions, but later changed to representation by province and city.
| Location | Region (regional designation) | PSGC | Island group | Regional center | Component local government units | Area | Population (2024) | Density | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Capital Region (NCR) | 13 | Luzon | Manila | 636.00 km2 (245.56 sq mi) | 14,001,751 (12.42%) | 20,247/km2 (52,440/sq mi) | |||
| Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) | 14 | Luzon | Baguio | 19,422.03 km2 (7,498.89 sq mi) | 1,808,985 (1.60%) | 89/km2 (230/sq mi) | |||
| Ilocos Region (Region I) | 01 | Luzon | San Fernando | 13,012.60 km2 (5,024.19 sq mi) | 5,342,453 (4.74%) | 386/km2 (1,000/sq mi) | |||
| Cagayan Valley (Region II) | 02 | Luzon | Tuguegarao | 28,228.83 km2 (10,899.21 sq mi) | 3,777,608 (3.35%) | 122/km2 (317/sq mi) | |||
| Central Luzon (Region III) | 03 | Luzon | San Fernando | 22,014.63 km2 (8,499.90 sq mi) | 12,989,074 (11.52%) | 510/km2 (1,320/sq mi) | |||
| Calabarzon (Region IV-A) | 04 | Luzon | Calamba | 16,873.31 km2 (6,514.82 sq mi) | 16,933,234 (15.02%) | 854/km2 (2,213/sq mi) | |||
| Southwestern Tagalog Region (Mimaropa) | 17 | Luzon | Calapan | 29,620.90 km2 (11,436.69 sq mi) | 3,245,446 (2.88%) | 100/km2 (259/sq mi) | |||
| Bicol Region (Region V) | 05 | Luzon | Legazpi | 18,155.82 km2 (7,010.00 sq mi) | 6,064,426 (5.38%) | 319/km2 (827/sq mi) | |||
| Western Visayas (Region VI) | 06 | Visayas | Iloilo City | 12,750.63 km2 (4,923.05 sq mi) | 4,861,911 (4.31%) | 371/km2 (961/sq mi) | |||
| Negros Island Region (NIR) | 18 | Visayas | Bacolod and Dumaguete (interim/de facto) | 13,525.56 km2 (5,222.25 sq mi) | 4,904,944 (4.35%) | 352/km2 (912/sq mi) | |||
| Central Visayas (Region VII) | 07 | Visayas | Cebu City | 10,114.52 km2 (3,905.24 sq mi) | 6,640,875 (5.89%) | 647/km2 (1,676/sq mi) | |||
| Eastern Visayas (Region VIII) | 08 | Visayas | Tacloban | 23,251.10 km2 (8,977.30 sq mi) | 4,625,929 (4.10%) | 191/km2 (495/sq mi) | |||
| Zamboanga Peninsula (Region IX) | 09 | Mindanao | Pagadian | 17,056.73 km2 (6,585.64 sq mi) | 5,089,934 (4.52%) | 213/km2 (551/sq mi) | |||
| Northern Mindanao (Region X) | 10 | Mindanao | Cagayan de Oro | 20,496.02 km2 (7,913.56 sq mi) | 5,178,326 (4.59%) | 229/km2 (593/sq mi) | |||
| Davao Region (Region XI) | 11 | Mindanao | Davao City | 20,357.42 km2 (7,860.04 sq mi) | 5,389,422 (4.78%) | 245/km2 (634/sq mi) | |||
| Soccsksargen (Region XII) | 12 | Mindanao | Koronadal | 22,513.30 km2 (8,692.43 sq mi) | 4,462,776 (4.0%) | 202/km2 (523/sq mi) | |||
| Caraga (Region XIII) | 16 | Mindanao | Butuan | 21,478.35 km2 (8,292.84 sq mi) | 2,865,196 (2.54%) | 121/km2 (313/sq mi) | |||
| Bangsamoro (BARMM) | 19 | Mindanao | Cotabato City | 11,935.7 km2 (4,608.4 sq mi) | 4,545,486 (4.03%) | 330/km2 (856/sq mi) | |||
| Notes Land area figures are the sum of each region's component provinces and independent cities, derived from the National Statistical Coordination Board (Philippine Statistics Authority) official website. For the BARMM, land area is derived from the Bangsamoro Development Plan Integrative Report. A highly urbanized city, independent from any province. An independent component city, not under the jurisdiction of any provincial government. Formerly designated as Region IV-B until 2016. A component city, part of the province of Basilan, but whose regional services are provided by the offices of Region IX. The province of Cotabato, which is part of the Soccsksargen region, has 63 of its barangays included in the BARMM. Following the Bangsamoro autonomy plebiscite and the ratification of the Bangsamoro Organic Law, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was superseded by the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) in February 2019, which transferred the provinces and cities already in the ARMM, as well as surrounding communities that voted for inclusion. | |||||||||
Proposed regions
There are ideas to create new regions in the Philippines. One idea is to change the Cordillera Administrative Region into an autonomous region, known as the Cordillera autonomy movement. Another idea is to create a separate region called Samar Administrative Region. A third idea is to form Bangsa Sug or Basulta Autonomous Region by separating the Sulu Archipelago from the mainland part of Bangsamoro.
Defunct regions
Some areas in the Philippines used to be grouped into regions that are no longer used today. These areas are now part of different regions.
- Southern Tagalog (Region IV) is now split into Calabarzon, Central Luzon (Aurora), Metro Manila, and Mimaropa. The name is still used for cultural and geographic purposes.
- Western Mindanao was renamed to Zamboanga Peninsula and is still Region IX.
- Central Mindanao is now mainly Soccsksargen and is still Region XII.
- Southern Mindanao is now mainly the Davao Region and is still Region XI.
- The Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was replaced by Bangsamoro.
Related articles
This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Regions of the Philippines, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
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