Provinces of the Philippines

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Template:Featured list Image:Ph regions and provinces.png The province (Filipino: lalawigan or probinsya) is the primary local government unit in the Philippines. The country is divided into 79 provinces, which are further subdivided into cities (lungsod) and municipalities (bayan). The National Capital Region, which includes the capital city Manila, is not divided into provinces.

The provinces are grouped into 17 regions (rehiyon) based on geographical, cultural, and ethnological characteristics. Fourteen of the regions are designated with numbers corresponding roughly with their geographic location from north to south. The National Capital Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao do not have a number designation.

The provincial government is headed by a governor (gobernador). For purposes of legislative representation, the province is divided into one or more congressional districts (distrito). Each city or municipality belongs to one of these districts. One congressman (kinatawan) represents each district in the House of Representatives. Every district also has board members in the Provincial Board (see the succeeding section on the Provincial government).

1 Provincial government
- 1.1 Executive branch
- 1.2 Legislative branch
2 List of provinces
3 Name origins
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

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Provincial government

The provincial government has an executive and a legislative branch. The judicial powers in the province are under the supervision of the Supreme Court of the Philippines. The provincial government is an autonomous unit, given direct supervision of the affairs of the province. The president of the Philippines coordinates with the provinces through the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).

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Executive branch

The provincial government is headed by a governor (gobernador), who is the chief executive and head of the province. Under the governor are the various provincial departments such as the Administration, Legal Office, Information Office, Engineering Office, and Treasury Office.

The governor is elected a term of three years and may be elected for a maximum of three terms. The provincial department heads are appointed by the governor.

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Legislative branch

Heading the legislature of the province is the vice-governor (bise-gobernador) who presides over the Provincial Board (Sangguniang Panlalawigan), which is composed of board members from each district in the province. Depending on the income class of the province, it may either have eight or ten board members. First and second class provinces have ten board members while third and fourth class provinces have eight. Negros Occidental and Cebu are exceptions, having 12 board members each.

The board also has, as ex-officio members, the provincial president of the Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) (Liga ng mga Barangay), the provincial president of the Philippine Councilors League (PCL), and the provincial president of Sanggunian Kabataan (SK) Federation (the youth council).

All of the board members are elected by the citizens of the province along with the governor. The ex-officio members are elected within their organizations.

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List of provinces

Province		Capital	Region	Population	Area (km²)	Pop. density (per km²)
Image:Ph seal abra.png	Abra	Bangued	CAR	209,491	3,975.6	52.7
Image:Ph seal agusan del norte.png	Agusan del Norte	Butuan City	Region XIII	552,849	2,590.0	213.5
Image:Ph seal agusan del sur.png	Agusan del Sur	Prosperidad	Region XIII	559,294	8,966.0	62.4
Image:Ph seal aklan.png	Aklan	Kalibo	Region VI	451,314	1,817.9	248.3
Image:Ph seal albay.png	Albay	Legazpi City	Region V	1,090,907	2,552.6	427.4
Image:Ph seal antique.png	Antique	San Jose	Region VI	471,088	2,522.0	186.8
Image:Ph seal apayao.png	Apayao	Kabugao	CAR	97,129	3,927.9	24.7
Image:Ph seal aurora.png	Aurora	Baler	Region III	173,797	3,239.5	53.6
Image:Ph seal basilan.png	Basilan	Isabela City	ARMM	259,796	1,234.2	210.5
Image:Ph seal bataan.png	Bataan	Balanga City	Region III	557,659	1,373.0	406.2
Image:Ph seal batanes.png	Batanes	Basco	Region II	16,467	209.3	78.7
Image:Ph seal batangas.png	Batangas	Batangas City	Region IV-A	1,905,348	3,165.8	601.9
Image:Ph seal benguet.png	Benguet	La Trinidad	CAR	582,515	2,655.4	219.4
Image:Ph seal biliran.png	Biliran	Naval	Region VIII	140,274	555.5	252.5
Image:Ph seal bohol.png	Bohol	Tagbilaran City	Region VII	1,137,268	4,117.3	276.2
Image:Ph seal bukidnon.png	Bukidnon	Malaybalay City	Region X	1,060,265	8,293.8	127.8
Image:Ph seal bulacan.png	Bulacan	Malolos	Region III	2,234,088	2,625.0	851.1
Image:Ph seal cagayan.png	Cagayan	Tuguegarao City	Region II	993,580	9,002.7	110.4
Image:Ph seal camarines norte.png	Camarines Norte	Daet	Region V	458,840	2,112.5	217.2
Image:Ph seal camarines sur.png	Camarines Sur	Pili	Region V	1,551,549	5,266.8	294.6
Image:Ph seal camiguin.png	Camiguin	Mambajao	Region X	74,232	229.8	323.0
Image:Ph seal capiz.png	Capiz	Roxas City	Region VI	654,156	2,633.2	248.4
Image:Ph seal catanduanes.png	Catanduanes	Virac	Region V	215,356	1,511.5	142.5
Image:Ph seal cavite.png	Cavite	Trece Martires City	Region IV-A	2,063,161	1,287.6	1,602.3
Image:Ph seal cebu.png	Cebu	Cebu City	Region VII	3,356,137	5,088.4	659.6
Image:Ph seal compostela valley.png	Compostela Valley	Nabunturan	Region XI	580,244	4,667.0	124.3
Image:Ph seal cotabato.png	Cotabato	Kidapawan City	Region XII	958,643	6,569.9	145.9
Image:Ph seal davao del norte.png	Davao del Norte	Tagum City	Region XI	743,811	3,463.0	214.8
Image:Ph seal davao del sur.png	Davao del Sur	Digos City	Region XI	1,905,917	6,377.6	298.8
Image:Ph seal davao oriental.png	Davao Oriental	Mati	Region XI	446,191	5,164.5	86.4
Image:Ph seal eastern samar.png	Eastern Samar	Borongan	Region VIII	375,822	4,339.6	86.6
Image:Ph seal guimaras.png	Guimaras	Jordan	Region VI	141,450	604.7	233.9
Image:Ph seal ifugao.png	Ifugao	Lagawe	CAR	161,623	2,517.8	64.2
Image:Ph seal ilocos norte.png	Ilocos Norte	Laoag City	Region I	514,241	3,399.3	151.3
Image:Ph seal ilocos sur.png	Ilocos Sur	Vigan City	Region I	594,206	2,579.6	230.3
Image:Ph seal iloilo.png	Iloilo	Iloilo City	Region VI	1,925,002	4,719.4	407.9
Image:Ph seal isabela.png	Isabela Template:Fn	Ilagan	Region II	1,287,575	10,664.6	120.7
Image:Ph seal kalinga.png	Kalinga	Tabuk	CAR	174,023	3,119.7	55.8
Image:Ph seal la union.png	La Union	San Fernando City	Region I	657,945	1,493.1	440.7
Image:Ph seal laguna.png	Laguna	Santa Cruz	Region IV-A	1,965,872	1,759.7	1,117.2
Image:Ph seal lanao del norte.png	Lanao del Norte	Tubod	Region X	758,123	3,092.0	245.2
Image:Ph seal lanao del sur.png	Lanao del Sur	Marawi City	ARMM	800,162	3,872.9	206.6
Image:Ph seal leyte.png	Leyte	Tacloban City	Region VIII	1,592,336	5,712.8	278.7
Image:Ph seal maguindanao.png	Maguindanao	Shariff Aguak	ARMM	801,102	4,900.1	163.5
Image:Ph seal marinduque.png	Marinduque	Boac	Region IV-B	217,392	959.3	226.6
Image:Ph seal masbate.png	Masbate	Masbate City	Region V	707,668	4,047.7	174.8
Image:Ph seal misamis occidental.png	Misamis Occidental	Oroquieta City	Region X	486,723	1,939.3	251.0
Image:Ph seal misamis oriental.png	Misamis Oriental	Cagayan de Oro City	Region X	1,126,215	3,570.0	315.5
Image:Ph seal mountain province.png	Mountain Province	Bontoc	CAR	140,439	2,097.3	67.0
Image:Ph seal negros occidental.png	Negros Occidental Template:Fn	Bacolod City	Region VI	2,565,723	7,926.1	323.7
Image:Ph seal negros oriental.png	Negros Oriental	Dumaguete City	Region VII	1,126,061	5,402.3	208.4
Image:Ph seal northern samar.png	Northern Samar	Catarman	Region VIII	500,639	3,498.0	143.1
Image:Ph seal nueva ecija.png	Nueva Ecija	Palayan City	Region III	1,659,883	5,284.3	314.1
Image:Ph seal nueva vizcaya.png	Nueva Vizcaya	Bayombong	Region II	366,962	3,903.9	94.0
Image:Ph seal occidental mindoro.png	Occidental Mindoro	Mamburao	Region IV-B	380,250	5,879.9	64.7
Image:Ph seal oriental mindoro.png	Oriental Mindoro	Calapan City	Region IV-B	681,818	4,364.7	156.2
Image:Ph seal palawan.png	Palawan	Puerto Princesa City	Region VI	755,412	14,896.3	50.7
Image:Ph seal pampanga.png	Pampanga	San Fernando City	Region III	1,882,730	2,180.7	863.4
Image:Ph seal pangasinan.png	Pangasinan	Lingayen	Region I	2,434,086	5,368.2	453.4
Image:Ph seal quezon.png	Quezon	Lucena City	Region IV-A	1,679,030	8,706.6	192.8
Image:Ph seal quirino.png	Quirino	Cabarroguis	Region II	148,575	3,057.2	48.6
Image:Ph seal rizal.png	Rizal	Antipolo City	Region IV-A	1,707,218	1,308.9	1,304.3
Image:Ph seal romblon.png	Romblon	Romblon	Region IV-B	264,357	1,355.9	195.0
Image:Ph seal samar.png	Samar	Catbalogan	Region VIII	641,124	5,591.0	114.7
Image:Ph seal sarangani.png	Sarangani	Alabel	Region XII	410,622	2,980.0	137.8
Image:Ph seal siquijor.png	Siquijor	Siquijor	Region VII	81,598	343.5	237.5
Image:Ph seal sorsogon.png	Sorsogon	Sorsogon City	Region V	650,535	2,141.4	303.8
Image:Ph seal south cotabato.png	South Cotabato	Koronadal City	Region XII	1,102,550	4,489.0	245.6
Image:Ph seal southern leyte.png	Southern Leyte	Maasin City	Region VIII	360,160	1,734.8	207.6
Image:Ph seal sultan kudarat.png	Sultan Kudarat	Isulan	Region XII	586,505	4,714.8	124.4
Image:Ph seal sulu.png	Sulu	Jolo	ARMM	619,668	1,600.4	387.2
Image:Ph seal surigao del norte.png	Surigao del Norte	Surigao City	Region XIII	481,416	2,739.0	175.8
Image:Ph seal surigao del sur.png	Surigao del Sur	Tandag	Region XIII	501,808	4,552.2	110.2
Image:Ph seal tarlac.png	Tarlac	Tarlac City	Region III	1,068,783	3,053.4	350.0
Image:Ph seal tawi-tawi.png	Tawi-Tawi	Panglima Sugala	ARMM	322,317	1,087.4	296.4
Image:Ph seal zambales.png	Zambales	Iba	Region III	627,802	3,714.4	169.0
Image:Ph seal zamboanga del norte.png	Zamboanga del Norte	Dipolog City	Region IX	823,130	6,618.0	124.4
Image:Ph seal zamboanga del sur.png	Zamboanga del Sur	Pagadian City	Region IX	1,437,941	4,964.1	289.7
Image:Ph seal zamboanga sibugay.png	Zamboanga Sibugay	Ipil	Region IX	497,239	3,087.9	161.0

Template:Fnb On February 20, 1995, legislation was approved for the division of Isabela into Isabela del Norte and Isabela del Sur. The division never took place.

Template:Fnb Negros del Norte was created from Negros Occidental on January 3, 1986. Its creation was declared unconstitutional on July 11, 1986, and it was abolished on August 18, 1986.

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Name origins

The provinces are mainly named after geographic features like rivers and islands, after people or individuals, or they bear a name of older local origin.

Provinces named after:

Ethnic groups: Apayao, Ifugao, Kalinga, Maguindanao, Negros, Zambales
Presidents: Quirino, Quezon
Heroes: Rizal, Sultan Kudarat
Other Known People: Aurora, Isabela
Rivers: Agusan, Iloilo, Pampanga, Tarlac
Lakes: Laguna, Lanao
Islands: Basilan, Batanes Islands (plural) , Biliran, Bohol, Catanduanes, Cebu, Guimaras Leyte, Masbate, Negros, Romblon, Samar, Siquijor
Peninsulas: Bataan, Cavite, Zamboanga
Prominent cities and towns in the province: Batangas, Cavite, Cotabato, Zamboanga
Spanish regions: Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya
Nature, flora and fauna: Antique (from the red ants known locally as lantik-lantik), Bulacan (root word: bulaklak - flower), Pangasinan (root word: asin - salt)

In addition, many Philippines provinces have Spanish and English directions in their names, such as Zamboanga del Norte (English: Northern Zamboanga).

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