Cebu City
Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu (Cebuano: Dakbayan sa Sugbo; Hiligaynon: Dakbanwa sang Cebu; Filipino: Lungsod ng Cebu), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. It is the capital of the province of Cebu, where it is geographically located but is one of three cities (together with Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue) that are administratively independent of the provincial government. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 964,169 people,[8] making it the sixth-most populated city in the nation and the most populous in the Visayas.
Not to be confused with Sibu, a city in Malaysia.
Cebu City
Dakbayan sa Sugbo
Cebu (geographically only)
1565
24 February 1937
December 22, 1979
80 (see Barangays)
Raymond Alvin N. Garcia (Partido Barug)
733,044 voters (2022)
315.00 km2 (121.62 sq mi)
205 km2 (79 sq mi)
1,062.88 km2 (410.38 sq mi)
34th out of 145
34 m (112 ft)
981 m (3,219 ft)
0 m (0 ft)
964,169
6th
3,100/km2 (7,900/sq mi)
2,454,000[3]
3,164,337
3,000/km2 (7,700/sq mi)
238,317
Cebuano
1st city income class
₱ 7,096 million (2020)
₱ 34,754 million (2020)
₱ 8,693 million (2020)
₱ 17,073 million (2020)
Visayan Electric Company (VECO)
+63 (0)32
It also serves as the regional center of Central Visayas, and its metropolitan area exerts influence on commerce, trade, industry, education, culture, tourism, and healthcare beyond the region, over all of the Visayas and partly over Mindanao. It is the Philippines' main domestic shipping port and is home to about 80% of the country's domestic shipping companies. Additionally, Cebu City is the prime trading center of the southern Philippines.
Cebu City is bounded on the north by the town of Balamban and the city of Danao, on the west by the city of Toledo, on the east by the cities of Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue and the towns of Liloan, Consolacion and Compostela and to the south by the city of Talisay. Located at the center of the eastern seaboard of Cebu Island, it is the core city of Metro Cebu, the second largest metropolitan area in the Philippines, which includes the cities of Carcar, Danao, Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Naga and Talisay and the municipalities (towns) of Compostela, Consolacion, Cordova, Liloan, Minglanilla and San Fernando. Metro Cebu had a total population of 3,165,799 as of the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area of the nation, after Metro Manila in Luzon and Metro Davao in Mindanao.[9]
The current political boundaries of the city are an incorporation of the former municipalities of Cebu, San Nicolas, El Pardo, Mabolo, Talamban and Banilad in the Commonwealth period.[10]
The city has experienced rapid economic growth since the 1990s, a phenomenon also known as "Ceboom". Owing to its economic importance and influence in modern times, Cebu City is also popularly referred to as the Queen City of the South, a sobriquet adopted from Iloilo City after its economic decline in the mid-1900s.[a]
Being a highly urbanized city, Cebu City (along with neighboring Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu) is independent from Cebu province. Its electorate do not vote for provincial officials. There were proposals during the time of Governor Emilio Mario Osmeña to establish an "administrative district" that would be independent from Cebu City. This would mean carving out Cebu City's Capitol Site barangay, where the provincial capitol and other provincial offices are located. The plan, however, did not go through and was even followed by other proposals like the transfer of the capital to Balamban.
Cebu City is governed by a mayor, vice mayor and sixteen councilors (eight representing the north and eight representing the south districts). Each official is popularly elected to serve for a three-year term. The chief of the Association of Barangay Captains and the president of the Sangguniang Kabataan Federation also serve in the city council. The day-to-day administration of the city is handled by a city administrator.[91][92]
Casa Gorordo Museum
Temple of Leah
Aerial view at Tops Lookout
Sirao Garden
The Archdiocesan Museum of Cebu
Tourism is a thriving industry in Cebu. It hosted the 1998 ASEAN Tourism Forum. The city also hosted the East Asian Tourism Forum in August 2002, in which the province of Cebu is a member and signatory.
Views of Cebu City and its skyline can be seen from villages and numerous gated communities located on its mountainsides.
There is a significant number of Filipino-Spanish heritage buildings in Cebu City such as Fort San Pedro, Basilica del Santo Niño, Magellan's Cross, and the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.[103] The city hosts the Museo Sugbo and Casa Gorordo Museum. The Cebu Taoist Temple is also situated within the city.
