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Regions of the Philippines
Regions of the Philippines
Contents
Contents
The Philippines is subdivided into seventeen (17) regions – eight (8) in Luzon, three (3) in the Visayas, and six (6) in Mindanao. These regions are not local government units but their existence is primarily for administrative purposes. Thus in each region, a city is designated as the center where each of the national government agencies have a regional office.
List of regions
List of regions
Brief history and timeline
Brief history and timeline
Regions came into existence on September 24, 1972, when President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed into law Presidential Decree (P. D.) No. 1 which divided the entire country into 11 regions, each with a designated regional center.
The eleven regions established under P. D. No. 1
On July 7, 1975, President Marcos signed Presidential Decree No. 742, creating Region 12 (Central Mindanao).
On January 23, 1976, President Marcos signed Presidential Decree No. 879, which separated Metropolitan Manila from Region 4 as a distinct region.
On June 2, 1978, President Marcos signed Presidential Decree No. 1396, declaring and establishing the Metropolitan Manila Region as the National Capital Region of the Republic of the Philippines.
On July 15, 1987, President Corazon C. Aquino signed Executive Order No. 220, creating the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).
On August 1, 1989, President Corazon C. Aquino signed into law Republic Act No. 6734, creating the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which was subsequently ratified in a plebiscite on November 26, 1989.
On February 23, 1995, President Fidel V. Ramos signed into law Republic Act No. 7901, creating Region 13 (Caraga Region).
On September 19, 2001, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Executive Order No. 36, reorganizing the administrative regions in Mindanao, which included the following changes:
Western Mindanao (Region 9) was reorganized to be known as Zamboanga Peninsula.
Southern Mindanao (Region 11) was reorganized to be known as Davao Region.
Central Mindanao (Region 12) was reorganized to be known as SOCCSKSARGEN.
On May 17, 2002, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed Executive Order No. 103, dividing Region IV into Region IV-A (CALABARZON) and Region IV-B (MIMAROPA).
On May 29, 2015, President Benigno S. Aquino III signed Executive Order No. 183, creating the Negros Island Region (NIR) comprising the provinces of Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental.
On August 7, 2017, President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed Executive Order No. 38, revoking Executive Order No. 183 and effectively abolishing the Negros Island Region.
On July 27, 2018, President Rodrigo R. Duterte signed into law Republic Act No. 11054, establishing the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, effectively replacing the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. The law was ratified in a plebiscite on January 25, 2019.
Statistics
Statistics
Based on the 2020 census, the regions with the highest population are, in descending order, CALABARZON (16,195,042), the National Capital Region (13,484,462), and Central Luzon (12,422,172). Almost 40 percent of the national population are found in these three (3) regions alone. The least populated regions are, Cordillera Administrative Region (1,797,660), Caraga (2,804,788), and MIMAROPA Region (3,228,558) whose combined populations account for less than 10 percent of the national count.
Region
Population (2020)
Province count
City count
Mun. count
Bgy. count
Border type
Island group
Ilocos Region (Region I)
5,301,139
4
9
116
3,267
coastal
Luzon
Cagayan Valley (Region II)
3,685,744
5
4
89
2,311
coastal
Luzon
Central Luzon (Region III)
12,422,172
7
14
116
3,102
coastal
Luzon
CALABARZON (Region IV-A)
16,195,042
5
20
122
4,019
coastal
Luzon
Bicol Region (Region V)
6,082,165
6
7
107
3,471
coastal
Luzon
Western Visayas (Region VI)
7,954,723
6
16
117
4,051
coastal
Visayas
Central Visayas (Region VII)
8,081,988
4
16
116
3,003
coastal
Visayas
Eastern Visayas (Region VIII)
4,547,150
6
7
136
4,390
coastal
Visayas
Zamboanga Peninsula (Region IX)
3,875,576
3
5
67
1,904
coastal
Mindanao
Northern Mindanao (Region X)
5,022,768
5
9
84
2,022
coastal
Mindanao
Davao Region (Region XI)
5,243,536
5
6
43
1,162
coastal
Mindanao
SOCCSKSARGEN (Region XII)
4,901,486
4
5
45
1,195
coastal
Mindanao
National Capital Region (NCR)
13,484,462
0
16
1
1,710
coastal
Luzon
Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
1,797,660
6
2
75
1,178
landlocked
Luzon
Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)
4,404,288
5
2
116
2,490
coastal
Mindanao
Caraga (Region XIII)
2,804,788
5
6
67
1,311
coastal
Mindanao
3,228,558
5
2
71
1,460
coastal
Luzon
Sources
Sources
Data on population derived from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
Maps utilize OpenStreetMap data available under the Open Data Commons Open Database License.
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