Provinces of the Philippines

The Provinces of the Philippines are the main political and administrative divisions of the Philippines. There are 82 provinces at present. The provinces are divided into cities and municipalities. The National Capital Region, as well as independent cities, are separate from any provincial government. Each province has a governor.

The provinces are grouped into seventeen regions based on geographical, cultural, and ethnological characteristics. Fourteen of these regions are designated with numbers corresponding to their geographic location in order from north to south. The National Capital Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao do not have numerical designations.

Each province is member to the League of Provinces of the Philippines, an organization which aims to address issues affecting provincial and metropolitan government administrations.^[1]

List of provinces

Province	Capital	Largest settlement	Region	Population (2020)	Population rank	Area (km²)	Area rank	Pop. density (per km²)	Pop. density rank
Abra	Bangued		CAR	250,985	69	4,198.20	33	55.01	76
Agusan del Norte[2]	Cabadbaran[3]	Butuan City[4]	Region XIII	760,413	45	3,546.86	40	172.66	49
Agusan del Sur	Prosperidad	Bayugan City	Region XIII	739,367	46	9,989.52	5	61.01	73
Aklan	Kalibo		Region VI	615,475	54	1,821.42	66	271.83	24
Albay	Legazpi		Region V	1,374,768	24	2,565.77	57	464.12	11
Antique	San Jose de Buenavista		Region VI	612,974	55	2,729.17	53	188.8	44
Apayao	Kabugao[5]	Conner	CAR	124,366	79	4,351.23	31	23.82	79
Aurora	Baler	Maria Aurora	Region III	235,750	71	3,147.32	47	59.67	74
Basilan	Lamitan	Isabela	BARMM[6]	556,586	59	2,217.13	59	223.94	37
Bataan	Balanga	Mariveles	Region III	853,373	38	1,372.98	72	482.27	9
Batanes	Basco		Region II	18,831	82	219.01	80	72.94	69
Batangas	Batangas City	Lipa City	Region IV-A	2,908,494	8	3,119.72	48	719.89	7
Benguet[7]	La Trinidad	Baguio[4]	CAR	827,041	40	2,826.59	50	238.61	35
Biliran	Naval		Region VIII	179,312	76	536.01	77	279.9	23
Bohol	Tagbilaran		Region VII	1,394,329	23	4,820.95	26	255.16	30
Bukidnon	Malaybalay	Valencia City	Region X	1,541,308	20	10,498.59	4	113.38	62
Bulacan	Malolos	San Jose Del Monte	Region III	3,708,890	3	2,774.85	51	1018.77	5
Cagayan	Tuguegarao		Region II	1,268,603	26	9,295.75	6	115.38	60
Camarines Norte	Daet		Region V	629,699	52	2,320.07	58	221.45	38
Camarines Sur[8]	Pili	Naga	Region V	2,068,244	14	5,465.26	19	309.93	20
Camiguin	Mambajao		Region X	92,808	81	237.95	79	341.64	16
Capiz	Roxas		Region VI	804,952	42	2,594.64	56	270.43	25
Catanduanes	Virac		Region V	271,879	68	1,492.16	71	155.99	51
Cavite	Imus[9]	Dasmariñas	Region IV-A	4,344,829	2	1,512.41	69	1888.88	2
Cebu[10]	Cebu City[4]		Region VII	5,151,274	1	5,331.07	22	724.66	6
Cotabato	Kidapawan		Region XII	1,275,185	25	9,008.90	7	124.54	58
Davao de Oro	Nabunturan	Monkayo	Region XI	767,547	44	4,479.77	28	142.28	54
Davao del Norte	Tagum		Region XI	1,125,057	29	3,426.97	44	247.29	32
Davao del Sur[11]	Digos	Davao City[4]	Region XI	2,457,430	11	6,667.06	12	327.84	18
Davao Occidental	Malita		Region XI	317,159	66	?	?	?	?
Davao Oriental[12]	Mati		Region XI	576,343	57	5,670.07	18	85.73	68
Dinagat Islands	San Jose	Basilisa	Region XIII	128,117	78	1,036.34	74	116.58	59
Eastern Samar	Borongan		Region VIII	477,168	63	4,640.73	27	87.3	67
Guimaras	Jordan	Buenavista	Region VI	187,842	75	604.57	76	250.16	31
Ifugao	Lagawe	Alfonso Lista	CAR	207,498	73	2,628.21	54	68.76	72
Ilocos Norte	Laoag		Region I	609,588	56	3,504.30	42	156.17	50
Ilocos Sur	Vigan	Candon	Region I	706,009	48	2,595.96	55	243.55	33
Iloilo[13]	Iloilo City[4]		Region VI	2,509,525	10	4,899.35	25	267.19	26
Isabela[14]	Ilagan		Region II	1,697,050	17	13,778.76	2	101.71	64
Kalinga	Tabuk		CAR	229,570	72	3,231.25	46	56.43	75
La Union	Santol		Ilocos Region	822,352	41	1,503.75	70	479.45	10
Laguna	Santa Cruz	Calamba	Region IV-A	3,382,193	4	1,823.55	65	1356.44	3
Lanao del Norte[15]	Tubod	Iligan[4]	Region X	1,086,017	30	3,824.79	35	221.3	39
Lanao del Sur	Marawi		BARMM	1,195,518	28	12,051.85	3	94.47	65
Leyte[16]	Tacloban[4]		Region VIII	2,028,728	15	6,515.05	13	264.32	27
Maguindanao del Norte	Datu Odin Sinsuat	Cotabato City	BARMM	943,500	33	?	?	?	?
Maguindanao del Sur	Buluan		BARMM	723,758	47	?	?	?	?
Marinduque	Boac		Region IV-B	239,207	70	952.58	75	241.07	34
Masbate	Masbate City		Region V	908,920	35	4,151.78	34	185.21	45
Misamis Occidental	Oroquieta	Ozamiz	Region X	617,333	53	2,055.22	63	258.7	29
Misamis Oriental[17]	Cagayan de Oro[4]		Region X	1,685,302	18	3,515.70	41	370.58	14
Mountain Province	Bontoc	Bauko	CAR	158,200	77	2,157.38	60	68.91	71
Negros Occidental[18]	Bacolod[4]		Region VI	3,223,955	6	7,965.21	9	360.29	15
Negros Oriental	Dumaguete		Region VII	1,432,990	22	5,385.53	21	228.74	36
Northern Samar	Catarman		Region VIII	639,186	51	3,692.93	37	148.87	53
Nueva Ecija	Palayan[19]	Cabanatuan	Region III	2,310,134	12	5,751.33	17	322.33	19
Nueva Vizcaya	Bayombong		Region II	497,432	62	4,378.80	30	90.86	66
Occidental Mindoro	Mamburao	San Jose	Region IV-B	525,354	61	5,865.71	16	71.87	70
Oriental Mindoro	Calapan		Region IV-B	908,339	36	4,238.38	32	173.6	48
Palawan[20]	Puerto Princesa[4]		Region IV-B	1,246,673	27	17,030.75	1	52.41	77
Pampanga[21]	San Fernando	Angeles City	Region III	2,900,637	9	2,044.99	64	1088.73	4
Pangasinan[22]	Lingayen	San Carlos	Region I	3,163,190	7	5,451.08	20	485.3	8
Quezon[23]	Lucena[4]		Region IV-A	2,229,383	13	8,926.01	8	210.95	41
Quirino	Cabarroguis	Diffun	Region II	203,828	74	3,486.16	43	46.93	78
Rizal[24]	Antipolo[25]		Region IV-A	3,330,143	5	1,175.76	73	1942.61	1
Romblon	Romblon	Odiongan	Region IV-B	308,985	67	1,533.45	68	182.45	46
Samar	Catbalogan	Calbayog	Region VIII	793,183	43	6,048.03	14	114.94	61
Sarangani	Alabel	Glan	Region XII	558,946	58	3,601.25	39	132.04	55
Siquijor	Siquijor		Region VII	103,395	80	337.49	78	259.84	28
Sorsogon	Sorsogon City		Region V	828,655	39	2,119.01	62	334.91	17
South Cotabato[26]	Koronadal	General Santos[4]	Region XII	1,672,791	19	4,428.81	1	292.81	1
Southern Leyte	Maasin		Region VIII	429,573	65	1,797.22	67	217.47	40
Sultan Kudarat	Isulan	Tacurong City	Region XII	854,052	37	5,251.34	23	128.66	57
Sulu	Jolo		BARMM	1,000,108	32	2,135.25	61	397.93	13
Surigao del Norte	Surigao City		Region XIII	534,636	60	1,972.9	64	207.55	37
Surigao del Sur[12]	Tandag	Bislig	Region XIII	642,255	50	4,925.18	24	109.91	63
Tarlac	Tarlac City		Region III	1,503,456	21	2,736.64	52	454.37	12
Tawi-Tawi	Bongao[27]		BARMM	440,276	64	3,426.55	45	131.43	56
Zambales[28]	Iba	Olongapo[4]	Region III	909,932	34	3,714.40	36	193.94	43
Zamboanga del Norte	Dipolog		Region IX	1,047,455	31	7,301.00	11	124.26	59
Zamboanga del Sur[29]	Pagadian	Zamboanga City[4]	Region IX	2,027,902	16	5,914.16	15	285.53	22
Zamboanga Sibugay	Ipil		Region IX	669,840	49	3,607.75	38	151.39	52
Metro Manila[24]	Manila (Regional center)	Quezon City	NCR	13,484,462	--	636	--	18747.04	--

NOTES:

• All population and land area figures include cities independent from provinces. In this table, they are counted as part of the province to which they are often grouped for statistical purposes, but in actuality they are first-level entities on their own right.
• Metro Manila is included for comparison although it is not a province but an administrative region.
• Land area figures taken from 2009 IRA computation factors Archived 2011-04-02 at the Wayback Machine.
• Population figures taken from "2020 Census of Population and Housing (2020 CPH) Population Counts Declared Official by the President". 2020 Census of Population. Philippine Statistics Authority. Retrieved July 18, 2022.

References

1. About the League of Provinces, League of Provinces of the Philippines, archived from the original on 2009-03-05, retrieved 2008-01-12
2. Figures include the independent city of Butuan.
3. Cabadbaran has been made the official capital of the province, as per Republic Act No. 8811 Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine. However, the seat of the provincial government is still in the process of being transferred from Butuan, where the provincial government still holds office.
4. Because the provincial government holds office within an independent city, in effect the province maintains the seat of its government outside its jurisdiction.
5. The province maintains another government center in Luna, where many national and provincial agencies now hold office. Philippine Information Agency - Apayao gov't center established in Luna^{[permanent dead link]}
6. The city of Isabela is served by the offices of Region IX.
7. Figures include the independent city of Baguio.
8. Figures include the independent city of Naga.
9. The provincial government of Cavite makes it clear that Imus is the provincial capital, while the seat of the provincial government is Trece Martires City. Official Website of the Province of Cavite - Quick Facts Archived 2011-10-07 at the Wayback Machine Imus is capital of Cavite — Maliksi Archived 2012-09-04 at Archive.today
10. Figures include the independent cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue.
11. Figures include the independent city of Davao.
12. Population figures for both Davao Oriental and Surigao del Sur exclude the 4,555 persons residing in areas disputed between these provinces.
13. Figures include the independent city of Iloilo.
14. Figures include the independent city of Santiago.
15. Figures include the independent city of Iligan.
16. Figures include the independent cities of Ormoc and Tacloban.
17. Figures include the independent city of Cagayan de Oro.
18. Figures include the independent city of Bacolod.
19. The provincial government still uses and maintains facilities in the former capital, Cabanatuan.
20. Figures include the independent city of Puerto Princesa.
21. Figures include the independent city of Angeles.
22. Figures include the independent city of Dagupan.
23. Figures include the independent city of Lucena.
24. Population figures for both Metro Manila and Rizal Province exclude the 24,789 persons residing in areas disputed between the municipality of Cainta, Rizal and the city of Pasig in Metro Manila.
25. The provincial government has already transferred its operations to Antipolo from Pasig, although no legislation on the national level has been enacted yet recognizing the new capital. Yehey! News - Board wants Antipolo officially named capital of Rizal^{[permanent dead link]}
26. Figures include the independent city of General Santos.
27. The National Statistical Coordination Board Archived 2008-11-18 at the Wayback Machine recognizes both Bongao and Panglima Sugala as capitals of the province. However, the provincial capitol is located in Bongao, the de facto seat of government.
28. Figures include the independent city of Olongapo.
29. Figures include the independent city of Zamboanga.