Provinces of the Philippines

Map of the Philippines highlighting the provinces

There are eighty-two (82) provinces in the Philippines – thirty-eight (38) in Luzon, twenty-seven (27) in the Visayas, and seventeen (17) in Mindanao. A province is created by an Act of Congress and duly ratified by the affected voting population in a plebiscite. The requisites for its creation are an average annual income of at least 20 million Philippine Pesos (₱20 M), and either of the following:

  • a contiguous territory of at least 2,000 square kilometers, or
  • a minimum population of 250,000

The elected officials of the provincial government are the Governor who is the chief executive, the Vice-Governor, and the Sangguniang Panlalawigan members. There are also appointive officials in charge of the various offices in the provincial government.

A municipality or city is designated as the capital which is the seat of the provincial government.

List of provinces

Statistics

Based on the 2020 census, the provinces with the highest population (excluding highly urbanized cities) are Cavite (4,344,829), Bulacan (3,708,890), and Laguna (3,382,193). If highly urbanized cities are included in the provincial population, Cebu province (including the cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, and Mandaue) is the most populated (5,151,274). Those with the lowest population are Batanes (18,831), Camiguin (92,808), and Siquijor (103,395).

By land area, the largest are Palawan (14,649.73 km2 or 5,656.29 sq mi), Lanao del Sur (15,055.51 km2 or 5,812.96 sq mi), and Isabela (13,102.05 km2 or 5,058.73 sq mi), while the smallest are Batanes (203.22 km2 or 78.46 sq mi), Camiguin (241.44 km2 or 93.22 sq mi), and Siquijor (337.49 km2 or 130.31 sq mi).

Province Population (2020) Area (2013, km2) Population density (2020, /km2) City count Mun. count Bgy. count Border type Region
Abra250,9854,199.7260027303landlockedCordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
Agusan del Norte387,5032,611.63148110167coastalCaraga (Region XIII)
Agusan del Sur739,3679,989.5274113314landlockedCaraga (Region XIII)
Aklan615,4751,760.30350017327coastalWestern Visayas (Region VI)
Albay1,374,7682,574.91534315720coastalBicol Region (Region V)
Antique612,9742,730.67224018590coastalWestern Visayas (Region VI)
Apayao124,3664,502.332807133landlockedCordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
Aurora235,7503,133.407508151coastalCentral Luzon (Region III)
Basilan426,2073,453.42123111210coastalBangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)
Bataan853,3731,372.98622111237coastalCentral Luzon (Region III)
Batanes18,831203.22930629coastalCagayan Valley (Region II)
Batangas2,908,4943,115.059344301,078coastalCALABARZON (Region IV‑A)
Benguet460,6832,769.08166013140landlockedCordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
Biliran179,312536.0133508132coastalEastern Visayas (Region VIII)
Bohol1,394,3294,772.522921471,109coastalCentral Visayas (Region VII)
Bukidnon1,541,30810,498.59147220464landlockedNorthern Mindanao (Region X)
Bulacan3,708,8902,783.691,332321569coastalCentral Luzon (Region III)
Cagayan1,268,6039,398.07135128820coastalCagayan Valley (Region II)
Camarines Norte629,6992,277.93276012282coastalBicol Region (Region V)
Camarines Sur2,068,2445,511.903752351,063coastalBicol Region (Region V)
Camiguin92,808241.443840558coastalNorthern Mindanao (Region X)
Capiz804,9522,594.64310116473coastalWestern Visayas (Region VI)
Catanduanes271,8791,492.16182011315coastalBicol Region (Region V)
Cavite4,344,8291,526.282,847716829coastalCALABARZON (Region IV‑A)
Cebu3,325,3854,943.726736441,066coastalCentral Visayas (Region VII)
Cotabato1,490,6189,317.30160117543landlockedSOCCSKSARGEN (Region XII)
Davao Occidental317,1592,163.4514705105coastalDavao Region (Region XI)
Davao Oriental576,3435,679.64101110183coastalDavao Region (Region XI)
Davao de Oro767,5474,560.09168011237coastalDavao Region (Region XI)
Davao del Norte1,125,0573,422.6132938223coastalDavao Region (Region XI)
Davao del Sur680,4812,163.9831419232coastalDavao Region (Region XI)
Dinagat Islands128,117817.4715707100coastalCaraga (Region XIII)
Eastern Samar477,1684,617.16103122597coastalEastern Visayas (Region VIII)
Guimaras187,842611.873070598coastalWestern Visayas (Region VI)
Ifugao207,4982,618.0179011176landlockedCordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
Ilocos Norte609,5883,418.75178221559coastalIlocos Region (Region I)
Ilocos Sur706,0092,596.00272232768coastalIlocos Region (Region I)
Iloilo2,051,8994,997.644111421,721coastalWestern Visayas (Region VI)
Isabela1,697,05013,102.051303341,055coastalCagayan Valley (Region II)
Kalinga229,5703,282.047017153landlockedCordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
La Union822,3521,499.28548119576coastalIlocos Region (Region I)
Laguna3,382,1931,928.231,754624681landlockedCALABARZON (Region IV‑A)
Lanao del Norte722,9023,354.16216022462coastalNorthern Mindanao (Region X)
Lanao del Sur1,195,51815,055.51791391,159coastalBangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)
Leyte1,776,8476,335.442802401,503coastalEastern Visayas (Region VIII)
Maguindanao1,342,1799,968.31135036508coastalBangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)
Marinduque239,207952.5825106218coastalMIMAROPA Region
Masbate908,9204,138.56220120550coastalBicol Region (Region V)
Misamis Occidental617,3332,006.63308314490coastalNorthern Mindanao (Region X)
Misamis Oriental956,9003,131.52306223424coastalNorthern Mindanao (Region X)
Mountain Province158,2002,389.4366010144landlockedCordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
Negros Occidental2,623,1727,844.123341219601coastalWestern Visayas (Region VI)
Negros Oriental1,432,9905,420.57264619557coastalCentral Visayas (Region VII)
Northern Samar639,1863,694.96173024569coastalEastern Visayas (Region VIII)
Nueva Ecija2,310,1345,689.69406527849landlockedCentral Luzon (Region III)
Nueva Vizcaya497,4324,813.88103015275landlockedCagayan Valley (Region II)
Occidental Mindoro525,3545,851.0990011164coastalMIMAROPA Region
Oriental Mindoro908,3394,238.38214114426coastalMIMAROPA Region
Palawan939,59414,649.7364023367coastalMIMAROPA Region
Pampanga2,437,7092,001.221,218219505coastalCentral Luzon (Region III)
Pangasinan3,163,1905,450.595804441,364coastalIlocos Region (Region I)
Quezon1,950,4598,743.842231391,209coastalCALABARZON (Region IV‑A)
Quirino203,8282,319.668806132landlockedCagayan Valley (Region II)
Rizal3,330,1431,182.652,816113189landlockedCALABARZON (Region IV‑A)
Romblon308,9851,533.45201017219coastalMIMAROPA Region
Samar793,1836,048.03131224951coastalEastern Visayas (Region VIII)
Sarangani558,9463,642.1615307141coastalSOCCSKSARGEN (Region XII)
Siquijor103,395337.4930606134coastalCentral Visayas (Region VII)
Sorsogon828,6552,119.01391114541coastalBicol Region (Region V)
South Cotabato975,4763,793.90257110199coastalSOCCSKSARGEN (Region XII)
Southern Leyte429,5731,801.46238118500coastalEastern Visayas (Region VIII)
Sultan Kudarat854,0525,363.86159111249coastalSOCCSKSARGEN (Region XII)
Sulu1,000,1084,547.16220019410coastalBangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)
Surigao del Norte534,6361,952.62274120335coastalCaraga (Region XIII)
Surigao del Sur642,2554,932.70130217309coastalCaraga (Region XIII)
Tarlac1,503,4563,046.49494117511landlockedCentral Luzon (Region III)
Tawi-Tawi440,2763,626.55121011203coastalBangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)
Zambales649,6153,630.35179013230coastalCentral Luzon (Region III)
Zamboanga Sibugay669,8403,481.28192016389coastalZamboanga Peninsula (Region IX)
Zamboanga del Norte1,047,4557,300.11143225691coastalZamboanga Peninsula (Region IX)
Zamboanga del Sur1,050,6684,484.21234126681coastalZamboanga Peninsula (Region IX)

Sources

  1. The Local Government Code of the Philippines
  2. Data on population and land area are from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
  3. Maps utilize OpenStreetMap data available under the Open Data Commons Open Database License.
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