Philippines Provinces (original) (raw)

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Updates:

David Short informed me of the creation of the Negros Island Region. I made the appropriate updates. The capital of the new region has not yet been chosen; Bacolod City is the largest city in the region. The ISO code has also not yet been designated. New PSGC codes have been assigned. Mr. Short also noted that I had assigned Corregidor Island to the wrong province under Territorial extent. That is fixed now.

"Geopolitical Entities, Names, and Codes, Edition 2" (GENC), a U.S. standard that's supposed to correspond to ISO 3166-2, was issued on 2014-03-31. It used the same codes as ISO for all the provinces, except for Davao Occidental, which was new at the time. On 2015-11-27, ISO issued the code PH-DVO for Davao Occidental. GENC gives Manila the code PH-MAN, but that's for the "highly urbanized city" Manila; it's not clear whether that is equivalent to the region of Metropolitan Manila, which is the same as National Capital Region. The GENC region codes are also the same as the corresponding ISO codes. (As a region, the ISO/GENC code for National Capital Region is PH-00.) GENC also has codes for "highly urbanized cities" and "independent component cities." For independent cities, the correspondence between GENC codes and ISO codes is haphazard at best.

Update 12 to Geopolitical Entities and Codes (formerly FIPS 10-4) is dated 2013-06-30. It reconciles some name and code changes that were made incorrectly when the GEC document was recompiled. I have already noted the difficulty I had with discrepancies in earlier updates. I made three code changes in the main table to reflect this latest update. The update also changes the status of some of the independent cities. Some chartered cities have become highly urbanized cities; others have become independent component cities.

Update 11 to Geopolitical Entities and Codes (formerly FIPS 10-4) is dated 2013-04-30. It assigns a code to Sarangani province.

Mr. Short has prepared a database called Phillipine Geographies, Areas and Codes (PGAC). It covers regions, provinces, municipalities, barangays, and other civil and ecclesiastical geographies. He distributes it in a .zip file (Download) that packs in two files: one for the data, the other for documentation. Last updated 2011-07-27.

The U.S. National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency issued a document in 2010-04 titled "Geopolitical Entities and Codes" (GEC), intended to replace the discontinued federal standard FIPS 10-4. There have been two updates to this document that affect the Philippines: Update 8 (2012-05-01) and Update 10 (2012-12-31). There were some mistakes made along the way, but the codes have been straightened out.

Note that on this site, I don't attempt to maintain a list of chartered cities. I treat them as belonging to the province that surrounds them.

Newsletter II-2, an update to the ISO 3166-2 standard, is dated 2010-06-30. It assigns ISO codes to two somewhat-new regions. It also changes the spelling of Zamboanga-Sibugay and assigns the code DINto Dinagat Islands.

Edward Jassen dela Pe�a sent me a pdf file containing the data for the 2007 Philippine census. I have incorporated the populations in the table below (after checking that they agree with data on the Philippines National Statistics Office site). A few points deserve mention.

1. The pdf file contains a table of regions, provinces, and muncipalities, organized in outline form, so that you can tell which municipalities fall under which provinces, and which provinces under which regions. Fifteen independent cities are listed under the provinces with which they're associated, but their populations are split out. That is, the sum of the populations of all of the municipalities in the province is greater than the population reported for the province; if you omit the populations of one or more independent cities, the remaining populations add up as expected. To compensate for this anomaly, I added the populations of the excluded independent cities to their associated provinces.
2. The excluded independent cities are a small subset of all independent cities in the Philippines. I don't know how they were chosen, although they tend to be the larger ones.
3. Two other independent cities, Isabela and Cotabato, are listed at province level in the outline. The reason for this is probably that they are associated with provinces in ARMM, but they actually belong to other regions. In the tables below, the populations of these cities are included in the populations of Basilan and Maguindanao provinces, but regions 9 and 12, respectively. As a side effect, the populations of the provinces in regions 9, 12, and ARMM don't add up to the populations of those regions.
4. Shariff Kabunsuan province is listed in the file, because it was thought to be a province at the time the census was taken. I have combined its population with Maguindanao's. (See change history for provinces, 2006-10-30.)
5. Palawan province is listed under region 4-B, not 6 (this is consistent with information shown below under change history for regions, 2005).
6. The total of all the province populations equals the total of all the region populations, but falls short of the population given for the Philippines as a whole. The NSO website explains the discrepancy as being due to territorial disputes within the Philippines, and the omission of members of the foreign service living abroad (source [2]).
7. The file also lists population data for each entity as of 2000-05-01 and 1995-09-01. The provincial populations for 2000 match the ones I had previously listed for 71 provinces, and differ for 10 provinces. The largest difference is 18,989 people for Rizal province. I still display the original figures.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter Number I-2 was published on 2002-05-21. It shows one new region and six new provinces. They were all created between 1992-03-16 and 2001-02-23. There are also some minor spelling changes, and the code for one of the old regions is changed. The new ISO codes for provinces appear in the table below.

Country overview:

The United States acquired the Philippines from Spain by conquest and purchase in 1899. Rebels against Spain declared a Philippine Republic upon Spain's defeat. U.S. forces overcame the nationalists as well. The islands became an insular area of the United States. On 1934-03-24, this status was changed to commonwealth. The archipelago was invaded by Japan during World War II. After the war, the United States granted independence on 1946-07-04.

Other names of country:

1. Danish: Filippinerne
2. Dutch: Filipijnen, Republiek Filipijnen (formal)
3. English: Republic of the Philippines (formal)
4. Finnish: Filippiinit
5. French: Philippines fp
6. German: Philippinen fp
7. Icelandic: Filippseyjar
8. Italian: Filippine fp
9. Norwegian: Filippinene, Republikken Filippinene (formal) (Bokm�l), Filippinane, Republikken Filippinane (formal) (Nynorsk)
10. Pilipino: Republika ng Pilipinas (formal)
11. Portuguese: Filipinas, Rep�blica f das Filipinas fp (formal)
12. Russian: Республика Филиппины (formal)
13. Spanish: Filipinas, Rep�blica f de Filipinas (formal)
14. Swedish: Filippinerna
15. Turkish: Filipinler, Filipinler Cumhuriyeti (formal)

Origin of name:

Named after King Philip II of Spain (1527-1598)

Primary subdivisions:

The Philippines is divided into 81 provinces and one region.

Province	HASC	ISO	FIPS	PSGC	Reg	Pop-2010	Pop-2000	Area(km.�)	Area(mi.�)	Capital
Abra	PH.AB	ABR	RP01	1401	CAR	234,733	209,491	3,976	1,535	Bangued
Agusan del Norte	PH.AN	AGN	RP02	1602	13	642,196	552,849	2,590	1,000	Butuan
Agusan del Sur	PH.AS	AGS	RP03	1603	13	656,418	559,294	8,966	3,462	Prosperidad
Aklan	PH.AK	AKL	RP04	0604	6	535,725	451,314	1,818	702	Kalibo
Albay	PH.AL	ALB	RP05	0505	5	1,233,432	1,090,907	2,553	986	Legaspi
Antique	PH.AQ	ANT	RP06	0606	6	546,031	471,088	2,522	974	San Jose (de Buenavista)
Apayao	PH.AP	APA	RPH6	1481	CAR	112,636	97,129	3,928	1,517	Kabugao
Aurora	PH.AU	AUR	RPG8	0377	3	201,233	173,797	3,240	1,251	Baler
Basilan	PH.BS	BAS	RP22	1507	ARMM	391,179	332,828	1,372	530	Isabela
Bataan	PH.BA	BAN	RP07	0308	3	687,482	557,659	1,373	530	Balanga
Batanes	PH.BN	BTN	RP08	0209	2	16,604	16,467	209	81	(Santo Domingo de) Basco
Batangas	PH.BT	BTG	RP09	0410	4-A	2,377,395	1,905,348	3,166	1,222	Batangas
Benguet	PH.BG	BEN	RP10	1411	CAR	722,620	582,515	2,655	1,025	La Trinidad
Biliran	PH.BI	BIL	RPH9	0878	8	161,760	140,274	555	214	Naval
Bohol	PH.BO	BOH	RP11	0712	7	1,255,128	1,137,268	4,117	1,590	Tagbilaran
Bukidnon	PH.BK	BUK	RP12	1013	10	1,299,192	1,060,265	8,294	3,202	Malaybalay
Bulacan	PH.BU	BUL	RP13	0314	3	2,924,433	2,234,088	2,625	1,014	Malolos
Cagayan	PH.CG	CAG	RP14	0215	2	1,124,773	993,580	9,003	3,476	Tuguegarao
Camarines Norte	PH.CN	CAN	RP15	0516	5	542,915	458,840	2,113	816	Daet
Camarines Sur	PH.CS	CAS	RP16	0517	5	1,822,371	1,551,549	5,267	2,034	Pili
Camiguin	PH.CM	CAM	RP17	1018	10	83,807	74,232	230	89	Mambajao
Capiz	PH.CP	CAP	RP18	0619	6	719,685	654,156	2,633	1,017	Roxas
Catanduanes	PH.CT	CAT	RP19	0520	5	246,300	215,356	1,512	584	Virac
Cavite	PH.CV	CAV	RP20	0421	4-A	3,090,691	2,063,161	1,288	497	Trece Martires
Cebu	PH.CB	CEB	RP21	0722	7	4,167,320	3,356,137	5,088	1,964	Cebu
Compostela Valley	PH.CL	COM	RPI6	1182	11	687,195	580,244	4,667	1,802	Nabunturan
Cotabato	PH.NC	NCO	RP57	1247	12	1,226,508	958,643	6,566	2,535	Kidapawan
Davao del Norte	PH.DV	DAV	RPI7	1123	11	945,764	743,811	3,463	1,337	Tagum
Davao del Sur	PH.DR	DAS	RP25	1124	11	2,317,986	1,905,917	6,378	2,463	Digos
Davao Occidental	PH.DC	DVO			11	Malita
Davao Oriental	PH.DO	DAO	RP26	1125	11	517,618	446,191	5,165	1,994	Mati
Dinagat Islands	PH.DI	DIN	RPI9	1685	13	126,803	106,951	802	310	San Jose
Eastern Samar	PH.ES	EAS	RP23	0826	8	428,877	375,822	4,340	1,676	Borongan
Guimaras	PH.GU	GUI	RPJ3	0679	6	162,943	141,450	604	233	Jordan
Ifugao	PH.IF	IFU	RP27	1427	CAR	191,078	161,623	2,518	972	Lagawe
Ilocos Norte	PH.IN	ILN	RP28	0128	1	568,017	514,241	3,399	1,312	Laoag
Ilocos Sur	PH.IS	ILS	RP29	0129	1	658,587	594,206	2,580	996	Vigan
Iloilo	PH.II	ILI	RP30	0630	6	2,230,195	1,925,002	4,720	1,822	Iloilo
Isabela	PH.IB	ISA	RP31	0231	2	1,489,645	1,287,575	10,665	4,118	Ilagan
Kalinga	PH.KA	KAL	RPJ7	1432	CAR	201,613	174,023	3,120	1,205	Tabuk
Laguna	PH.LG	LAG	RP33	0434	4-A	2,669,847	1,965,872	1,760	680	Santa Cruz
Lanao del Norte	PH.LN	LAN	RP34	1035	10	930,738	758,123	3,092	1,194	Tubod
Lanao del Sur	PH.LS	LAS	RP35	1536	ARMM	933,260	800,162	3,873	1,495	Marawi
La Union	PH.LU	LUN	RP36	0133	1	741,906	657,945	1,493	576	San Fernando
Leyte	PH.LE	LEY	RP37	0837	8	1,789,158	1,592,336	5,713	2,206	Tacloban
Maguindanao	PH.MG	MAG	RP56	1538	ARMM	1,216,504	964,951	5,078	1,961	Shariff Aguak (1)
Marinduque	PH.MQ	MAD	RP38	1740	4-B	227,828	217,392	959	370	Boac
Masbate	PH.MB	MAS	RP39	0541	5	834,650	707,668	4,048	1,563	Masbate
Metropolitan Manila	PH.MM	MNL	RPD9	9900	NCR	11,855,975	9,932,560	636	246	Manila
Misamis Occidental	PH.MD	MSC	RP42	1042	10	567,642	486,723	1,939	749	Oroquieta
Misamis Oriental	PH.MN	MSR	RP43	1043	10	1,415,944	1,126,215	3,570	1,378	Cagayan de Oro
Mountain	PH.MT	MOU	RP44	1444	CAR	154,187	140,439	2,097	810	Bontoc
Negros Occidental	PH.ND	NEC	RPH3	1845	NIR	2,907,859	2,565,723	7,926	3,060	Bacolod
Negros Oriental	PH.NR	NER	RP46	1846	NIR	1,286,666	1,126,061	5,402	2,086	Dumaguete
Northern Samar	PH.NS	NSA	RP67	0848	8	589,013	500,639	3,499	1,351	Catarman
Nueva Ecija	PH.NE	NUE	RP47	0349	3	1,955,373	1,659,883	5,284	2,040	Palayan
Nueva Vizcaya	PH.NV	NUV	RP48	0250	2	421,355	366,962	3,904	1,507	Bayombong
Occidental Mindoro	PH.MC	MDC	RP40	1751	4-B	452,971	380,250	5,880	2,270	Mamburao
Oriental Mindoro	PH.MR	MDR	RP41	1752	4-B	785,602	681,818	4,365	1,685	Calapan
Palawan	PH.PL	PLW	RP49	1753	4-B	994,340	755,412	14,896	5,751	Puerto Princesa
Pampanga	PH.PM	PAM	RP50	0354	3	2,340,355	1,882,730	2,181	842	San Fernando
Pangasinan	PH.PN	PAN	RP51	0155	1	2,779,862	2,434,086	5,368	2,073	Lingayen
Quezon	PH.QZ	QUE	RPH2	0456	4-A	1,987,030	1,679,030	8,707	3,362	Lucena
Quirino	PH.QR	QUI	RP68	0257	2	176,786	148,575	3,057	1,180	Cabarroguis
Rizal	PH.RI	RIZ	RP53	0458	4-A	2,484,840	1,707,218	1,309	505	Pasig, MM
Romblon	PH.RO	ROM	RP54	1759	4-B	283,930	264,357	1,356	524	Romblon
Samar	PH.SM	WSA	RP55	0860	8	733,377	641,124	5,591	2,159	Catbalogan
Sarangani	PH.SG	SAR	RPM9	1280	12	498,904	410,622	2,980	1,151	Alabel
Siquijor	PH.SQ	SIG	RP69	0761	7	91,066	81,598	344	133	Siquijor
Sorsogon	PH.SR	SOR	RP58	0562	5	740,743	650,535	2,141	827	Sorsogon
South Cotabato	PH.SC	SCO	RP70	1263	12	1,365,286	1,102,550	4,489	1,733	Koronadal
Southern Leyte	PH.SL	SLE	RP59	0864	8	399,137	360,160	1,735	670	Maasin
Sultan Kudarat	PH.SK	SUK	RP71	1265	12	747,087	586,505	4,715	1,820	Isulan
Sulu	PH.SU	SLU	RP60	1566	ARMM	718,290	619,668	1,600	618	Jolo
Surigao del Norte	PH.ST	SUN	RP61	1667	13	442,588	374,465	1,937	748	Surigao
Surigao del Sur	PH.SS	SUR	RP62	1668	13	561,219	501,808	4,552	1,758	Tandag
Tarlac	PH.TR	TAR	RP63	0369	3	1,273,240	1,068,783	3,053	1,179	Tarlac
Tawi-Tawi	PH.TT	TAW	RPO4	1570	ARMM	366,550	322,317	1,087	420	Bongao
Zambales	PH.ZM	ZMB	RP64	0371	3	755,621	627,802	3,714	1,434	Iba
Zamboanga del Norte	PH.ZN	ZAN	RP65	0972	9	957,997	823,130	6,618	2,555	Dipolog
Zamboanga del Sur	PH.ZS	ZAS	RPP1	0973	9	1,766,814	1,437,993	8,052	3,109	Pagadian
Zamboanga-Sibugay	PH.ZY	ZSI	RPP2	0983	9	584,685	497,257			Ipil
Totals	92,335,113	76,498,735	300,080	115,864
Province: except for Metropolitan Manila, which is a region. HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from "Geopolitical Entities and Codes". PSGC: The National Statistical Coordination Board has defined aPhilippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC). First published in 1977, and frequently updated, it's a set of nine-digit codes uniquely identifyingeach administrative division of the Philippines. I have omitted trailing zeros from all codes. Regions haveseven trailing zeros, provinces have five, chartered cities and municipalities have three, and barangays useall nine digits. Metropolitan Manila has the code for its region; its subdivisions are four districts (notprovinces), and their codes have five trailing zeros. The codes are hierarchical: for example, the first fourdigits of a barangay code show what province the barangay is in. Reg: Region code. Exceptions: Cotabato and Marawi chartered cities are in CentralMindanao region, but they also belong to Maguindanao province and Lanao del Sur province, respectively.Those provinces, excluding the chartered cities, are in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Pop-2010: 2010-05-01 census. Pop-2000: 2000-05-01 census. Capital: Note that the capitals of La Union and Pampanga are two different cities with the same name.Formal names include the parenthesized portions.

Note 1: I reported in "Administrative Subdivisions of Countries" that the capital of Maguindanao moved from Maganoy to Sultan Kudarat in ~1978. I stated on this page that it moved from Sultan Kudarat to Maganoy in ~1997. Both statements may have been true, but the underlying situation is more complicated. David Short informs me that when the governor of Maguindanao province is from the Upper Valley, the capital is Shariff Aguak (formerly known as Maganoy); when the governor is from the Lower Valley, Sultan Kudarat becomes the capital. For most purposes it should suffice to say that Shariff Aguak and Sultan Kudarat are co-capitals.

Note 2: This is the code for Manila, considered as a chartered city, that was given in the draft standard ISO/DIS 3166-2 (1996). ISO 3166-2 has not had a code on this level for the Metropolitan Manila region since the official standard came out in 1998.

Postal codes:

The Philippines uses four-digit postal codes. The first two digits represent a province, district, or city.

Further subdivisions:

See the Municipalities of the Philippines page.

The Philippines have been divided into provinces since they were a Spanish colony, although there have been many changes in the division. Since 1972-09-24, the provinces have been grouped into regions. The regions have no government of their own, but are for administrative convenience. In addition, over the years, certain cities have been designated as chartered cities. Technically, the chartered cities are no longer part of the province within which they are located. Most of the provinces are further subdivided into numbered districts. There are also some sub-provinces, which generally split off and form separate provinces in due course. All provinces are subdivided into municipalities. The municipalities are similar in size to the chartered cities, but generally lower in population. Municipalities and chartered cities are subdivided into barangays. The divisions I have used are the provinces, each one combined with the chartered cities located within its limits, because it's easiest to get statistics or maps for those units.

For more about the regions, see the end of the Change history section, below.

International standard ISO 3166-2 was published on December 15, 1998. It superseded ISO/DIS 3166-2 (draft international standard), which came out in fall 1996. Both documents showed the Philippines divided into fifteen regions, which are further subdivided into 73 provinces. The draft standard showed, in addition, sixty-one chartered cities.

I believe that the divisions shown in "Administrative Subdivisions of Countries" were correct, and not the ISO standard. The book listed 78 provinces (including Metropolitan Manila) as the primary subdivisions of the Philippines. It listed sixteen regions, which are groupings of provinces. It listed sixty chartered cities. The chartered cities are technically distinct from the provinces, and have a province-like status. The book identified the chartered cities as sub-units of the provinces in which they're located, for several reasons. On maps and in statistical lists, they're usually grouped with their provinces. If they were kept as separate entities, that would have given the Philippines a total of 138 primary divisions, which is an excessive number to deal with. The chartered cities were dropped from the final version of the ISO standard, showing that ISO apparently agreed with this judgment. Also, consider how the chartered cities are handled by the PSGC. Their codes show them to be subordinate to provinces in the hierarchy.

There were 61 chartered cities in 1996. According to the National Statistical Coordination Board, there were 84 of them by 2000-06-31. On 2000-12-31 there were 96; on 2004-12-31, 117; and on 2008-06-30, 136. If chartered cities were treated as primary subdivisions of the Philippines, it would be a big maintenance chore to keep up with the new ones. (See source [5].) Since the draft ISO standard and the FIPS standard both had codes for sixty chartered cities, I present those sixty here for reference.

Aside from the omission of the chartered cities, there are a few other changes between the draft ISO standard and the final version.

In the draft standard, twelve regions are coded using Roman numerals I-XII, and three regions are just identified by name. In the final standard, each region has a two-digit numeric code, as shown in the table above. Caraga region is omitted from both versions.

Between the two documents, all the provinces and province codes remain the same, except that Samar (SAM) in the draft standard is replaced by Western Samar (WSA) in the final standard. In fact, the name of this province was changed from Western Samar to Samar in 1969, although the former name is sometimes used.

The assignment of provinces to regions has remained the same, except for one thing: all the provinces that were in Cordillera Administrative Region according to the draft standard have been put in Eastern Visayas region, leaving Cordillera empty - obviously a mistake.

Territorial extent:

The Philippines claims part of the Spratly Islands, north of about 7.5� N. latitude in the South China Sea. The group as a whole has been given the FIPS 10-4 country code PG.

There is a single point in Mindanao where four provinces (Bukidnon, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Cotabato) meet.

As a rule, Philippine provinces are either part or all of a large island, along with some number of entire smaller nearby islands. In the following list, the large island is mentioned first. A slash (/) before its name indicates that the province only covers part of this island.

1. Abra: /Luzon
2. Agusan del Norte: /Mindanao
3. Agusan del Sur: /Mindanao
4. Aklan: /Panay, Borocay
5. Albay: /Luzon, Batan, Cagraray, Rapu Rapu, San Miguel
6. Antique: /Panay, Semirara Islands (Semirara, Sibay, Caluya), Batbatan, Maniquin, Seco
7. Apayao: /Luzon
8. Aurora: /Luzon
9. Basilan: Basilan, Pilas Group, Tapiantana Group
10. Bataan: /Luzon
11. Batanes: Batan, Itbayat, Sabtang, Y'ami (northernmost point in Philippines)
12. Batangas: /Luzon, Maricaban, Verde
13. Benguet: /Luzon
14. Biliran: Biliran, Maripipi
15. Bohol: Bohol, Panglao, Lapinin, Mahanay
16. Bukidnon: /Mindanao
17. Bulacan: /Luzon
18. Cagayan: /Luzon, Babuyan Islands (Camiguin, Calayan, Babuyan, Fuga, Dalupiri), Palaui
19. Camarines Norte: /Luzon, Calagua Islands (Tinaga, Maculabo, Guintinua)
20. Camarines Sur: /Luzon, Quinasalag, Lahuy, Butauanan
21. Camiguin: Camiguin
22. Capiz: /Panay, Olutayan
23. Catanduanes: Catanduanes, Panay, Palumbanes, Parongpong, Calbagio
24. Cavite: /Luzon, Corregidor
25. Cebu: Cebu, Camotes Islands (Pacijan, Poro, Ponson), Bantayan, Mactan, Guintacan, Olango
26. Compostela Valley: /Mindanao
27. Cotabato: /Mindanao
28. Davao del Norte: /Mindanao, Samal, Talikud
29. Davao del Sur: /Mindanao, Sarangani Islands (Balut, Sarangani)
30. Davao Oriental: /Mindanao
31. Eastern Samar: /Samar, Homonhon, Hilaban, Manicani, Calicoan, Suluan
32. Guimaras: Guimaras, Inampulugan
33. Ifugao: /Luzon
34. Ilocos Norte: /Luzon
35. Ilocos Sur: /Luzon
36. Iloilo: /Panay, Calagnaan, Tagubanhan, Sicogon, Pan de Azucar, Gigante Islands
37. Isabela: /Luzon
38. Kalinga: /Luzon
39. La Union: /Luzon
40. Laguna: /Luzon, Talim Island in Laguna de Bay (lake)
41. Lanao del Norte: /Mindanao
42. Lanao del Sur: /Mindanao
43. Leyte: /Leyte
44. Maguindanao: /Mindanao
45. Marinduque: Marinduque, Mompog, Tres Reyes Islands
46. Masbate: Masbate, Burias, Ticao, Naro, Jintotolo, Deagan
47. Metropolitan Manila: /Luzon
48. Mindoro Occidental: /Mindoro, Lubang Islands (Lubang, Ambil, Cabra, Golo), Ilin, Ambulong
49. Mindoro Oriental: /Mindoro
50. Misamis Occidental: /Mindanao
51. Misamis Oriental: /Mindanao
52. Mountain: /Luzon
53. Negros Occidental: /Negros, Molocaboc
54. Negros Oriental: /Negros
55. Northern Samar: /Samar, Balicuatro Islands, Batag, Laoang, Capul, Dalupiri, Destacado, Cabaun
56. Nueva Ecija: /Luzon
57. Nueva Vizcaya: /Luzon
58. Palawan: Palawan, Calamian Group (Busuanga, Culion, Coron, Calauit), Dumaran, Balabac, Linapacan, Bugsuk, Pandanan, Maytiguid, Batas, Boayan, Cuyo Islands (Cuyo, Agutaya, Canipo), Cagayan Islands (Cagayan, Calusa), Quiniluban Islands, San Miguel Islands, and the Philippines' claim to the Spratly Islands
59. Pampanga: /Luzon
60. Pangasinan: /Luzon, Cabarruyan, Santiago
61. Quezon: /Luzon, Polillo Islands (Polillo, Patnanongan, Jomalig), Alabat, Cabalete, Pagbilao Grande
62. Quirino: /Luzon
63. Rizal: /Luzon
64. Romblon: Tablas, Sibuyan, Romblon, Carabao, Banton, Maestre de Campo, Simara
65. Samar: /Samar, Daram, Buad, Santo Ni�o, Almagro, Tagapula, Camandag, Libucan
66. Sarangani: /Mindanao
67. Siquijor: Siquijor
68. Sorsogon: /Luzon
69. South Cotabato: /Mindanao
70. Southern Leyte: /Leyte, Panaon, Limasawa
71. Sultan Kudarat: /Mindanao
72. Sulu: Jolo Group (Jolo, Pata, Capual), Tapul Group (Siasi, Lugus, Tapul, Lapac), Pangutaran Group (Pangutaran, Kulassein, North Ubian), Samales Group (Tungkil, Balanguingui), Laparan
73. Surigao del Norte: /Mindanao, Dinagat, Siargao, Bucas Grande, Nonoc, East Bucas, Hibuson, Poneas, Hikdop, Zaragosa, Sumilon, Basul, San Jose, Nasapilid
74. Surigao del Sur: /Mindanao, General
75. Tarlac: /Luzon
76. Tawi-Tawi: Tawi Tawi, Sibutu Group (southernmost point in Philippines), Tandubatu, Sanga Sanga
77. Zambales: /Luzon, Salvador
78. Zamboanga del Norte: /Mindanao
79. Zamboanga del Sur: /Mindanao
80. Zamboanga-Sibugay: /Mindanao, Olutanga, Sacol, Great Santa Cruz, Malanipa, Lanhil, Sibago

The UN LOCODE page for Philippines lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names:

Most place names in the Philippines are native words that were sometimes misapplied, and always corrupted in transmission from the natives to the Spanish explorers and colonists. There are also some Spanish names bestowed by the colonists, and a few that have been translated into English. Usually the compass points are identified as del Norte (Northern), del Sur (Southern), Occidental (Western), and Oriental (Eastern), but the nomenclature is not consistent.

1. Agusan: Malay agasan: where the water flows, originally a river name
2. Albay: from former name of its capital, Albaybay, which means "by the bay"
3. Antique: from hantic-hantic, native name of a species of ant
4. Aurora: named for Do�a Maria Aurora Quezon, wife of President Manuel Quezon
5. Basilan: = iron trail
6. Bohol: named after Bool, a village on the island
7. Bukidnon: natives were called bukidnon: mountain people
8. Bulacan: native word bulaklakan, freely translated "many flowers," or from Tagalog bulak: cotton
9. Cagayan: Ilocano carayan: big river, or catagayan: where the tagay trees grow
10. Camarines: Spanish adaptation of a native place name Kamalig: granaries
11. Camiguin: from kamagong, a tree in the ebony family
12. Capiz: from kapid: twins, named by Spanish conquistadores when the local chief's wife had twins
13. Caraga: Calagan, from Bisayan calag: soul, people + an: land
14. Catanduanes: from catanduan: where the tando trees grow
15. Cavite: Tagalog kawit: hook, after the shape of the city's peninsula
16. Cotabato: Maguindanao kota wato: stone fort
17. Davao: from Daba-o Daba-o: justice to the Bagobos, an epithet of ancient chieftain Datu Duli
18. Ifugao: from pugo: hills
19. Iloilo: from ilong-ilong: nose-shaped, referring to promontory between two rivers
20. Isabela: named for Queen Isabela II of Spain
21. Kalinga: Ibanag kalinga: headhunters
22. Laguna: province contains part of Laguna de Bay (Spanish laguna: lake; Bay is a city name)
23. La Union: = the union; province was formed by the union of towns from Ilocos Sur and Pangasinan
24. Lanao: from ranao: lake, because of Lake Lanao
25. Maguindanao: means "people of the flooded plains" (danao: flood)
26. Manila: contraction of Maynilad, place of the nilad plant
27. Masbate: supposedly, an explorer asked a local woman what the place was called. She thought he asked what she was doing, and replied, "Masa bati": mix and beat more
28. Mindanao: native name for "that which has been flooded"
29. Mindoro: Spanish mina de oro: gold mine
30. Misamis: from kuyamis, a variety of coconut found there
31. Mountain: Spanish la monta�osa: the mountainous [province]
32. Negros: Spanish negros: blacks, referring to Negrito natives
33. Nueva Ecija: = New Ecija, named by Governor Cruzar after Ecija, Spain, where he was born
34. Nueva Vizcaya: = New Biscay, named by Governor Luis Lardizabal after his home province in Spain
35. Palawan: Chinese pa-lao-yu: "land of beautiful harbors"
36. Pampanga: from pangpang: river banks; explorers found natives mostly living by rivers
37. Panay: Spanish pan: bread + hay: there is ("there is bread")
38. Pangasinan: = the place where salt is made
39. Quezon: named for Manuel Quezon (1878-1944), President of the Philippine Commonwealth
40. Quirino: named for President Elpidio Quirino (1890-1956)
41. Rizal: named for independence hero Dr. Jos� P. Rizal (1861-1896)
42. Shariff Kabunsuan: named for 16th-century Muslim missionary Shariff Mohammed Kabunsuan (an ancestor of Sultan Kudarat)
43. Siquijor: supposedly, an explorer asked a native for the name of the island. He replied quipjod: the tide is ebbing.
44. Sorsogon: supposedly, an explorer asked a native where they were. He directed them to proceed upstream, saying the Bicol word solsogon: "follow the river upstream."
45. Sultan Kudarat: named after Sultan Mohammed Dipatuan Kudarat, 17th-century ruler of Mindanao and Sulu
46. Sulu: from sug: water current (inhabitants were good navigators)
47. Surigao: said to be named for an inhabitant named Saliagao
48. Tawi-Tawi: from Malay jaui-jaui: far away, referring to the trip from the Asian mainland
49. Zambales: from Malay sambali: worshippers, samba: to worship; natives worshipped a spirit called Anitos
50. Zamboanga: Malay jambangan: place of flowers
51. Zamboanga-Sibugay: for the Sibuguey River

Change history:

When the United States defeated Spain in 1898, the Philippine Islands were divided into four gobiernos (governments): Bisayas, Islas Adjacentes (present-day Palawan), Luzon, and Mindanao. These were further subdivided into provinces and districts. The American administration initially inherited the Spanish divisions, placing them under military government. As the rebels were pacified, civil government was established in the provinces, one by one.

This is the history of the division of the Philippines into provinces since 1900.

1. 1901-06-11: Morong district (capital Tanay) merged with part of Manila province to form Rizal province.
2. 1902: Mindoro province merged with Marinduque; Amburayan province split from La Union; Mindoro province, including Lubang Island, merged with Marinduque province; later, Marinduque province merged with Tayabas.
3. 1903: Moro province formed, consisting of the districts of Cotabato, Davao, Lanao, Sulu, and Zamboanga. Its capital was Zamboanga.
4. 1905: Name of Paragua province changed to Palawan, and capital moved from Cuyo to Puerto Princesa; Masbate province merged with Sorsogon.
5. 1907: Romblon province merged with Capiz; split from it again in 1917.
6. 1907-08-20: Agusan province split from Surigao.
7. 1908: Abra province merged with Ilocos Sur; split from it again on 1917-03-09.
8. 1908-08-13: Mountain province formed by merging Amburayan, Apayao, Benguet, Bontoc, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Lepanto province, which became its sub-provinces.
9. 1909: Batanes province split from Cagayan.
10. 1912: Capital of Nueva Ecija moved from San Isidro to Cabanatuan.
11. ~1914: Capital of Bulacan moved from Bulacan to Malolos.
12. 1916-08-29: Name and status of Moro province changed to Mindanao and Sulu department. Status of its districts (Bukidnon, Cotabato, Davao, Lanao, Misamis, Sulu, and Zamboanga) changed to provinces.
13. 1917-03-10: Ambos Camarines province divided into Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur provinces. (Spanish_ambos_: both. They had also been divided at various times in the 19th century, most recently 1857-1893.)
14. 1920-02-21: Marinduque province split from Tayabas.
15. 1920-12-15: Masbate province split from Sorsogon.
16. 1921-02-20: Mindoro province split from Marinduque.
17. 1925: Name of capital of Albay province changed from Albay to Legaspi (sometimes spelled Legazpi).
18. 1929-11-02: Misamis province divided into Misamis Occidental and Misamis Oriental provinces (implemented 1939-11-28).
19. 1934-03-24: Philippines became a commonwealth of the United States.
20. 1945-09-26: Catanduanes province split from Albay.
21. 1946: Romblon province merged with Capiz; split from it again on 1947-01-01.
22. 1946-07-04: Philippines became independent.
23. 1946-09-07: Name of Tayabas province changed to Quezon.
24. 1948: Capital of country moved from Manila to Quezon City.
25. ~1950: Name of capital of Capiz changed from Capiz to Roxas, in honor of President Manuel Roxas.
26. 1950-06-13: Mindoro province (capital Calapan) split into Mindoro Occidental and Mindoro Oriental.
27. 1952-06-06: Zamboanga province (capital Zamboanga) split into Zamboanga del Norte and Zamboanga del Sur.
28. 1954: Capital of Cavite province moved from Cavite to Trece Martires.
29. 1955-06-16: Capital of Camarines Sur province moved provisionally from Naga (formerly Nueva Caceres) to Pili; change made permanent ~1962.
30. 1956: Name of capital of Lanao changed from Dansalan to Marawi.
31. 1956-04-25: Aklan province split from Capiz (implemented 1956-11-08).
32. 1959-05-22: Lanao province (capital Marawi) divided into Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur; Southern Leyte province split from Leyte.
33. 1960-06-19: Surigao province (Surigao) divided into Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur provinces.
34. 1965-06-19: Samar province (capital Catbalogan) divided into Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, and Western Samar.
35. 1966-06-18: South Cotabato province (capital Koronadal) split from Cotabato (capital Cotabato, moved to Pagalungan after the split); Benguet, Ifugao, and Kalinga-Apayao provinces split from Mountain; Camiguin province split from Misamis Oriental.
36. 1967-05-08: Davao province (capital Davao) divided into Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, and Davao Oriental provinces (implemented 1967-07-01).
37. 1967-06-17: Agusan province divided into Agusan del Norte and Agusan del Sur provinces (implemented 1970-01-01).
38. ~1968: Capital of Nueva Ecija moved from Cabanatuan to Palayan.
39. 1969-06-21: Name of Western Samar province changed to Samar.
40. 1971-09-10: Quirino province split from Nueva Vizcaya.
41. 1972-01-08: Siquijor province split from Negros Oriental, following a referendum.
42. 1972-06-17: Name of Davao del Norte province changed to Davao.
43. 1973-09-11: Tawi-Tawi province split from Sulu.
44. 1973-11-22: Cotabato province divided into Maguindanao, North Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat provinces.
45. 1973-12-27: Status of Basilan (formerly within Zamboanga del Sur province) changed from chartered city to province.
46. 1975-11-08: Metropolitan Manila area split from Rizal province.
47. 1976: Capital of country returned from Quezon City to Manila.
48. 1979-08-13: Aurora province split from Quezon, following a referendum.
49. 1982-06-24: Capital of Lanao del Norte moved from Iligan to Tubod.
50. 1983-12-19: Name of North Cotabato province changed to Cotabato.
51. 1986-01-03: Negros del Norte province (capital Cadiz) split from Negros Occidental, following a referendum. This action was found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Negros Occidental reverted to its original status on 1986-08-18.
52. 1992-03-16: Sarangani province split from South Cotabato.
53. 1992-05-11: Biliran province split from Leyte, following a referendum; Guimaras province split from Iloilo, following a referendum.
54. 1995-02-14: Kalinga-Apayao province split into Kalinga and Apayao provinces.
55. ~1997: Capital of Tawi-Tawi province moved from Balimbing to Bongao. [This is a perplexing case. All of my printed sources agree that the capital of Tawi-Tawi is Balimbing or Bato-Bato, which is another name for the same place. Internet sources are nearly unanimous in naming Bongao as the capital. One of them explicitly states that Bongao was capital from the beginning.]
56. 1998-03-07: Compostela Valley province split from Davao province. It consists of the municipalities of Nabunturan, Compostela, Laak (San Vicente), Mabini (Dona Alicia), Maco, Maragusan (San Mariano), Mawab, Monkayo, Montevista, New Bataan, and Pantukan. Name of Davao province changed back to Davao del Norte.
57. 2001-02-23: Zamboanga-Sibugay province split from Zamboanga del Sur by a plebiscite. The new province is sometimes spelled Sibuguey, or other variants. Sibuguey was apparently the name of the whole area during the period of Muslim rule. Zamboanga-Sibugay consists of sixteen of the 44 municipalities of Zamboanga del Sur: Alicia, Buug, Diplahan, Imelda, Ipil, Kabasalan, Mabuhay, Malangas, Naga, Olutanga, Payao, Roseller T. Lim, Siay, Talusan, Titay, and Tungawan. Its capital is Ipil. According to the 2000 census figures, the population of old Zamboanga del Sur province includes 497,239 people in the municipalities which went to form Zamboanga-Sibugay; 1,437,941 people in the 28 municipalities which remained in Zamboanga del Sur province; and 70 people living in disputed areas, so that it wasn't definitely known which municipality they lived in. (In the main table, I arbitrarily divided these 70 people up in proportion to the known populations, coming to 18 in Zamboanga-Sibugay and 52 in Zamboanga del Sur.)
58. 2006-10-30: Shariff Kabunsuan province split from Maguindanao (former HASC code PH.MG) by a referendum conducted on October 28 and 29. The new province consisted of 11 of the 29 municipalities of Maguindanao: Barira, Buldon, Datu Blah Sinsuat, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Kabuntalan, Matanog, Northern Kabuntalan, Parang, Sultan Kudarat, Sultan Mastura, and Upi, constituting District 1 (out of 2) of the former Maguindanao province. Based on the 2000 population of those municipalities, the population of Shariff Kabunsuan would be 529,697. Its capital was Datu Odin Sinsuat. Its PSGC code was 1584, and I assigned it the HASC code PH.SF, simultaneously changing Maguindanao's code to PH.MA. This action was found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Shariff Kabunsuan reverted to its original status on 2008-07-16.
59. 2006-12-02: Dinagat Islands province formed by splitting Basilisa (Rizal), Cagdianao, Dinagat, Libjo (Albor), Loreto, San Jose (the capital), and Tubajon municipalities from Surigao del Norte. On 2010-02-11, the Supreme Court ruled that it had been formed in violation of the constitution. On 2011-03-30, the Court reversed itself. I have changed the listings in the main table back and forth, reflecting each new development as it occurred. Source [10], among others, confirms the latest change.
60. 2013-10-28: Davao Occidental province split from Davao del Sur (former HASC code PH.DS) by plebiscite. The new province consists of Don Marcelino, Jose Abad Santos, Malita, Santa Maria, and Sarangani municipalities. Malita is its capital.

This is the history of the division of the Philippines into regions.

1. 1972-09-24: The provinces were grouped into eleven regions under Integrated Reorganization Plan. The regions were Ilocos (I, San Fernando), Cagayan Valley (II, Tuguegarao), Central Luzon (III, San Fernando), Southern Tagalog (IV, Quezon), Bicol (V, Legazpi), Western Visayas (VI, Iloilo), Central Visayas (VII, Cebu), Eastern Visayas (VIII, Tacloban), Western Mindanao (IX, Jolo), Northern Mindanao (X, Cagayan de Oro), and Southern Mindanao (XI, Davao). In parentheses are the region numbers, and the regional centers, or capitals. (Presidential Decree No. 1)
2. 1975-07-07: Zamboanga del Norte province moved from Western Mindanao region to Northern Mindanao. Surigao del Sur province moved from Northern Mindanao region to Southern Mindanao. Central Mindanao region (XII, Cotabato) created by taking Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur provinces from Northern Mindanao region and Maguindanao, North Cotabato, and Sultan Kudarat provinces from Southern Mindanao region. (Presidential Decree No. 742)
3. 1975-08-21: Zamboanga del Norte moved back from Northern Mindanao region to Western Mindanao. Two sub-regions created within Western Mindanao region. (Presidential Decree No. 773)
4. 1976-01-23: Metropolitan Manila region (IV, Manila) created, consisting of the newly formed Metropolitan Manila province-level area. At the same time, Southern Tagalog region was renumbered IV-A. (Presidential Decree No. 879). Later, Metropolitan Manila region was renamed National Capital Region and designated NCR in place of a number, while Southern Tagalog became IV once more.
5. 1978-06-11: Center of Western Mindanao moved from Jolo to Zamboanga. (Presidential Decree No. 1555)
6. 1979-07-25: Status of Central Mindanao and Western Mindanao regions changed to autonomous regions. (Presidential Decree No. 1618)
7. 1989-08-01: Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) created by taking Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao provinces from Western Mindanao region and Sulu and Tawi-Tawi provinces from Central Mindanao, following a referendum. However, the chartered cities of Cotabato and Marawi, although they lie within Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur, respectively, voted not to become part of ARMM, and so remained in Central Mindanao region. Autonomous status of Central Mindanao and Western Mindanao regions was rescinded. (Republic Act No. 6734)
8. 1989-10-23: Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR, Baguio) created by taking Abra, Benguet, and Mountain provinces from Ilocos region and Ifugao and Kalinga-Apayao provinces from Cagayan Valley. It was intended to become Cordillera Autonomous Region, but that move required a favorable vote by the inhabitants, which has not yet been obtained. (Republic Act No. 6766)
9. 1995-02-23: Caraga region (XIII, Butuan) created by taking Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, and Surigao del Norte provinces from Northern Mindanao region and Surigao del Sur province from Southern Mindanao. Sultan Kudarat province moved from Central Mindanao region to Southern Mindanao. (Republic Act No. 7901.) These were the regions at that time:

1. 1997: Sultan Kudarat province moved from Southern Mindanao region to Central Mindanao region, reversing the change of 1995-02-23.
2. 2001-09-19: Basilan province moved from Western Mindanao region to Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, except for Isabela city, which remained in Western Mindanao. Lanao del Norte province and Marawi chartered city moved from Central Mindanao region to Northern Mindanao. Sarangani and South Cotabato provinces moved from Southern Mindanao region to Central Mindanao. Central Mindanao region renamed to SOCCSKSARGEN, an acronym for SOuth Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, and SARangani provinces and GENeral santos chartered city. Southern Mindanao region renamed to Davao Region. Western Mindanao region renamed to Zamboanga Peninsula. (Executive Order No. 36)
3. 2002-05-17: Aurora province moved from Southern Tagalog region to Central Luzon. The remainder of Southern Tagalog region split into CALABARZON (IV-A, no center designated) and MIMAROPA (IV-B, Quezon City). The names of the new regions are acronyms for the provinces they contain (CAvite, LAguna, BAtangas, Rizal, queZON; MIndoro, MArinduque, ROmblon, PAlawan). (Source [4]).
4. 2002-05-21: ISO 3166-2 code for Cordillera Administrative Region changed from 13 to15. Caraga received code 13.
5. 2003-10-28: Calamba was designated as the regional center of CALABARZON. (Executive Order No. 246)
6. 2004-03-30: Center of Soccsksargen region moved from Cotabato to Koronadal. (Executive Order No. 304)
7. 2004-11-12: Center of Zamboanga Peninsula moved from Zamboanga to Pagadian. (Executive Order No. 429)
8. 2005-05-23: Palawan province moved from MIMAROPA region to Western Visayas. (Executive Order No. 429)
9. 2005-08-19: Transfer of Palawan suspended, pending further preparation. Therefore, Palawan is still effectively part of region IV-B. (Administrative Order No. 129)
10. ~2005: Some PSGC region codes changed. The new list doesn't show a code for Metropolitan Manila. I'm assuming that its code is unchanged.
11. 2010-06-30: ISO 3166-2 standard update assigned separate ISO codes to CALABARZON and MIMAROPA, formerly both coded 40.
12. 2010-06-30: ISO 3166-2 code for several regions changed.
13. 2015-05-30: Negros Island Region formed by taking Negros Occidental province from Western Visayas region and Negros Oriental province from Central Visayas region (see reference [11]). Now the list of regions looks like this.

Other names of subdivisions:

The names ending with Occidental and Oriental have variants with the words interchanged, such as Occidental Mindoro for Mindoro Occidental.

1. Compostela Valley: Compostella Valley (variant)
2. Cotabato: North Cotabato (obsolete)
3. Davao del Norte: Davao (obsolete)
4. Eastern Samar: Samar Oriental (variant)
5. Manila: Manilha (Portuguese); Manille (French)
6. Mountain: Mountain Province (variant)
7. Nueva Vizcaya: Nueva Viscaya (variant)
8. Samar: Western Samar (obsolete)
9. Sulu: Jolo (obsolete)

Regions:

1. SOCCSKSARGEN: Central Mindanao (variant)
2. Davao Region: Southern Mindanao (obsolete)
3. Zamboanga Peninsula: Western Mindanao (obsolete)

Sources:

1. [1] National Statistics Office (NSO) website.
2. [2] NSO table (see footnotes; retrieved 2008-10-12).
3. [3] Republic Act No. 9355 (retrieved 2007-05-13) authorized a referendum to be held on 2006-12-02 for the creation of Dinagat Islands province.
4. [4] 2002 Factsheet 2, National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) Website (retrieved 2002-11-18).
5. [5] 2001 Factsheet 1 ,2001 Factsheet 6 ,2001 Factsheet 9 ,2002 Factsheet 1 ,2003 Factsheet 2 ,2004 Factsheet 1 ,2005 Factsheet 5 .
6. [6] Philippine Standard Geographic Code page on the NSCB website (retrieved 2001-06-10).
7. [7] "1992 Philippine Statistical Yearbook". National Statistical Coordination Board, Manila, 1992.
8. [8] NSO Index of Demographic Statistics (retrieved 1997).
9. [9] Planet Naga site (retrieved 2008-01-31) has local news items.
10. [10] GMA News Online reported the Supreme Court's 2011 decision on Dinagat Islands (retrieved 2011-05-02).
11. [11] Executive Order No. 183 (retrieved 2015-06-20).