How Many Regions Are in the Philippines? The 18 Regions, the Largest Islands and the Biggest Cities by Population

How the Philippines Is Divided: Three Island Groups, 18 Regions and 82 Provinces

The Philippines is organised from the top down into regions, provinces, cities or municipalities, and barangays. According to the second-quarter 2026 update to the Philippine Standard Geographic Code (PSGC), released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) on 13 July 2026, the counts as of 30 June 2026 are:

• 18 regions
• 82 provinces
• 33 highly urbanised cities (HUCs) and 116 other cities, made up of 5 independent component cities and 111 component cities, for 149 cities in all
• 1,493 municipalities
• 42,010 barangays

These numbers can change every quarter as cities are created, barangays are merged or places are renamed, so quote the current PSGC page rather than a table from a few years ago.

Above the regions sits a geographic grouping: the three island groups. The PSA's PSGC database files the 18 regions under Luzon, the Visayas and Mindanao, with eight, four and six regions respectively. The National Capital Region (NCR), better known as Metro Manila and home to the capital, belongs to the Luzon group.

For foreigners living or doing business here, each level matters in a different way:

• Regions. Many national agencies run regional offices, and minimum wages are published region by region; see how the Philippine minimum wage is set.
• Provinces and cities. Business permits, local taxes and property matters are mostly handled by the city or municipal government. Highly urbanised cities operate at their own level for many local matters; check with the local government for the exact division of responsibilities.
• Barangays. The barangay clearance often requested when you rent a home or open a shop is issued at this level.

As for how many islands the country has, different surveys and methods have produced different totals over the years. Treat the current figure published by the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority (NAMRIA) as the reference; this guide does not quote a single number.

The rest of this guide works through the levels: the full list of regions and the two recent changes older sources miss, what Region II and the regional acronyms mean, the largest islands and why an island is not the same as an island group, the most populous cities in the 2024 census, and the region each popular expat city belongs to.

How Many Regions Are in the Philippines? The 18 Regions and Their Island Groups

The Philippines now has 18 regions. In its notice of 12 July 2024, the PSA explained that Republic Act No. 12000, the Negros Island Region Act, which became law on 11 June 2024, established the Negros Island Region (NIR) and brought the national total to 18. Grouped as in the PSGC database:

Luzon (8)

• National Capital Region (NCR, Metro Manila)
• Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
• Region I (Ilocos Region)
• Region II (Cagayan Valley)
• Region III (Central Luzon)
• Region IV-A (CALABARZON)
• MIMAROPA Region
• Region V (Bicol Region)

Visayas (4)

• Region VI (Western Visayas)
• Negros Island Region (NIR)
• Region VII (Central Visayas)
• Region VIII (Eastern Visayas)

Mindanao (6)

• Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula)
• Region X (Northern Mindanao)
• Region XI (Davao Region)
• Region XII (SOCCSKSARGEN)
• Region XIII (Caraga)
• Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM)

Two recent changes catch out older sources:

1. The Negros Island Region. It consists of Negros Occidental (including Bacolod City), Negros Oriental and Siquijor. The PSA said that after its creation, Western Visayas was left with five provinces and one highly urbanised city, and Central Visayas with two provinces, Bohol and Cebu, and three highly urbanised cities. Dumaguete, in Negros Oriental, is therefore now in NIR rather than Central Visayas.
2. Sulu. The PSA announced on 29 August 2025 that, under Executive Order No. 91 dated 30 July 2025, Sulu province was officially transferred to Region IX, following the Supreme Court ruling that affirmed its exclusion from BARMM. Region IX now comprises Sulu, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay and Zamboanga City.

If you read that the Philippines has 17 regions, or that Sulu is part of BARMM, the source predates these changes. When filling in forms, looking for a regional office or reading a wage order, use the formal English names above, because informal names vary. Before citing a region in a contract, business plan or official document, check the current PSGC list once more.

What Is Region II? Reading the Roman Numerals, and the Three Most Populous Regions

When people search for the Philippines' second region, they usually mean Region II, Cagayan Valley, in north-eastern Luzon. It has nothing to do with the second-largest city or island. Under the PSGC, Region II has five provinces, Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino, and four cities, Tuguegarao, Ilagan, Cauayan and Santiago. The PSGC page gives its 2024 census population as 3,777,608.

How the numbering works. Regions I to XIII use Roman numerals and run roughly from north to south, with Region IV now appearing as IV-A (CALABARZON). Five regions use names instead of numbers: NCR, CAR, MIMAROPA, NIR and BARMM. Some names are acronyms built from their provinces:

• CALABARZON: Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon, the five provinces immediately south and east of Metro Manila.
• MIMAROPA: Occidental and Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan, a region made up entirely of separate islands.
• SOCCSKSARGEN: South Cotabato, Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and Sarangani, plus General Santos City.

The most populous regions. When the PSA released the 2024 census results, it reported that among the 18 regions, Region IV-A (CALABARZON) had the largest population at 16.93 million, followed by NCR at 14.00 million and Region III (Central Luzon) at 12.99 million; together these three account for about 39.0 percent of the population. The least populated region is CAR, at 1.81 million. The same release said BARMM had the fastest annual population growth.

Why your region matters:

• Minimum wages are published region by region, so an employer needs the wage order for the right region.
• The Bureau of Immigration has offices around the country that handle different transactions; see what BI offices outside Manila can process.
• Many government agencies organise their regional offices by region, so knowing yours saves wasted trips.

It helps with everyday reading too. Local news, job adverts, property listings and government notices often identify a place by region rather than by province. Knowing that Tuguegarao is in Region II, or that Bacolod is now in NIR, makes those references far easier to follow. Moving from one region to another can change both the wage rules you follow and the offices you deal with, so check the region before you sign a lease or hire staff in a new city.

The Largest and Second-Largest Islands: Luzon First, Mindanao Second, and Why Island Groups Are Different

Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines and Mindanao is the second largest; Metro Manila is on Luzon. Britannica's entry on Mindanao describes it as the country's second-largest island, after Luzon. Exact areas differ between sources depending on how they are measured, so rely on official mapping agencies such as NAMRIA for figures.

The most common confusion is between an island and an island group. The three island groups are groupings of regions, not three single islands:

• The Luzon group is more than Luzon island. In MIMAROPA, Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan are separate islands. In the Bicol Region, Masbate and Catanduanes are island provinces, and Batanes in Region II lies in the sea north of Luzon.
• The Mindanao group is more than Mindanao island. Sulu in Region IX and Basilan and Tawi-Tawi in BARMM are island provinces, while Camiguin in Region X and the Dinagat Islands in Caraga also lie off the main island.
• There is no island called the Visayas. The group is made up of several islands, including Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte and Samar. The provinces on Panay belong to Region VI, Negros to NIR, Cebu and Bohol to Region VII, and Leyte and Samar to Region VIII.

Rankings from third place down vary between sources because measurement methods differ. Samar, Negros, Palawan, Panay and Mindoro are fairly close in size, so this guide does not assign places. If you find a confident answer for the third-largest island, check where the figure comes from before relying on it.

What this means in practice:

• Travelling within a single region can still mean a boat or a flight, so do not estimate journey times from straight-line map distances. For booking inter-island transport, see Philippine ferries and budget airlines.
• Going to Mindanao is not the same as going to Davao City, which is one city on a very large island. Safety should be assessed area by area; see doing business in Davao and Mindanao.
• International flights mainly use Manila and Clark on Luzon, Cebu in the Visayas and Davao on Mindanao; see the Philippine airports guide.

For planning, look at the island and the region together. The island tells you how you will physically get there; the region tells you which government offices and local rules apply once you arrive. A move from Cebu to Dumaguete, for example, is a short sea crossing but also a change of region, from Central Visayas to NIR.

The Biggest Cities by Population: The 2024 Census Top Ten, and Why Manila Is Second

In the PSA's 2024 Census of Population, with a reference date of 1 July 2024, Quezon City had the largest population, Manila was second and Davao third. The national total was 112,729,484, declared official by the President through Proclamation No. 973 dated 11 July 2025. The ranking below uses the 2024 census populations shown in the PSA's PSGC list of cities:

1. Quezon City (NCR): 3,084,270
2. Manila (NCR): 1,902,590
3. Davao (Region XI): 1,848,947
4. Caloocan (NCR): 1,712,945
5. Taguig (NCR): 1,308,085
6. Zamboanga (Region IX): 1,018,849
7. Cebu (Region VII): 965,332
8. Antipolo (Region IV-A): 913,712
9. Pasig (NCR): 853,050
10. Dasmariñas (Region IV-A): 744,511

On the same basis, other frequently asked-about cities rank as follows: Cagayan de Oro 11th, General Santos 13th, Bacolod 17th, Lapu-Lapu 22nd, Angeles 23rd, Iloilo 26th, Baguio 37th, Mandaue 40th and Makati 45th.

Why people disagree about the second-largest city:

• By the city's own population, the 2024 census puts Manila second, with Davao close behind.
• Manila is the capital but not the most populous city. Britannica also notes that Manila is the capital while neighbouring Quezon City is the most populous; both are in NCR.
• When people call Cebu the second city, they usually mean the metropolitan area built around Cebu City together with Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and neighbouring areas, not Cebu City alone, which ranks seventh.
• Makati is a business centre with a modest resident population, ranking 45th in the census; importance and population are different measures.

Another useful label is the highly urbanised city (HUC). The PSGC lists 33 HUCs: the 16 cities of NCR, plus Baguio, Angeles, Olongapo, Lucena, Puerto Princesa, Iloilo, Bacolod, Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Tacloban, Zamboanga, Cagayan de Oro, Iligan, Davao, General Santos and Butuan. NCR itself has no provinces; it is made up of 16 cities and one municipality, organised into four districts.

When you compare cities, remember that census figures count residents, not the daytime workforce or visitors, and that a figure tied to one city stops at the city boundary even where the built-up area continues into its neighbours.

Where Foreigners Usually Settle: Each City's Region, a One-Line Profile and Further Reading

Most foreigners settle in Metro Manila, Metro Cebu or Davao, followed by Clark and Angeles, Baguio, Iloilo and Bacolod, and Dumaguete. Work out which region a city is in first, then use the detailed guides to compare daily life and admin.

• Metro Manila (NCR, Luzon): business districts, embassies and the Bureau of Immigration main office are all here; it has the most choice and the worst traffic. For Makati versus BGC, see which Philippine city to live in; for offices, see renting an office in Manila.
• Metro Cebu (Region VII, Visayas): three highly urbanised cities, Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu, form one built-up area, and the international airport is in Lapu-Lapu on Mactan Island. Which side you live on matters; see finding long-term housing in Cebu and is Cebu safe.
• Davao (Region XI, Mindanao): third by population in the 2024 census and Mindanao's main gateway. For the pros and cons of moving there, see living in Davao City.
• Clark and Angeles (Region III, Luzon): the Clark Freeport is in Pampanga, Angeles is a highly urbanised city, and the drive into Manila takes a while. See the Subic and Clark guide.
• Baguio (CAR, Luzon): a cool hill city and the highly urbanised city of the Cordillera Administrative Region; see the Baguio city guide.
• Iloilo and Bacolod (Region VI and NIR, Visayas): two cities facing each other across the water but in different regions; for the business view, see Iloilo and Bacolod.
• Dumaguete (NIR, Visayas): in Negros Oriental, and no longer part of Central Visayas since NIR was created; see how to get to Dumaguete.

For a side-by-side comparison of Manila, Cebu and Davao, see the best cities to live in the Philippines. Not every city can handle visa or ACR I-Card transactions, so check what BI offices outside Manila can process before you move. Documents most often go missing on inter-island trips; if you hold a Taiwan or Hong Kong passport, see what to do if you lose your passport in the Philippines.

One point is easy to overlook: a single metro area often spans several cities, so your home, your company's registered address and your children's school may fall under different city governments, each with its own permits and local rules. Once you have picked a city, Yixing's settling-in service can help arrange housing, documents and daily admin.