Iloilo City

Iloilo City, officially the City of Iloilo, is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. It is the capital city of the province of Iloilo where it is geographically situated and grouped under the Philippine Statistics Authority, but remains politically independent in terms of government and administration. In addition, it is the center of the Iloilo-Guimaras Metropolitan Area, as well as the regional center and primate city of the Western Visayas region. In the 2020 census, Iloilo City had a population of 457,626 inhabitants, with a 0.42% population annual growth rate. For the metropolitan area, the total population is 1,109,649 inhabitants.
Iloilo City is a conglomeration of former towns, which are now the geo-political districts consisting of: Villa Arevalo, Iloilo City Proper, Jaro, La Paz, Mandurriao and Molo. The district of Lapuz, a former part of La Paz, was declared a separate district in 2008.
Founded in 1566 when the Spaniards established a settlement area between the towns of Oton and the city's present district of La Villa Rica de Arevalo, Iloilo City is the second Spanish colonial center after Cebu in the Philippine islands.