Cebu City

Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. As of the 2024 census, its population stands at 965,332, ranking it as the sixth-most populous city nationwide and the most populous in both Central Visayas and the entire Visayas region. While geographically situated within Cebu province and grouped under it by the Philippine Statistics Authority, it is one of three highly urbanized cities—alongside Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue—that operate independently from the provincial government.

Economy

It also serves as the capital of Cebu province, the regional center of Central Visayas, and the largest city within the Metro Cebu metropolitan area. The city’s metropolitan influence extends beyond the region, shaping commerce, trade, industry, education, culture, tourism, and healthcare across Central and Eastern Visayas and parts of Mindanao. It functions as the Philippines’ primary domestic shipping port, hosting about 80% of the country’s domestic shipping companies, and is the leading trading hub of the southern Philippines.

Geography

Cebu City is bordered to the north by the town of Balamban and the city of Danao; to the west by Toledo City; to the east by Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City, and the towns of Liloan, Consolacion, and Compostela; and to the south by Talisay City. Situated at the center of Cebu Island’s eastern seaboard, it is the core of Metro Cebu, the nation’s second-largest metropolitan area, which also includes the cities of Carcar, Danao, Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Naga, and Talisay, along with the municipalities of Compostela, Consolacion, Cordova, Liloan, Minglanilla, and San Fernando. Metro Cebu had a total population of 3,207,256 according to the 2024 census. The city’s current political boundaries are a merger of the former municipalities of Cebu, San Nicolas, El Pardo, Mabolo, Talamban, and Banilad from the Commonwealth period.

Economic boom and contemporary history

Since the 1990s, the city has experienced rapid economic growth, a phenomenon known as “Ceboom.” Because of its economic importance and modern influence, Cebu City is popularly called the Queen City of the South.

Etymology

The modern name “Cebu” comes from a 16th–17th century Spanish pronunciation of the native name “Sugbo,” with earlier variations including Zibu, Zebu, Zubu, Subuth, Çubu, and Sibu. The Cebuano word “sugbú” means “to dive into water,” and similar meanings appear in Tagalog, Hiligaynon, Aklanon, and Mansaka. The name derives from the Proto-Philippine word sug(e)bu, meaning “to wade into water.” Mateo Sanchéz defined sugbu or sibu as “to put or place partially into the water” or “as someone stepping into water, but not totally.” As with many Philippine settlements whose names originate from abundant plants (e.g., Manila and Talisay) or proximity to water (e.g., Iloilo and Mindanao), the Selden Map records the island as “sokbu” (束務) in Hokkien—a pronunciation of the name—in the early 17th century, known to the Ming dynasty as “suwu” in Mandarin.

Very little is known about when the site was first settled before colonization, but artifacts near the city date back to at least the 14th to 15th centuries CE. Geological and archaeological studies suggest Cebu as a settlement began sometime in the 10th century. Although artifacts indicate settlement on the island as early as 2000 BCE, the exact date when the village was settled and named “Sugbu” remains unknown, as most Visayans were illiterate until the later half of the 16th century.

According to a new translation of ancient Chinese Annals, a kingdom called Suwu (束務) was mentioned in the 1225 work Zhu Fan Zhi (諸蕃志), and in the 17th century, Chinese traders used this same name for Cebu, so it is presumed to be the same location. Cebu was referenced in association with Boni (Brunei), with a passage noting that countries like Suwu and others were located on islands in the sea, where people traveled in small boats, and their clothing and diet matched those of Boni. They produced sheng agarwood, lakawood, beeswax, and tortoiseshell, which merchants could trade for white porcelain, wine, rice, coarse salt, white spun silk, and trade-quality gold.

The book Zhinan Zhengfa (“The True Art of Pointing South”), with maritime logs from 1471–1588, shows shipping lanes from the kingdom of Manila to the Rajahnate of Cebu, whose industries specialized in seaweed, iron smithing, terraced rice, and native cotton. During the Ming Dynasty, Chinese records grouped the inhabitants of Cebu and adjacent islands—including Butuan, Samar, Leyte, Negros, Panay, and Northern Mindanao—under the ethnonym “Visayans,” transcribed as “Pisheye.” Scholarly interpretations suggest the Pisheye territories were an alliance of low-lying coastal port kingdoms with limited agriculture, consistent with pre-colonial Cebu’s topography. Historical accounts also document the maritime prowess of these Visayan groups, noting their expansionist activities into Eastern Taiwan and persistent raids along China’s southeastern coast.