Cebu

Coordinates: 10°19′N 123°45′E / 10.32°N 123.75°E / 10.32; 123.75
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Cebu
Sugbo
Hilario R. Davide III (LP)
 • LegislatureCebu Provincial Board
Members
Area
Independent cities
3
 • Component cities
 • Municipalities
 • Barangay
1,066
+  137 including
independent cities
1,203
 • 
Santo Niño de Cebu
Websitewww.cebu.gov.ph

Cebu (/sɛˈb/ seb-OO; Cebuano: Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu (Cebuano: Lalawigan sa Sugbo; Hiligaynon: Kapuroan sang Cebu; Filipino: Lalawigan ng Cebu), is a province of the Philippines located in the Central Visayas (Region VII) region, and consists of a main island and 167 surrounding islands and islets. The coastal zone of Cebu Province is identified as a site of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral Triangle.[5]

Its capital and largest city is

Mactan Island
, is the second busiest airport in the Philippines.

Etymology

It is unclear whether the island was named sugbó or the settlement where Ferdinand Magellan's crew arrived in 1521. The capital city of the province is also named Cebu City.

The name is possibly derived from a hypothetical Proto-Philippine word *sug(e)bu meaning "to bathe" or "to wade into the water".[6] The word has evolved in the Cebuano language as sugbú, meaning "to dive into water" and also exists in other Philippine languages such as Tagalog and Hiligaynon.[7][6] In fact, there is also another municipality in Batangas, Philippines called Nasugbu, which may also share the same etymological root with the said province.

The modern name is most likely how the first Europeans heard of the name of the place in the 16th-17th centuries, as it was first recorded as Zubu or Çubu, and then eventually it became Cebu. The reason of the spelling change is because Visayans were mostly illiterate in the 16th and 17th centuries.[7][8]

History

Early history: Cebu Rajahnate

A map of Cebu Island in 1521, with the historical polity of Cebu colored in blue.

The

Sri Lumay otherwise known as Rajamuda Lumaya,[9] a half-Malay, half-Tamil prince of the Chola dynasty[9] who invaded Sumatra in Indonesia. He was sent by the Maharajah[9] to establish a base for expeditionary forces to subdue the local kingdoms, but he rebelled and established his own independent Rajahnate instead.[9] The capital of the nation was Singhapala (சிங்கப்பூர்)[10] which is Tamil-Sanskrit[11] for "Lion City", the same rootwords with the modern city-state of Singapore. The later Spanish chronicler Antonio Pigafetta mispronounced Singhapala as Cingopola instead.[12]

Spanish Colonial Period