Cebu City
Cebu City
Sugbo (Cebuano) | |
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Cebu City skyline viewed from Cebu Exchange | |
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Flag | |
Nicknames:
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| Anthem: Sugbuanon ako | |
Map of Central Visayas with Cebu City highlighted | |
Interactive map of Cebu City | |
Cebu City Location within the Philippines | |
| Coordinates: 10°17′35″N 123°54′07″E / 10.293°N 123.902°E | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Region | Central Visayas |
| Province | Cebu (geographically only) |
| District | 1st (North) and 2nd (South) districts of Cebu City |
| Founded (as Spanish colony) Reincorporated (as city) | 1565 24 February 1937 |
| Highly urbanized city | December 22, 1979 |
| Barangays | 80 (see Barangays) |
| Government | |
| • Type | Sangguniang Panlungsod |
| • Mayor | Nestor Dionson Archival (BOPK-LP) |
| • Vice Mayor | Tomas R. Osmeña (BOPK-LP) |
| • City Council | |
| • Congress | |
| • Electorate | 721,469 voters (2025) |
| Area | |
• City | 315.00 km2 (121.62 sq mi) |
| • Urban | 205 km2 (79 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 1,062.88 km2 (410.38 sq mi) |
| • Rank | 34th out of 145 |
| Elevation | 34 m (112 ft) |
| Highest elevation | 981 m (3,219 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 0 m (0 ft) |
| Population (2024 census) | |
• City | 965,332 |
| • Rank | 6th |
| • Density | 3,064.5/km2 (7,937.1/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 2,454,000 |
| • Urban density | 12,000/km2 (31,000/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 3,164,337 |
| • Metro density | 2,977.13/km2 (7,710.74/sq mi) |
| • Households | 238,317 |
| Demonym | Cebuano |
| Economy | |
| • Gross domestic product (GDP) | ₱288.6 billion (2022) $5.099 billion (2022) |
| • Income class | 1st city income class |
| • Poverty incidence | 9.8 |
| • Revenue | 9,258 million (2022) |
| • Assets | 30,545 million (2022) |
| • Expenditure | 10,555 million (2022) |
| • Liabilities | 15,768 million (2022) |
| Service provider | |
| • Electricity | Visayan Electric Company (VECO) |
| • Water | Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (PST) |
| ZIP code | 6000 |
| PSGC | |
| IDD : area code | +63 (0)32 |
| Sister cities | List |
| Catholic diocese | Archdiocese of Cebu |
| Website | cebucity |
Cebu City, officially the City of Cebu, is a highly urbanized city in the Central Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 965,332 people, making it the sixth-most populated city in the country and the most populous in the Central Visayas Region and in the whole Visayas.
It serves as the capital of the Cebu province wherein it is geographically situated and grouped under the province by the Philippine Statistics Authority, but is one of three cities (together with Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue) that are administratively independent of the provincial government and also the largest city within that province. It also serves as the regional center of Central Visayas, and its metropolitan area exerts influence on commerce, trade, industry, education, culture, tourism, and healthcare beyond the region, over Central and Eastern Visayas and partly over Mindanao. It is the Philippines' main domestic shipping port and is home to about 80% of the country's domestic shipping companies. Additionally, Cebu City is the prime trading center of the southern Philippines.
Cebu City is bounded on the north by the town of Balamban and the city of Danao, on the west by the city of Toledo, on the east by the cities of Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue and the towns of Liloan, Consolacion and Compostela and to the south by the city of Talisay. Located at the center of the eastern seaboard of Cebu Island, it is the core city of Metro Cebu, the second largest metropolitan area in the Philippines, which includes the cities of Carcar, Danao, Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Naga and Talisay and the municipalities (towns) of Compostela, Consolacion, Cordova, Liloan, Minglanilla and San Fernando. Metro Cebu had a total population of 3,207,256 as of the 2024 census.
The current political boundaries of the city are an amalgamation of the former municipalities of Cebu, San Nicolas, El Pardo, Mabolo, Talamban and Banilad in the Commonwealth period.
The city has experienced rapid economic growth since the 1990s, a phenomenon also known as "Ceboom". Owing to its economic importance and influence in modern times, Cebu City is also popularly referred to as the Queen City of the South.