Municipalities of the Philippines

Municipalities of the Philippines
Municipalities of the Philippines
	Municipalities of the Philippines in white
Category	Town (Local government unit)
Location	Philippines
Number	1,493 (as of 2023)
Possible status	First–sixth class municipalities;
Populations	Smallest: 193 (Kalayaan); Largest: 443,954 (Rodriguez)
Areas	Smallest: 1.66 km2 (0.64 sq mi) (Pateros); Largest: 2,188.8 km2 (845.1 sq mi) (Sablayan)
Subdivisions	Barangays;

A municipality (Filipino: bayan / munisipalidad / munisipyo / puweblo; Tagalog: bayan; Hiligaynon: banwa; Cebuano: lungsod; Pangasinan: baley; Kapampangan: balen / balayan; Central Bikol: banwaan; Waray: bungto; Ilocano: ili) is a local government unit (LGU) in the Philippines. It is distinct from city, which is a different category of local government unit. Provinces of the Philippines are divided into cities and municipalities, which in turn, are divided into barangays (formerly barrios) – villages. As of April 13, 2024^[update], there are 1,493 municipalities across the country.^[1]

A municipality is the official term for, and the official local equivalent of, a town,^[2] the latter being its archaic term and in all of its literal local translations including Filipino.^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7] Both terms are interchangeable.

A municipal district is a now-defunct local government unit; previously certain areas were created first as municipal districts before they were converted into municipalities.Their central “barangay” is called “poblacion or bayan”.

^ PSA 2020.
^ Bernard Moses (1904). "Colonial Policy with Reference to the Philippines" (PDF). Proceedings of the American Political Science Association. 1: 103. doi:10.2307/3038324. JSTOR 3038324. Retrieved Oct 6, 2021.
^ "Tagalog Language Packet" (PDF). p. 51. Retrieved Oct 6, 2021.
^ "English to Filipino Meaning :: town". Retrieved Oct 6, 2021.
^ "Visayan-English Dictionary by Gutenberg Project" (PDF). p. 286. Retrieved Oct 6, 2021.
^ "Cebuano For Beginners" (PDF). p. 33. Retrieved Oct 6, 2021.
^ "Ilocano Dictionary - Town". Retrieved Oct 6, 2021.

[FOOTNOTEPSA2020-1] PSA 2020.

[bernardmoses-2] Bernard Moses (1904). "Colonial Policy with Reference to the Philippines" (PDF). Proceedings of the American Political Science Association. 1: 103. doi:10.2307/3038324. JSTOR 3038324. Retrieved Oct 6, 2021.

[3] "Tagalog Language Packet" (PDF). p. 51. Retrieved Oct 6, 2021.

[4] "English to Filipino Meaning :: town". Retrieved Oct 6, 2021.

[5] "Visayan-English Dictionary by Gutenberg Project" (PDF). p. 286. Retrieved Oct 6, 2021.

[6] "Cebuano For Beginners" (PDF). p. 33. Retrieved Oct 6, 2021.

[7] "Ilocano Dictionary - Town". Retrieved Oct 6, 2021.

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