Municipalities of the Philippines

For a complete list of municipalities in the Philippines, see List of cities and municipalities in the Philippines.

Municipalities of the Philippines
Municipalities of the Philippines in white
CategoryTown (Local government unit)
LocationPhilippines
Number1,493 (as of June 30, 2024)
Possible status
  • First–sixth class municipalities
PopulationsSmallest: 193 (Kalayaan)
Largest: 443,954 (Rodriguez)
AreasSmallest: 1.66 km2 (0.64 sq mi) (Pateros)
Largest: 2,188.8 km2 (845.1 sq mi) (Sablayan)
Subdivisions
Cities and municipalities
of the Philippines
See also
world cities
world urban areas
Politics of the Philippines
Government
Executive
Legislature
Judiciary
Constitutional commissions
Elections
Political parties
Administrative divisions
Related topics
flag Philippines portal

A municipality (Tagalog: bayan / munisipalidad / munisipyo / puweblo; 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 June 30, 2024, 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.

  1. ^ "Regional Summary Number of Provinces, Cities, Municipalities and Barangays by Region" (PDF). Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG Philippines). Jun 30, 2024. Retrieved Sep 19, 2024.
  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.