Although Cebu City, Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu City are often grouped under the province of Cebu for statistical purposes by the National Statistics Office, as highly urbanized cities, they are administratively independent from the province.

Component cities[edit source | editbeta]

• Bais City, Negros Oriental
• Bayawan City, Negros Oriental
• Canlaon City, Negros Oriental
• Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental
• Guihulngan City, Negros Oriental
• Tanjay City, Negros Oriental
• Bogo City, Cebu
• Carcar City, Cebu
• Danao City, Cebu
• Naga City, Cebu
• Talisay City, Cebu
• Toledo City, Cebu
• Tagbilaran City, Bohol

Central Visayas (Filipino: Gitnang Kabisayaan) is a region of the Philippines, designated as Region VII. It is located in the central part of theVisayas island group, and consists of four provinces—Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor— and the highly urbanized cities of Cebu City,Lapu-Lapu City, and Mandaue City. The region is dominated by the native speakers of Cebuano. Cebu City is its regional center.

The land area of the region is 15,875 km². As of the 2010 census, it has a population of 6,800,180 people, making it the 5th most populous of the country's 17 regions.

History

Regions first came to existence in on September 24, 1972, when the provinces of the Philippines were organized into 11 regions by Presidential Decree No. 1 as part of the Integrated Reorganization Plan of President Ferdinand Marcos.