Cebu (/sɛˈbuː/ seb-OO; Cebuano: Sugbo), officially the Province of Cebu (Cebuano: Lalawigan sa Sugbo; 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 is identified as a site of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral Triangle.

Its capital and largest city is Cebu City, nicknamed "the Queen (Catholic) City of the South" having the Second Cardinal, the oldest city and first capital of the Philippines, which is politically independent from the provincial government along with Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu City. The Cebu Metropolitan Area or Metro Cebu is the third largest metropolitan area in the Philippines (after Metro Manila and Metro Davao) with Cebu City as the main center of commerce, trade, education and industry in the Visayas as well as the regional center of Central Visayas. Being one of the most developed provinces in the Philippines, in a decade it has transformed into a global hub for business processing services, tourism, shipping, furniture-making, and heavy industry. Mactan–Cebu International Airport, located on Mactan Island, is the second busiest airport in the Philippines.

Cebu has the most combined cities and municipalities of any province in the Philippines, with 53 in total. With 9 cities in total, it has the second highest number of cities after its neighboring province of Negros Occidental.

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". 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. 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 for the spelling change is because Visayans were mostly illiterate in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Cebu was a native kingdom that existed prior to the arrival of the Spaniards. Visayan folklore relates it was founded by Sri Lumay otherwise known as Rajamuda Lumaya, a half-Malay, half-Tamil from Sumatra. The capital of the nation was Singhapala (சிங்கப்பூர்) which is Tamil-Sanskrit for "Lion City", the same root word as with the modern city-state of Singapore. The later Spanish chronicler Antonio Pigafetta mispronounced Singhapala as Cingopola instead.

The arrival of Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521 began a period of Spanish exploration and colonization. Losing the favor of King Manuel I of Portugal for his plan of reaching the Spice Islands by sailing west from Europe, Magellan offered his services to King Charles I of Spain (Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor). On September 20, 1519, Magellan led five ships with a total complement of 250 people from the Spanish fort of Sanlúcar de Barrameda en route to southeast Asia via the Americas and the Pacific Ocean. They reached the Philippines on March 16, 1521. Rajah Kolambu, the rajah of Mazaua told them to sail for Cebu, where they could trade and obtain provisions.