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Central Visayas

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Central Visayas

Central Visayas (Cebuano: Tunga-tungang Kabisay-an; Tagalog: Gitnang Kabisayaan; Filipino: Gitnang Visayas), designated as Region VII, is an administrative region in the Philippines. With only two provinces: Cebu and Bohol, as well as three highly urbanized cities: Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu, and Mandaue, it has the fewest number of provinces out of any region in the country. Despite this, it is the most populous region in the Visayas, with a population of 6,545,603.

The regional center, as well as its largest city, is Cebu City. The Cebuano language is the region's lingua franca. The region is also dominated by the native speakers of three Visayan languages: Bantayanon, Boholano and Porohanon.

In 2015, Central Visayas was redefined when it lost the province of Negros Oriental to the newly formed Negros Island Region. However, the Negros Island Region was dissolved in 2017, returning Negros Oriental to Central Visayas. After seven years, it lost Negros Oriental again, as well as the island province of Siquijor, after the Negros Island Region was re-established in 2024.

The name of the region, Central Visayas, was mostly chosen by American colonists to denote the centrality of the islands within the bigger Visayas area.

There have been proposals to rename the current Central Visayas region, which is dominated by the Cebuano (Sugbuanon) ethnic group, to Sugbu, the former name of the region prior to Spanish colonization in the 16th century. The name refers to the former kingdom of the region, the Rajahnate of Cebu, or Sugbu in Cebuano.

Regions first came into existence 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 by President Ferdinand Marcos Sr. The provinces of Cebu, Bohol, and Negros Oriental (including its then-subprovince of Siquijor) were grouped together to form the Central Visayas region.

By virtue of Executive Order No. 183, s. 2015, issued on May 29, 2015, by President Benigno Aquino III, moved Negros Oriental to the newly formed Negros Island Region.

On August 9, 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte dissolved the Negros Island Region, revoking Executive Order No. 183, s. 2015 through the signing of Executive Order No. 38. This returned Negros Oriental to Central Visayas.

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