Geography A Basic Lesson of Philippine Governance and Category

Geography is a basic human understanding of place, and how humans can relate to that place. Without this basic understanding of geography, humans cannot find their place. With that principle in mind, we will help people find their way in the Philippine islands, especially where our Zamboanga City belongs. In The Philippines, the official system of geographical governance is listed in its hierarchical form below:

As a comparison lesson, in the United States, their official system of geographical governance is listed in its hierarchical form below:

Now, we'll try to keep it simple for those who are unaware in hopes of shedding light on this often erroneous category listing (an example of errors can be viewed in category listings and links by DMOZ, Google, Yahoo!, and most other search engines, and even official Philippine government categories - we hope this will help them correct their errors). Without any further ado, below is the geographical listing of Philippine Governance and Category in its hierarchical form.

1
Country	2
Leader: President	Cities (chartered)	3
	Leader: Mayor	Regions	4
			Provinces	5
	*Official Listing:*		Leader: Governor	Municipalities	6
	Angeles City	*Official Listing:*			Barangays
	Bacolod City	Region I	*Official Listing:*		Leader: Captain
	Bago City	Ilocos Norte Province	Abra Province
	Baguio City	llocos Sur Province	Agusan del Norte Province
	Bais City	La Union Province	Agusan del Sur Province
	Basilan City	Pangasinan Province	Aklan Province
	Batangas City	Region II	Albay Province
	Butuan City	Batanes Province	Antique Province
	Cabanatuan City	Cagayan Province	Aurora Province
	Cadiz City	Isabela Province	Basilan Province
	Cagayan de Oro City	Nueva Vizcaya Province	Bataan Province
	Calbayog City	Quirino Province	Batanes Province
	Caloocan City	Region III	Batangas Province
	Canlaon City	Bataan Province	Benguet Province
	Cavite City	Bulacan Province	Bohol Province
	Cebu City	Nueva Ecija Province	Bukidnon Province
	Cotabato City	Pampanga Province	Bulacan Province
	Dagupan City	Tarlac Province	Cagayan Province
	Danao City	Zambales Province	Camarines Norte Province
	Dapitan City	Region IV	Camarines Sur Province
	Davao City	Aurora Province	Camiguin Province
	Dipolog City	Batangas Province	Capiz Province
	Dumaguete City	Cavite Province	Catanduanes Province
	General Santos City	Laguna Province	Cavite Province
	Gingoog City	Marinduque Province	Cebu Province
	Iligan City	Occidental Mindoro Province	Davao Province
	Iloilo City	Oriental Mindoro Province	Davao del Sur Province
	Iriga City	Palawan Province	Davao Oriental Province
	La Carlota City	Quezon Province	Eastern Samar Province
	Laoag City	Rizal Province	Ifugao Province
	Lapu-Lapu City	Romblon Province	Ilocos Norte Province
	Legaspi City	Region V	Ilocos Sur Province
	Lipa City	Albay Province	Iloilo Province
	Lucena City	Camarines Norte Province	Isabela Province
	Mandaue City	Camarines Sur Province	Kalinga-Apayao Province
	Manila City	Catanduanes Province	Laguna Province
	Marawi City	Masbate Province	Lanao del Norte Province
	Naga City	Sorsogon Province	Lanao del Sur Province
	Olongapo City	Region VI	La Union Province
	Ormoc City	Aklan Province	Leyte Province
	Oroquieta City	Antique Province	Maguindanao Province
	Ozamis City	Capiz Province	Marinduque Province
	Pagadian City	Guimaras Province	Masbate Province
	Palayan City	Iloilo Province	Mindoro Occidental Province
	Pasay City	Negros Occidental Province	Mindoro Oriental Province
	Puerto Princesa City	Region VII	Misamis Occidental Province
	Quezon City	Bohol Province	Misamis Oriental Province
	Roxas City	Cebu Province	Mountain Province
	San Carlos City (in Negros Occidental)	Negros Oriental Province	Negros Occidental Province
	San Carlos City (in Pangasinan)	Siquijor Province	Negros Oriental Province
	San Jose City	Region VIII	North Cotabato Province
	San Pablo City	Biliran Province	Northern Samar Province
	Silay City	Eastern Samar Province	Nueva Ecija Province
	Surigao City	Leyte Province	Nueva Vizcaya Province
	Tacloban City	Northern Samar Province	Palawan Province
	Tagaytay City	Samar Province	Pampanga Province
	Tagbilaran City	Southern Leyte Province	Pangasinan Province
	Tangub City	Region IX	Quezon Province
	Toledo City	Basilan Province	Quirino Province
	Trece Martires City	Zamboanga del Norte Province	Rizal Province
	Zamboanga City	Zamboanga del Sur Province***	Romblon Province
		Zamboanga Sibugay Province***	Samar Province
		Region X	Siquijor Province
		Bukidnon Province	Sorsogon Province
		Camiguin Province	South Cotabato Province
		Misamis Oriental Province	Southern Leyte Province
		Misamis Occidental Province	Sultan Kudarat Province
		Region XI	Sulu Province
		Davao del Norte Province	Surigao del Norte Province
		Davao del Sur Province	Surigao del Sur Province
		Davao Oriental Province	Tarlac Province
		Compostela Valley Province	Tawi-Tawi Province
		Sarangani Province	Zambales Province
		South Cotabato Province	Zamboanga del Norte Province
		Region XII	Zamboanga del Sur Province***
		Cotabato Province	Zamboanga Sibugay Province***
		Lanao del Norte Province
		Sultan Kudarat Province
		Cordillera Autonomous Region
		Abra Province
		Apayao Province
		Kalinga Province
		Benguet Province
		Ifugao Province
		Mountain Province
		Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)
		Lanao del Sur Province
		Maguindanao Province
		Sulu Province
		Tawi-Tawi Province
		Zamboanga del Sur Province
		CARAGA
		Agusan del Norte Province
		Agusan del Sur Province
		Surigao del Norte Province
		Surigao del Sur Province

*** In February 2001, the province of Zamboanga del Sur was divided into two when a new province was created and named Zamboanga Sibugay. The new province is roughly one-half the size of the old Zamboanga del Sur province, and borders the northern tip of Zamboanga City.

Administrative Subdivisions: As of December 31, 2000, there were 96 cities, 16 regions, 78 provinces, 1,513 municipalities, and 41,943 barangays in The Philippines.