# Southern Tagalog

Southern Tagalog (Filipino: Timog Katagalugan), designated as Region IV, was an administrative region in the Philippines that comprised the current regions of Calabarzon and Mimaropa, the province of Aurora in Central Luzon, and most of the National Capital Region. It was the largest region in the Philippines in terms of both land area and population. After its partition on May 17, 2002, Southern Tagalog continues to exist as a cultural-geographical region.
The region was bordered by Manila Bay and the South China Sea to the west, Lamon Bay and the Bicol Region to the east, the Tayabas Bay, Sibuyan Sea, and Balabac Strait, where it shared a maritime border with Sabah, Malaysia, to the south, and Central Luzon to the north.

## History

Southern Tagalog was the largest region in the Philippines in terms of both land area and population. The 2000 Census of Population and Housing showed the region having a total of 11,793,655 people, which comprised 15.42 percent of the 76.5 million population of the country at that time.
Quezon City was the designated regional center of Southern Tagalog, but Lucena was the former Government Center of Southern Tagalog, and is still host to most of the branches of governmental agencies, businesses, banks, and service facilities in the region.
The former region covered the area where many reside; the two other majority-Tagalophone regions are the National Capital Region and Central Luzon.
On September 7, 1946, Republic Act No. 14 changed the name Tayabas to Quezon; both Quezon City & Quezon Province were named in honor of Manuel L. Quezon, the Commonwealth president who was born in Baler, which was one of the province's towns.
In June 1951, the northern area of Quezon (specifically, the towns of Baler, Casiguran, Dilasag, Dingalan, Dinalungan, Dipaculao, Maria Aurora and San Luis) was made into the sub-province of Aurora; during that time, only Baler, Casiguran, Dipaculao, and Maria Aurora existed yet, wherein the 2 latter towns were separated from Baler. Aurora was named of the president's wife, Aurora Quezon, also a native of Baler. One obvious reason for creating the sub-province was the area's isolation from the rest of Quezon Province: there were no direct links to the rest of the province and much of the terrain was mountainous and heavily forested, which made the area relatively isolated, and its distance from Quezon's capital Lucena. Aurora was finally separated from Quezon as an independent province in 1979, and added to Southern Tagalog.

### Partitioning

Southern Tagalog was divided into Calabarzon and Mimaropa, upon the issuance of Executive Order No. 103, dated May 17, 2002, by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Additionally, the province of Aurora was moved to Region III (Central Luzon), the physical location of the province. The complete separation of Aurora from Quezon and its transfer to Central Luzon fulfilled the long-held wishes and prayers of the residents of the original municipalities of Baler and Casiguran, allowing them to be truly independent from Quezon Province for the first time and to restore the original La Pampanga from the Spanish era. Many residents and government leaders of Aurora, however, rejected the executive order that transferred Aurora to Central Luzon, as Aurora maintains strong historical and cultural connections to the rest of Southern Tagalog, particularly Quezon Province, thus also of the memory of Manuel Quezon, and with that, Aurora residents self-identified with Quezon; but Aurora's transfer to Central Luzon means that geographically, the province is more accessible by land from Nueva Ecija and of course, San Fernando, Pampanga, the regional capital of Central Luzon.

## Administrative divisions
### Provinces

| Province | Provincial capital | Current region |
| Aurora | Baler | Central Luzon |
| Batangas | Batangas City | Calabarzon |
| Cavite | Imus / Trece Martires | Calabarzon |
| Laguna | Santa Cruz | Calabarzon |
| Marinduque | Boac | Mimaropa |
| Occidental Mindoro | Mamburao | Mimaropa |
| Oriental Mindoro | Calapan | Mimaropa |
| Palawan | Puerto Princesa | Mimaropa |
| Quezon | Lucena | Calabarzon |
| Rizal | Pasig / Antipolo | Calabarzon |
| Romblon | Romblon | Mimaropa |
Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur, which are under Bicol Region, are sometimes considered part of Southern Tagalog recently, as there has been a language shift in recent years to Tagalog, which is more common native language, from being historically Bikol-speaking provinces.

### Cities

Southern Tagalog region had 13 chartered cities prior to its partition.
* Antipolo
* Batangas City
* Calapan
* Calamba
* Cavite City
* Lipa
* Lucena
* Puerto Princesa
* Quezon City
* San Pablo
* Tagaytay
* Tanauan
* Trece Martires
Cities that were recently added after the partition (all of these are located in Southern Tagalog mainland or Calabarzon):
* Bacoor
* Biñan
* Cabuyao
* Calaca
* Carmona
* Dasmariñas
* General Trias
* Imus
* San Pedro
* Santa Rosa
* Santo Tomas
* Tayabas

## Demographics
### Languages

The native languages of Southern Tagalog are:
* Alangan, spoken in the interior of Mindoro.
* Asi, spoken in Romblon and Marinduque.
* Buhid, spoken in the interior of Mindoro.
* Calamian Tagbanwa, spoken in Palawan.
* Chavacano, spoken in parts of Cavite.
* Cuyonon, spoken in Palawan.
* Hanunoo, spoken in the interior of Mindoro.
* Hiligaynon, spoken in eastern parts of Palawan, southern parts of Romblon and Mindoro. There are also significant speakers in Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Quezon, Batangas and southern parts of Mindoro where the language is not native.
* Kinaray-a, spoken in eastern parts of Palawan, southern parts of Romblon and Mindoro. There are also significant speakers in Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Quezon, Batangas and southern parts of Mindoro where the language is not native.
* Iraya, spoken in the interior of Mindoro.
* Malay, spoken in south Palawan.
* Manide, spoken in Quezon.
* Molbog, spoken in south Palawan.
* Onhan, spoken in Romblon.
* Palawano, spoken in Palawan.
* Ratagnon, spoken in south Mindoro
* Romblomanon, spoken in Romblon.
* Tadyawan, spoken in the interior of Mindoro.
* Tagalog, spoken in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan. It is the regional lingua franca, mostly as Filipino.
* Tausug, spoken in southwestern Palawan. There are also significant speakers in other parts of Southern Tagalog especially in urban areas where the language is not native.
* Tawbuid, spoken in the interior of Mindoro.
Other native languages spoken in Southern Tagalog are Hatang Kayi, also named as Sinauna, a Central Luzon language spoken in Tanay, Rizal and General Nakar, Quezon (this is related to Kapampangan and Sambalic languages), the Manide language in east Quezon and a small portion in north Quezon, the Umiray Dumaget language in north Quezon and a small area in central Quezon, the Inagta Alabat language on Alabat Island, and the Tagabulós language in Infanta. The languages not native to the region are: Ilocano in Quezon, Laguna, Rizal, Cavite, Batangas, Mindoro, and Palawan (Aurora & Quezon have the largest concentration of Ilocano speakers when Aurora was part of Southern Tagalog, the statistics now exclusively belong to Quezon); Bikol in Quezon, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Marinduque; Cebuano in Rizal, Batangas, Cavite, and Quezon (especially in the remote parts of San Andres and San Francisco, the southernmost municipalities both located in the Bondoc Peninsula); Kapampangan and Pangasinan in Batangas, Cavite, Mindoro and Palawan; Maranao and Maguindanaon in many parts of the region especially in urban areas.