Mandaue City is a city in the province of Cebu in the Philippines. It is one of the three urbanized cities in the island and forms a part of the Cebu Metropolitan area. Mandaue City is on the middle eastern coastal region of Cebu, bordering to its right-side are Mactan Island where Lapu-Lapu City is. Mandaue is connected to Mactan Island via two bridges which includes the Mactan-Cebu Bridge and Marcelo Fernan Bridge  And is bounded south and the west by the Provincial Capital, Cebu City and north by Consolacion which is linked with Cansaga Bay Bridge. The city has an area of about 34.87 square kilometres and has a total population of about 337,320 people.

History
A community was established in Mandaue by a flourishing group of Indonesian, Malayan and Chinese merchants. The Venetian chronicler Antonio Pigafetta wrote a settlement called Mandani existed in the area with a chieftain who was named Aponoan then a few decades later another ruler named Lambusan. Mandaue was established as a mission village (which included present day Consolacion, Liloan and Poro) in 1638 by Jesuit then a century later by the Recollects. The Philippine revolution in 1898 gave the town a new form of administration in accordance with the organic decree of the Central Revolutionary Government. The short lived revolution was overthrown by the American Troops and a battle nearly destroys the town on 1901.
Mandaue was Independent from being an American Commonwealth and a Japanese Garrison on July 4, 1946 along with the entire nation. Mandaue became a chartered city in June 21, 1969 by Mayor Demetrio Cortes Sr. The city was recognized as a HUC (Highly Urban City) on 1991.

District
Mandaue City is part of the Sixth District of Cebu joined with the municipalities of Consolacion and Cordova. Although qualified for a lone district in 1991 this was neglected by Lawmakers. Mandaue is under the province of Cebu but because it is a Highly Urbanized City it is not under authority to the provincial government and Mandaue is politically subdivided into 27 barangays. The barangay is further divided to a sitio.

Barangays
Mandaue is divided into 27 administrative villages called barangays.

Alang-alang
Bakilid
Banilad
Basak
Cabancalan
Cambaro
Canduman
Casili
Casuntingan
Centro (the city's poblacion or downtown)
Cubacub
Guizo
Ibabao-Estancia
Jagobiao
Labogon
Looc
Maguikay
Mantuyong
Opao
Pakna-an
Pagsabungan
Subangdaku
Tabok
Tawason
Tingub
Tipolo
Umapad

.

Area
The city has a total land area of 3,487 hectares or 34.87 square kilometres. Every square kilometre is inhabited by more or less 8,112 people. Land utilization is summarized as follows:

The city is the 6th smallest government unit in terms of land area; among the Metro Cebu local government units the city is the second smallest next to the municipality of Cordova in the island of Mactan. The city’s land area is only 4.5% of the total land area of Metro Cebu and less than 1% of the total land area of the Province of Cebu.

The on-going North Reclamation Project, now known as the North Special Administrative Zone, currently has about 180 hectares reclaimed land. Of the 180 hectares, about 36 hectares belong to the city. The existing mangrove area will be retained as a Marine habitat, part of the area's parks and open spaces.

It is one of the two (the other one being the municipality of Consolacion) local government units located within the mainland Metro Cebu where the elevation of land is less than 100 metres.

Many of the areas of the city are extremely flat. About 77.37% is within the 0-8% slope category. Barangays belonging to this region are Centro, Looc, South Special Administrative Zone, Cambaro, Opao, Umapad, Paknaan, Alang-alang, Tipolo, Ibabao, Guizo, Subangdaku, Mantuyong, Maguikay and Tabok. The greater portion of the city, comprising about 70%, is dominated by the Mandaue Clay Loam soil series. This is in the 0-2% and 2-5% slope ranges. Faraon clay loam characterizes the rest of the land with slope range from 5-8% and up to 25-40%.

Population
Oldest accounts of Mandaue's population was written in Bosetta and Bravo's Diccionario between 1637 to 1638 was 11,034. During the first year of its township in 1899, Mandaue had 42 barrios and with a population of 21,086. When Mandaue was a second class municipality in 1964 she had a population of 33,811.
According to the August 2009 Philippine census, Mandaue City has a population of about 337,320 people. This figure is up by 77,592 from 259,728 persons recorded in the May 2000 census. Mandaue has a significantly large population which is in and below the poverty line.

Festivals

Mandaue Fiesta:Celebrated on May 8 in honor of the patron St. Joseph. There are a lot of events that occur in this feast like the Miss Mandaue, Mr. Mandaue, Inter-Barangay Sports Competition, Queen Prince and Prices Coronation or QPP, Rodeos, Mantawi Festival, Bailes, Fairs and many more. This is an evident reminder of the Philippines Hispanic influences.

Translacion: (Gathering of the Holy Family) which coincidentally the patrons of Cebu are the Santo Niño and Birhin sa Guadelupe, Saint Joseph in Mandaue City. This is celebrated every January when the three statues meet in The National Shrine of Saint Joseph often called the Translacion where a Fluvial Mass follows after. There are singing and dancing competitions and street dancing that happen during the Bibingkahan in honor of the Sto. Niño.

Comparsa sa Mandaue : A theater dance competition that showcases Mandaue's rich cultural heritage celebrated on August.

Mantawi Festival : Is an event where tribal dances are accompanied by different beats and is played by a brass instead of the usual drum and trumpet Mantawi Festival is on every May 7.

Miss Mandaue: A beauty pageant, that searches for a young woman who will serve as an ambassadress of goodwill and represent the people of Mandaue City in various functions and gatherings in the community...

Kabayo festival:
The Kabayo festival is a horse racing event held annually in the second week of February.

Pasigarbo sa Sugbo:
It is an event that is held annually in Mandaue City, Cebu International Convention Center every August 14 which shows Cebu’s culture and different festivals,
it is a fiesta of colorful costumes and elaborate props as dancers from 32 towns and cities from all over Cebu compete which ends with a grand fireworks display.

Infrastructure

Mandaue City's road network is composed of a national highway which connects the city to its neighboring cities and municipalities, a national secondary road which traverses the City's metropolitan area. The total length of the city road network (paved and unpaved) and the four bridges, is about 133,676 kilometres, broken down into:

National road  - 13.1587 kilometres
City road      - 57.0954 kilometres
Barangay road  - 63.4219 kilometres

Road density is 3.83 kilometre per square kilometre of land. In terms of population, road density is about 0.52 kilometre per one thousand inhabitants.

Land transportation is being served by PUJ, Utility Vehicles, mini-buses, multi-cabs, tricycles, trisikads and for cargoes, trailers and vans. Sea transport of Mandaue is highly dependent on Port of Cebu and Cebu International Port, because of the city's proximity to these facilities. Likewise, air transport is through the Mactan-Cebu International Airport has direct international flights to Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, China, Palau, Malaysia, Taiwan, Qatar, South Korea and other key Philippine Cities, via the two Mandaue-Mactan bridges.

Education

Schools in Mandaue City follow a system of 6 years for primary education and 4 years for secondary education.

Primary
22 public day care centres
Sotero B Cabahug Forum for Literacy
STI Prep School
Stepping Stones Learning Centre
Children's Montissory

Elementary
26 Public Schools
Private Schools:
Sacred Heart School – Ateneo de Cebu
Mandaue Christian School
Mandaue City Central School
Mount Olives Christian School

Secondary
27 public high schools
Mandaue City Science High School
Mandaue City School for the Arts
Mandaue City Comprehensive National High School
Cabancalan National High School

Catholic
Colegio de la Inmaculada Concepcion
St. Joseph Academy

International Schools
Maternelle Filipino-French School
Royal Oaks International School
Singapore School Cebu
Woodridge International School

Universities and Colleges
Mandaue City College
Benedicto College
ACLC Mandaue
AMA Computer Learning Center
STI College
Gullas College of Medicine
Cebu Doctors' University
University of Cebu Lapu-Lapu Mandaue.
 Saint Louis College of Cebu (formerly St. Louis School of Mandaue)

Economy

Major Products
Aluminumware/Enamelware
Animal Bone Processing
Industrial Gases
Lumber
Marine Products
Batteries
Matches
Beverages
Milling
Construction Materials
Chemicals
Nylons and Rope
Coconut Crafts
Packaging Products
Commercial Plastics
Concrete Products
Poultry/livestock farms
Rattan
Cosmetics
Drugs
Electroplating
School Supplies
Fire Extinguishers
Shellcrafts
Floorwax
Ceramics
Foam Products Steel
Galvanized Iron
Food Processing
Stonewares
Garments
Styrofoam
Gas Cylinders
Furniture
Carrageenan
Glass Wrought Iron and Rattan
Iced Products
.

Cuisine

Mandaue has dining restaurants which cater gourmets and international cuisines like Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mexican, Vietnamese, Indian and other cuisines. A variety of restaurants also serves meals of local cuisine.

Many famous Cebuano meals like the Lechon or Inasal is a pride of Cebu being crowned as the best roasted pig in the world, it is eaten with Achara or pickled vegetables. The Sugba or Barbecue is either Isda(fish), Baboy (pork), Manok (chicken) or Baka (beef) is found in any joints in Mandaue eaten with the Puso a diamond shaped hangged rice covered in coco leaves. Kinilaw is raw meat usually pork or fish drenched in vinegar and salt. The Buwad or dried seafood is very smelly but it is crunchy and chewy. There are some exotic meals you can find like the Dinugoan or pig's blood is a eaten like the soup. Barbecued  Chicken feet are liked by many locals. + Original cuisine in Mandaue includes the Bibingka which is steamed rice cakes mixed with coconut and sometimes egg. Binangos a type of salted fish only found in Mandaue.

Landmarks

Cemeteries
Angelicum Gareden of Angels
Cebu Memorial Park
Cempark
Manpark
Mandaue Municipal Cemetery
St Joseph's Cemetery
Grosmar Memorial Park

Museums
856 G Gallery
Luis Cabrera Ancestral House and Museum
Mandaue City Public Library

Parks
City Plaza
Pahara Park
Mandaue Ecopark
Garden Centre

Natural
Monkey Caves
Cansaga Bay
Butuanon River
Casili Hills
Jagobiao Spring
Cabancalan-Banilad Sinkholes

Sports
Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Complex
Cebu International Convention Centre.

Sister cities
 Bacau, Romania
 Bacolod, Philippines
 Baguio, Philippines
 Butuan, Philippines
 Zibo City, Shandong, China
 Shenzhen, China
 Marikina, Philippines

References

Other websites

The Official Website of the City of Mandaue

Cities in the Philippines