Visayas

The **Visayas** or **Visayan Islands** (Cebuano and Wáray-Wáray: _Kabisay-an_, Tagalog: _Kabisayaan_, Spanich: _Bisayas_), is one of the three principal geographical divisions of  the Philippines; the other two divisions are Mindanao, to the south, and Luzon, to the north.

People living in this islands are called _Visayans_.

## Geography

The Visayas consists of several islands in central Philippines around the Visayan Sea, with the Philippine Sea to the east and the Sulu Sea to the west.

The main islands (and area) are:
- Bohol,
- Cebu,
- Leyte,
- Negros,
- Panay,
- Samar,

## Regions and provinces

Administratively, the Visayas is divided into 3 regions: Western Visayas, Central Visayas and Eastern Visayas. Each region is headed by a Regional Director.

## List of provinces of Visayas state

|Province|Capital|Region|
| --- | --- | --- |
|**Aklan**|**Kalibo** || rowspan="2"| Western Visayas||
|**Antique**|**San Jose de Buenavista**||
|**Biliran**|**Biliran**|Eastern Visayas|
|**Bohol**|**Tagbilaran City** || Central Visayas||
|**Capiz**|**Roxas City*** || Western Visayas||
|**Cebu**|***CEBU CITY**** (_Regional center_) || Central Visayas||
|**Eastern Samar**|**Borongan City** || Eastern Visayas||
|**Guimaras**|**Jordan** || rowspan="2"| Western Visayas||
|**Iloilo**|**ILOILO CITY** (_Regional center_)||
|**Leyte**|**TACLOBAN CITY** (_Regional center_)|| Eastern Visayas||
|**Negros Occidental**|**Bacolod City** || Western Visayas||
|**Negros Oriental|**Dumaguete City** || Central Visayas||
|**Northern Samar**|**Catarman** || rowspan="2"| Eastern Visayas||
|**Samar**|**Catbalogan City**||
|**Siquijor**|**Siquijor** || Central Visayas||
|**Southern Leyte|**Maasin City** || Eastern Visayas||

The Visayas is composed of 16 provinces, each headed by a governor.

### Western Visayas (Region VI)

Western Visayas consists of the islands of Panay and the western half of Negros; it has a population, in 2010, of 7,102,438. The regional center is Iloilo City.

### Central Visayas (Region VII)

Central Visayas includes the islands of Cebu and Bohol and the eastern half of Negros; it has a population, in 2010, of 6,800,180. The regional center is Cebu City.

### Eastern Visayas (Region VIII)

Eastern Visayas consists of the islands of Leyte and Samar; it has a population, in 2010, of 4,101,322. The regional center is Tacloban.

## Regions of the Visayas State

|colspan="7"|Island group: **VISAYAS** (***CENTRAL PHILIPPINES***)||||||||||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|align=center||align=center|**Western Visayas** <small>(Region VI)</small>|align=left|ILOILO CITY|align=left|*Aklan *Antique *Bacolod *Capiz *Guimaras *Iloilo *Iloilo City *Negros Occidental|20,223|7,102,438||
||align=center|**Central Visayas** <small>(Region VII)</small>|align=left|**CEBU CITY**|align=left|*Bohol *Cebu *Cebu City *Lapu-Lapu *Mandaue *Negros Oriental *Siquijor|14,951|6,800,180|||
|align=center||align=center|**Eastern Visayas** <small>(Region VIII)</small>|align=left|TACLOBAN|align=left|*Biliran *Eastern Samar *Leyte *Northern Samar *Ormoc *Samar *Southern Leyte *Tacloban|21,432|4,101,322||

## Other websites

- Die Visayas - Inselwelt in der Mitte der Philippinen

## Infobox (islands)

- **name**: Visayas
- **image**: Cebu Business Park skyscrapers view from Luz (Cebu City; 01-16-2024).jpg
- **image caption**: Cebu City is the largest city in Visayas
- **native name link**: Visayan languages
- **location**: Southeast Asia
- **archipelago**: Philippines
- **area km2**: 71,503
- **country largest city**: Cebu City
- **country largest city population**: 964,169
- **highest mount**: Mount Kanlaon
- **elevation m**: 2465
- **country admin divisions title**: Regions
- **official languages**: Visayan languages
- **population**: 21,155,014
- **population as of**: 2021
- **density km2**: 292