Cebu City

The modern name, Cebu, is a 16th–17th century Spanish pronunciation of the native name Sugbo and its early iterations are Zibu, Zebu, Zubu, Subuth, Çubu, and Sibu. The word sugbú in Cebuano means "to dive into water", and also in Tagalog, Hiligaynon, Aklanon, and Mansaka languages with more or less the same meaning. The name is derived from the Proto-Philippine word *sug(e)bu meaning "to wade into water". In Mateo Sanchéz's entry, he defines sugbu or sibu as "to put or place partially into the water" or "as someone stepping into water, but not totally". As with most settlements in the Philippines whose common origin is either derived from an abundance of plants, for example, Manila and one of the most common names of cities in the Philippines, Talisay and settlements near a body of water, for example, Iloilo and the island of Mindanao. …

Very little is known about when the site was first settled prior to colonization, but artifacts have been discovered near the city, if not exactly at the site in what is now Cebu City dating back to at least the 14th to 15th centuries CE. Other geological and archaeological studies revealed that Cebu as a settlement began sometime during the 10th century. Though there are artifacts detailing the settlement of the island as early as 2000 BCE, the exact date of when the village was settled and named "Sugbu" is unknown, since prior to colonization most Visayans were illiterate up until the later half of the 16th century. …

Cebu City has a land area of 315 square kilometers (122 sq mi). To the northeast is Mandaue City and the town of Consolacion; to the west is Toledo City and the towns of Balamban and Asturias; to the south is Talisay City and the town of Minglanilla. Across the Mactan Channel to the east is Mactan Island, where Lapu-Lapu City is located. Further east across the Cebu Strait is the island of Bohol. Cebu City is politically subdivided into 80 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios. These barangays are grouped into two congressional districts, with 46 barangays in the northern district and 34 in the southern district. As of the 2020 census, 58 barangays are classified as urban barangays where 888,481 (92.15%) of Cebu City's population lives, while the remaining 22 rural barangays are home to 75,668 residents, representing 7.85% of the total population. …