Iloilo

The name "Iloilo" is derived from the older name "Irong-irong" (Philippine Spanish: Ilong̃-ílong̃) meaning "nose-like", referring to the promontory between two rivers (Iloilo and Batiano) where the Fort San Pedro and the 17th-century Spanish port were located.

The earliest written reference to Iloilo appears in Yuan Dynasty records from the 1300s, identifying Oton—west of Iloilo City—as in Hokkien Chinese: 啞陳; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: A-tân, a bustling trade outpost in the Visayas. Although, little is known historically about the region prior to the arrival of the Spanish, Jesuit missionary Francisco Ignacio Alcina, in his 1668 work Historia natural del sitio, fertilidad y calidad de las Islas e Indios de Bisayas, identifies the Hiligaynon people originated from Leyte, aligning with linguistic subgrouping of the Hiligaynon language. Local legends, notably the epic Maragtas by Pedro Monteclaro (published 1907), offer a different origin story. …

Iloilo City is situated on the southern shores of Panay, facing the Iloilo Strait and Guimaras to its south and east. The location forms a natural harbor and a safe anchorage for ships. The city is bordered by the municipality of Oton to the west, Pavia to the north, and Leganes to the northeast. Across the Iloilo Strait, along its eastern and southern coastlines, lie the towns of Buenavista and Jordan in the island-province of Guimaras. The city occupies a flat alluvial plain, largely reclaimed from swampy areas due to urbanization and industrialization from the late 19th century to the present. Several rivers traverse the city, including the Iloilo, Batiano, Jaro, and Dungon Creek. The Iloilo River, an estuary, separates the districts of City Proper, Molo, and Arevalo from the rest of the city. The Jaro River is fed by its tributaries, the Aganan and Tigum rivers. …