As time passes, the Philippines was divided into different regions in order to know the priority and development of each provinces.

Because the Philippines is divided into more than 7,000 islands, the problem in communication and interaction between its citizen is noted. This is also the reason why the people in the different areas has their own way of life, culture, characteristics and behaviours.

Our ancestors were not able to form a one strong country because they were divided into different tribes and were divided by different dialects. Aside from this, the country was invaded by Spain, America and Japan.

The topography of the Philippines becomes a big hindrance in creating a national government and a national language. The country was divided into different small government in the form of barangays which was headed by a datu and a sultanate which were headed by a sultan.

On 1971, the different regions of the Philippines were group together in order to ease the governance and able to develop the whole country. The methods of dividing the regions are based on its location, culture, livelihood orientation, and mode of politics.

Development of Rural Areas and Regions in the Philippines

The government should be able to give priority on the development of the rural areas and the far-away provinces in the country. They needed the following in order to achieve development:

• A proper housing program strategy
• Construction of appropriate ways of transportation such as roads, bridges, docks and airfield
• Put up electricity in every barangay
• Create livelihood programs to the community such as the cottage industry in order to give the people a means of living
• To educate the community the proper knowledge for them to be use as a tool in order to fully understand the proper and correct way of harvesting our natural resources
• Giving each individual to potentially provide a huge profit in order to have a successful way of living

Today, the Philippines was divided into 3 major regions (Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao) and 17 regions which are as follows:

Luzon

• National Capital Region (NCR) - Metro Manila

• Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) - Baguio City ;Abra ; Apayao; Benguet; Ifugao; Kalinga; Mountain Province

• Ilocos Region (Region I) - San Fernando City; Ilocos Norte; Ilocos Sur; La Union; Pangasinan

• Cagayan Valley (Region II) -Tuguegarao City; Batanes; Cagayan; Isabela; Nueva Vizcaya; Quirino

• Central Luzon(Region III) - San Fernando City; Aurora; Bataan; Bulacan; Nueva Ecija; Pampanga; Tarlac; Zambales

• CALABARZON (Region IV-A) - Calamba City; Batangas; Cavite; Laguna; Quezon; Rizal

• MIMAROPA (Region IV-B) - Calapan City; Marinduque; Occidental Mindoro; Oriental Mindoro; Palawan; Romblon

• Bicol Region (Region V) - Legazpi City; Albay; Camarines Norte; Camarines Sur; Catanduanes; Masbate; Sorsogon

Visayas

• Western Visayas (Region VI)- Iloilo City; Aklan; Antique; Capiz; Guimaras; Iloilo; Negros Occidental

• Central Visayas (Region VII) - Cebu City; Bohol; Cebu; Negros  Oriental;  Siquijor

• Eastern Visayas (Region VIII) - Tacloban City; Biliran; Eastern Samar; Leyte; Northern Samar;

• Samar; Southern Leyte

Mindanao

• Zamboanga Peninsula (Region IX) - Pagadian City; Zamboanga del Norte; Zamboanga del Sur; Zamboanga Sibugay
• Northern Mindanao(Region X)- Cagayan de Oro; Bukidnon; Camiguin; Lanao del Norte; Misamis Occidental; Misamis Oriental
• Davao Region (Region XI)- Davao City; Compostela Valley; Davao del Norte; Davao del Sur; Davao Oriental
• SOCCSKSARGEN (Region XII) - Koronadal City; North Cotabato; Sarangani; South Cotabato; Sultan Kudarat
• Caraga (Region XIII) – Butuan; Agusan del Norte; Agusan del Sur; Dinagat Islands; Surigao del Norte; Surigao del Sur
• Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)- Cotabato City; Basilan; Lanao del Sur; Maguindanao; Shariff Kabunsuan; Sulu; Tawi-Tawi

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