Manila, Metro Manila, Mega Manila?

Manila, Metro Manila, Mega Manila?

The capital of the Philippines is Manila. I believe many of you already know this.

As you begin to research a little about the Philippines, you may get confused by the variations of Manila such as Manila, Metro Manila, Mega Manila, etc. Zenmov, which operates in the Philippines, will explain it in an easy-to-understand way, adding his own interpretation.

Figure 1: Location of Manila and the entire Metro Manila (left) and the map of Mega Manila (right)

Source: Created by Zenmov based on Wikipedia, etc.

Table 1: Overview of Manila, Metro Manila, and Mega Manila

Source: Created by Zenmov based on Wikipedia, etc.

First, the smallest unit is "Manila City." Its area is 38.55 km², with a population of 1.85 million, which may be easier to understand if you imagine it as the administrative division of Tokyo's wards.

The next scale is "Metro Manila." Its area is 636 km², with a population of 13.48 million, consisting of 16 cities and 1 municipality including the aforementioned Manila City, and is the political, economic, cultural, and educational center of the Philippines. Officially, it is called the National Capital Region (NCR), but the colloquial term Metro Manila seems to be more commonly used. There are also occasions when the entire Metro Manila is referred to as the capital.

The area of Tokyo's 23 wards is 627.6 km², and its total population is 13.998 million, while the population of the ward area is 9.6796 million. From the perspectives of area, population, and being the center of politics, economy, and culture, Metro Manila is quite similar to the 23 wards of Tokyo.

The largest scale is "Mega Manila." Mega Manila is not an administrative division but a concept that indicates an urban area, so there are various definitions by government ministries and the media. According to the definition of the Philippines Information Agency (PIA), its area is 52,097.66 km², with a population of 40.37 million, composed of Metro Manila and three regions: Central Luzon, Calabarzon, and Mimaropa. It includes not only urban areas but also rural regions.

The existence of multiple definitions of Mega Manila is similar to how, when referring to the "Kanto region" or "Kansai area" in Japan, the extent of which prefectures are included may vary depending on the context and the person using the term.

I hope the above explanation from Zenmov will be helpful when you see or use terms like Manila, Metro Manila, and Mega Manila.