The City of Manila (Tagalog: Lungsod ng Maynila ), or simply Manila or Maynila , is the capital of the Philippines and one of the 17 cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila. It is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay, on the western portion of the National Capital Region, in the western side of Luzon. Manila is one of the central hubs of a thriving metropolitan area home to over 19 million people.. As of 2009, Manila ranks as the world's eleventh largest metropolitan area and the fifth largest urban area by population. Manila is also ranked as one of the most densely populated cities in the world. The city itself had more than 100 parks scattered throughout the city.
Manila occupies a total land area of 38.55 square kilometres, is the second most populous city in the Philippines, with more than 1.6 million inhabitants. Only nearby Quezon City, the country's former capital, is more populous. The metropolitan area is the second most populous in Southeast Asia.
Manila lies about 950 km southeast of Hong Kong, 2,400 km northeast of Singapore and more than 2,100 km northeast of Kuala Lumpur. The Pasig River bisects the city in the middle. Almost all of the city sits on top of centuries of prehistoric alluvial deposits built by the waters of the Pasig River and on some land reclaimed from Manila Bay.
Manila is bordered by several cities in Metro Manila such as Navotas City and Caloocan City to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong City to the east, Makati City to the southeast, and Pasay City to the south.
Manila has been classified as a "Beta+" global city by the Globalization and World Cities Study Group and Network in 2008.
Etymology
The city became known by the name given, "Manila", by its Tagalog inhabitants, as Maynila , first recorded as Maynilad . The name is based on the nila, a flowering mangrove plant that grew on the marshy shores of the bay, used to produce soap for regional trade; it is either from the phrase may nila , Tagalog for "there is nila ," or it has a prefix ma- indicating the place where something is prevalent ( nila itself is probably from Sanskrit nila 'indigo tree'). (The idea that the plant name is actually "nilad" is a myth.)
History
Main article: History of ManilaPrehistory and indigenous civilizations
Further information: History of the Philippines (until 1521), Kingdom of Maynila, Kingdom of Namayan, and Kingdom of TondoUnder the Malay aristocracy, the city was known Seludong/Selurung , which was the same name given for the general region of southwestern Luzon at that time, suggesting that it was the capital of Ancient Tondo. It was also known as Gintu ("The Land/Island of Gold") or Suvarnadvipa by its neighbors. The said kingdom flourished during the latter half of the Ming Dynasty as a result of trade relations with China. Ancient Tondo has always been the traditional capital of the empire. Its rulers were equivalents to kings and not mere chieftains, and they were addressed as panginuan or panginoon ("lords"), anak banwa ("son of heaven") or lakandula ("lord of the palace"). Well into the 13th century, the city consisted of a fortified settlement and trading quarter at the bay of the Pasig River, on top of previous older towns.
During the reign of Bolkiah (1485-1521) the Sultanate of Brunei decided to break the Kingdom of Tondo's monopoly in the China trade by attacking Tondo and establishing the city state of Selurong (now Manila) as a Burneian satellite. A new dynasty under the Salalila was also established to challenge the House of Lakandula in Tondo. Another kingdom, named Namayan, was established as a confederation of barangays that began to peak in 1175 and extended from Manila Bay to Laguna de Bay. The royal capital of the kingdom was built in Sapa, known today as Sta. Ana.
In the mid-16th century, the areas of present-day Manila were part of larger thalassocracies governed by Muslim Rajahs. Rajah Sulayman and Rajah Matanda ruled the Muslim communities south of the Pasig River, and Rajah Lakandula ruled the Kingdom of Tondo, the Hindu-Buddhist community north of the river. The two Muslim communities of Sulayman and Matanda were unified into the Kingdom of Maynila. Both city-states were officially Malay-speaking and held diplomatic ties with the Bolkiah dynasty of Brunei, and the sultanates of Sulu, and Ternate.
Spanish period (1581-1898)
Governor-General Miguel López de Legazpi, searching for a suitable place to establish his capital after being compelled to move from Cebu to Panay by Portuguese pirates, and hearing of the existence of a prosperous sultanate in Luzon, sent an expedition under Marshal Martin de Goiti and Captain Juan de Salcedo to discover its location and potentials. De Goiti anchored at Cavite, and tried to establish his authority peacefully by sending a message of friendship to Maynilad. Rajah Sulayman, then its ruler, was willing to accept the friendship that the Spaniards were offering, but did not want to submit to its sovereignty unto them and waged war against them. As a result, De Goiti and his army attacked Maynilad on June 1570. After a stout fight, he captured the city before returning to Panay.
In 1571, the unity of the Luzon Empire was already threatened by the uneasy alliance of the Rajah Matanda of Sapa, the Lakandula of Tondo, and Rajah Sulayman, the rajah muda or "crown prince" of Maynila and laxamana or "grand admiral" of the Macabebe Armada. Powerful states like Lubao, Betis and Macabebe became bold enough to challenge the traditional leadership of Tondo and Maynila. In about the same year, the Spaniards returned, this time led by López de Legazpi himself along with his entire force (consisting of 280 Spaniards and 600 native allies). Seeing them approach, the natives set the city on fire and fled to ancient Tondo and neighboring towns. The Spaniards occupied the ruins of Maynilad and established a settlement there. On June 3, 1571, López de Legazpi gave the title city to the colony of Manila. The title was certified on June 19, 1572. Under Spain, Manila became the colonial entrepot in the Far East. The Philippines was a Spanish colony administered under the Viceroyalty of New Spain and the Governor-General of the Philippines who ruled from Manila was sub-ordinate to the Viceroy in Mexico City. The Manila-Acapulco Galleon trade route between the Philippines and Mexico flourished from 1571 until 1815. Manila became famous during the Manila-Acapulco trade which brought the goods as far as Mexico all the way to South East Asia.
Because of the Spanish presence in the area, the Chinese people, who were living in the area and engaging in free trade relations with the natives, were subjected to commercial restrictions as well as laws requiring them to pay tribute to Spanish authorities. As a result, the Chinese revolted against the Spaniards in 1574, when a force of about 3,000 men and 62 Chinese warships under the command of Limahong attacked the city. The said attempt was fruitless, and the Chinese were defeated. In order to safeguard the city from similar uprisings later, the Spanish authorities confined the Chinese residents and merchants to a separate district called Parian de Alcaceria .
On June 19, 1591, after the commencement of the construction of a fort there, López de Legazpi made overtures of friendship with Rajah Lakandula of Tondo, which was prudently accepted. However, Rajah Sulayman refused to submit to the Spaniards and gathered together a force composed of Tagalog warriors after failing to get the support of Lakandula and that of the chieftains of Hagonoy and Macabebe. On June 3, 1571, Sulayman led his troops and attacked the Spaniards in a decisive battle at the town of Bangkusay, but were defeated. With the destruction of Sulayman's army and the friendship with Rajah Lakandula, the Spaniards began to establish themselves throughout the city and its neighboring towns. Then came the rapid Christianization of the city. The first missionaries to arrive were the Augustinians, followed by the Franciscans, Jesuits, Dominicans, Augustinians and other religious orders. The friars also began to establish schools and churches dedicated to the Christian faith, eventually spreading throughout Manila and beyond.
In 1595, Manila was decreed to be the capital of the Philippines, although it had already in fact served that function practically from its founding in 1571. Legazpi then ordered the creation of a municipal government or cabildo with a set of Spanish-style houses, monasteries, nunneries, churches, and schools giving birth to Intramuros. The layout of the city was haphazardly planned during this era as a set of communities surrounding the fortified walls of Intramuros ( within the walls ), which was the original Manila. Intramuros, one of the oldest walled cities in the Far East, was constructed and designed by Spanish Jesuit missionaries to keep from invading Chinese pirates and native uprisings.
At various times in the following century, the Chinese rose in revolt against the Spaniards. In 1602, they set fire to Quiapo and Tondo, and for a time threatened to capture Intramuros.
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