| Conventional Long Name: | Southern Tagalog |
| Native Name: | Timog Katagalugan |
| Common Name: | Southern Tagalog |
| Nation: | Philippines |
| Status Text: | Former region of the Philippines |
| Subdivision: | Region |
| Year Start: | 1965 |
| Date Start: | January 1, |
| Date End: | May 17, |
| Year End: | 2002 |
| S1: | Calabarzon |
| S2: | Mimaropa |
| Image Map Caption: | Location within the Philippines |
| Stat Year1: | 2000 |
| Stat Pop1: | 11,793,655 |
| Capital: | Quezon City (Regional center) |
Southern Tagalog (Filipino; Pilipino: Timog Katagalugan), designated as Region IV, was an administrative region in the Philippines that comprised the current regions of Calabarzon and Mimaropa, the province of Aurora in Central Luzon, and most of the National Capital Region. It was the largest region in the Philippines in terms of both land area and population. After its partition on May 17, 2002, Southern Tagalog continues to exist as a cultural-geographical region.[1]
The region was bordered by Manila Bay and the South China Sea to the west, Lamon Bay and the Bicol Region to the east, the Tayabas Bay, Sibuyan Sea, and Balabac Strait, where it shared a maritime border with Sabah, Malaysia, to the south, and Central Luzon to the north.
Southern Tagalog was the largest region in the Philippines in terms of both land area and population. The 2000 Census of Population and Housing showed the region having a total of 11,793,655 people, which comprised 15.42 percent of the 76.5 million population of the country at that time.[2] [3]
Quezon City was the designated regional center of Southern Tagalog,[4] but Lucena was the former Government Center of Southern Tagalog, and is still host to most of the branches of governmental agencies, businesses, banks, and service facilities in the region.
The former region covered the area where many reside; the two other majority-Tagalophone regions are the National Capital Region and Central Luzon.
On September 7, 1946, Republic Act No. 14 changed the name Tayabas to Quezon; both Quezon City & Quezon Province were named in honor of Manuel L. Quezon, the Commonwealth president who was born in Baler, which was one of the province's towns.[5]
In June 1951, the northern area of Quezon (specifically, the towns of Baler, Casiguran, Dilasag, Dingalan, Dinalungan, Dipaculao, Maria Aurora and San Luis) was made into the sub-province of Aurora.[6] Aurora was named of the president's wife, Aurora Quezon, also a native of Baler. One obvious reason for creating the sub-province was the area's isolation from the rest of Quezon Province: there were no direct links to the rest of the province and much of the terrain was mountainous and heavily forested, which made the area relatively isolated, and its distance from Quezon's capital Lucena.[7] Aurora was finally separated from Quezon as an independent province in 1979, and added to Southern Tagalog.[8]
Region IV or Southern Tagalog was divided into Calabarzon and Mimaropa, upon the issuance of Executive Order No. 103, dated May 17, 2002, by then-President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Additionally, the province of Aurora was moved to Region III (Central Luzon), the physical location of the province. The total separation of Aurora from Quezon & transfer of Aurora to Central Luzon were the fulfillment of the wishes and prayers of the residents of the original Municipalities of Baler and Casiguran to be truly independent from Quezon Province for the first time & to reform the original La Pampanga since the Spanish occupation.[9] [10]
| Province | Provincial capital | Current region | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aurora | Baler | Central Luzon | |
| Batangas | Batangas City | Calabarzon | |
| Cavite | Imus / Trece Martires | ||
| Laguna | Santa Cruz | ||
| Marinduque | Boac | Mimaropa | |
| Occidental Mindoro | Mamburao | ||
| Oriental Mindoro | Calapan | ||
| Palawan | Puerto Princesa | ||
| Quezon | Lucena | Calabarzon | |
| Rizal | Pasig / Antipolo | ||
| Romblon | Romblon | Mimaropa |
Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur, which are under Bicol Region, are sometimes considered part of Southern Tagalog recently, as there has been a language shift in recent years to Tagalog, which is more common native language, from being historically Bikol-speaking provinces.
Southern Tagalog region had 13 chartered cities prior to its partition.
Cities that were recently added after the partition (all of these are located in Southern Tagalog mainland or Calabarzon):
The native languages of Southern Tagalog are:
Other native languages spoken in Southern Tagalog are Hatang Kayi, also named as Sinauna, a Central Luzon language spoken in Tanay, Rizal and General Nakar, Quezon (this is related to Kapampangan and Sambalic languages), the Manide language in east Quezon and a small portion in north Quezon, the Umiray Dumaget language in north Quezon and a small area in central Quezon, and the Inagta Alabat language on Alabat Island. The languages not native to the region are: Ilocano in Quezon, Laguna, Rizal, Cavite, Batangas, Mindoro, and Palawan (Aurora & Quezon have the largest concentration of Ilocano speakers when Aurora was part of Southern Tagalog, the statistics now exclusively belong to Quezon); Bikol in Quezon, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Marinduque; Cebuano in Rizal, Batangas, Cavite, and Quezon; Kapampangan and Pangasinan in Batangas, Cavite, Mindoro and Palawan; Maranao and Maguindanao in many parts of the region especially in urban areas.