The

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

are mainly named after geographic features like rivers and islands, after abundant flora and fauna, after ethnic groups or individuals, or bear a name of older local origin.

Directions in Spanish

Some provinces are prefixed/suffixed with a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

word denoting one of the four

cardinal direction The four cardinal directions, or cardinal points, are the four main compass directions: north, east, south, and west, commonly denoted by their initials N, E, S, and W respectively. Relative to north, the directions east, south, and west are ...

s. These are: * es, Norte, lit=North ** es, del Norte, lit=of the North * es, Sur, lit=South ** es, del Sur, lit=of the South * es, Oriental, lit=East * es, Occidental, lit=West

Provincial names

Abra *''abra'', es, abra, lit=gap; opening. Originally the area called in es, El Abra de Vigan, lit=The Gap of Vigan, only referred to the narrow but conspicuous gap along the Malayan (Ilocos) mountain range through which the

Tineg River The Abra River, also called Lagben River, is the seventh largest river system in the Philippines in terms of watershed size. It has an estimated drainage area of and a length of from its source in the vicinity of Mount Data in Benguet provinc ...

has cut an exit. This topographic feature, now called the Banaoang Gap, is situated southeast of the city of

Vigan Vigan, officially the City of Vigan ( ilo, Siudad ti Vigan; fil, Lungsod ng Vigan), is a 4th class component city and capital of the province of Ilocos Sur, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 53,935 people. L ...

, where the Quirino Bridge is now located; it serves as the natural entrance to the fertile Tineg River basin. Over time the phrase was shortened, and the area which ''Abra'' referred to expanded to include most of the upland territory drained by the Tineg River between the Malayan Range and the Cordillera Central, and inhabited by the

Itneg The Itneg (exonym "Tinguian" or "Tingguian") are an Austronesian ethnic group from the upland province of Abra in northwestern Luzon, in the Philippines. Overview The Itneg live in the mountainous area of Abra in northwestern Luzon who descen ...

. Agusan ( del Norte and

del Sur Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes t ...

) *''agusan'',

Manobo The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially adopt ...

for "where the water flows," referring to the river that now bears this name.

Aklan Aklan, officially the Province of Aklan ( Akeanon: ''Probinsya it Akean'' k'ɣan hil, Kapuoran sang Aklan; tl, Lalawigan ng Aklan), is a province in the Western Visayas region of the Philippines. Its capital is Kalibo. The province is situa ...

*''akean'', Akeanon for "where there is boiling or frothing," describing the water flow of the

Aklan River The Aklan River is the longest river in the province of Aklan, Philippines, and third-longest river on Panay island (after the Panay River in Capiz and Jalaur River in Iloilo). Its drainage basin is the third largest in Panay. The river source i ...

at shallow areas near its mouth, where

Kalibo Kalibo, officially the Municipality of Kalibo ( Aklanon: ''Banwa it Kalibo''; Hiligaynon: ''Banwa sang Kalibo''; tgl, Bayan ng Kalibo), is a 1st class municipality and capital of the Province of Aklan, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, ...

is located, especially during the dry season. ''Aclán'' was the original name of Kalibo, and the river was known in early Spanish accounts as es, El Río de Aclán, lit= The River of Aklan. The Spanish-era territory that covered the river valley was also called ''Aclán'' but following subsequent divisions was renamed '' Calivo''. Upon the separation of the Akeanon-speaking part of

Capiz Capiz, officially the Province of Capiz (Capiznon/ Hiligaynon: ''Kapuoran sang Capiz''; tl, Lalawigan ng Capiz), is a province in the Philippines located in the central section of Western Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Roxas. It ...

in 1956, ''Aclán'' (spelled in

Filipino orthography Filipino orthography ( fil, Ortograpiyang Filipino) specifies the correct use of the writing system of the Filipino language, the national and co-official language of the Philippines. In 2013, the Komisyon sa Wikang Filipino released the ''Ort ...

as ''Aklan'') was resurrected as the name for the new province, and

was named its capital.

Albay Albay,