Quezon City

Quezon City (UK: /ˈkeɪzɒn/, US: /ˈkeɪsɒn, -sɔːn, -soʊn/;^{[9][10][11][12]} Filipino: Lungsod Quezon [luŋˈsod ˈkɛson] ^ⓘ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino as Kyusi),^[13][14][15] is the most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 3,084,270 people. It was founded on October 12, 1939, and was named after Manuel L. Quezon, the second president of the Philippines. Quezon City served as the capital of the Philippines from 1948 until 1976, when the designation was returned to Manila.

The city was intended to be the national capital of the Philippines that would replace Manila, as the latter was suffering from overcrowding, lack of housing, poor sanitation, and traffic congestion. To create Quezon City, several barrios were carved out from the towns of Caloocan, Marikina, San Juan and Pasig, in addition to the eight vast estates the Philippine government purchased for this purpose. It was officially proclaimed the national capital on October 12, 1949, and several government departments and institutions moved out of Manila and settled into the new capital city. This necessitated the expansion of the city northward, carving out Novaliches from Caloocan which divided it into two non-contiguous parts. Several barrios were also taken from San Mateo and parts of Montalban. However, on June 24, 1976, Presidential Decree No. 940 was enacted, which reverted national capital status to Manila while the whole of Metro Manila was designated as the seat of government.^[16][17] The city was also chosen as the regional center of Southern Tagalog, which was created in 1965, along with the provinces of Quezon and Aurora, the birthplace of Manuel L. Quezon; however, its status of regional center became ineffective when the region was divided into Calabarzon and Mimaropa, through the effect of Executive Order No. 103 in May 2002 under the presidency of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, and Aurora was transferred to the authority of Central Luzon, with Southern Tagalog limited to being a cultural-geographic region.^[18]

Quezon City is known for its culture, entertainment industry and media, and is aptly called the "City of Stars". Major broadcasting networks have their headquarters and studios in the city. It is also known for its commerce, education, research, technology, politics, tourism, art and sports. Several national government branches including the Batasang Pambansa Complex, the seat of House of Representatives of the Philippines, call the city home.

Quezon City is a planned city. It covers a total area of 161.11 square kilometers (62.20 sq mi),^[5] making it the largest city in Metro Manila/NCR in terms of land area. It is politically subdivided into six congressional districts, which represent the city in the Lower House of the Congress of the Philippines. The city has 142 barangays under the City Government. National government departments and agencies are mostly situated in the first National Government Center (NGC) in Diliman. and the second National Government Center in Batasan Hills, where the Lower House of the Philippine Congress is located. Most of the city's northern part lies at the foothills of the Sierra Madre mountain range, including the La Mesa Watershed Reservation, the largest watershed in Metro Manila and a designated protected area.

According to its 2023 estimated census, Quezon City had 3.1 million people in its boundaries, and ₱1.27 trillion (US$93.8 billion) in its gross domestic product (GDP), and it is the only planned city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines.