Regional maps of the Philippines: Where to find and what to expect

Travel maps and your regional maps of the Philippines should be easy to find online.

With the right sources online, the keen and the interested traveler can easily get an idea on the province he is interested in and he can easily visit the area without feeling lost and confused. A simple check online and these regional maps can be seen and downloaded, depending on the site provider.

But before checking, reading and downloading these maps for personal satisfaction it is suggested that the interested tourist should have a basic understanding of what these regions are and a rough picture as to where these Philippine regions are situated. What is known as the regions in the country are those administrative divisions that are designed and organized to group the 81 provinces of the country. The regions do not have a separate local government, which can be observed in other countries. But there is one region in the country though that has a separate government or specifically a separate local government. This Philippine region is known as the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. This region in the country has a separate form of special government. This region has an elected regional assembly and a governor.

There is another region is the country that was intended to become autonomous as well and this was the Cordillera Autonomous Region. But there were some issues that have been encountered and the region was subsequently reduced to the regular administrative region. There are 17 regions in the country right now and these 17 regions are geographically combined into the three major island groups in the country.

Wikipedia offers a listing of the 17 regions of the country and offers a look at these regional maps as well. In the listing of regional maps of the country, names of three regions are capitalized. These regions are CALABARZON, MIMAROPA and SOCSARGEN. These are acronyms that will stand for their component cities and provinces. Maps of these regions are provided for at the same content provided with Wikipedia.

Here is one site where tourists can access to get information and see detailed regional maps of the country. The listing may not be comprehensive but good enough if tourists are targeting the major entertainment spots in the country.

The http://maps-guide.org/philippines/map.htm list maps of the following provinces;
• Bohol
• Boracay
• Cebu
• Davao
• Manila
• Palawan

The http://www.maplandia.com/philippines/ncr/ is one more source of regional maps. The site is different since the site makes use of Google maps. This makes sightseeing for the travelers sensible and a lot of fun.

The site can be a fun way to discover the many regions in the country since the site provides detailed satellite imagery. With this convenience the travelers get to surf for images the fast and easy way. Here at this site interested travelers can browse the comprehensive list of administrative regions of the country and tourist can follow the navigation through the secondary administrative regions that are provided for so that tourists can check out the regions where the tourists are interested in.

The travelers can start their search on either of the two search bars provided for- the NCR search and the Philippines Google satellite map.

Interested academics and observers will also note of a new regional grouping and regional maps and these are for the super regions of the country. This is a new development as proposed by Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The regional subdivisions are based on their economic strengths and not for their geographical locations.

The list of the regions and the corresponding regional maps are provided for http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_regions_of_the_Philippines . There are four proposed super regions and that list includes;

• North Luzon Agri-Business Quadrangle
• Metro Luzon Urban Beltway
• Central Philippines
• Mindanao

The North Luzon area is known for its agricultural lands and this is the reason why this region is called the country’s agri-business quadrangle.

The Metro Luzon is the urban beltway. This is the area known as the center of business and commerce. The Central Philippines is known as the Tourism Super Region since most of the country’s tourist spots are situated in this area of the Philippines. The Tourism Super Region is still on the drawing table and the government intends to focus on the development of the tourist spots in this area. These regional maps of the Philippines are great help for the academics and the interested travelers.