Zamboanga City

The City of Zamboanga is a highly urbanized city in the Philippines. It has been known as The Pride of Mindanao or "El Orgullo de Mindanao." Today, the city is nicknamed the "City of Flowers" and is affectionately called by Zamboangueños as "Zamboanga Hermosa," a Spanish phrase which means for "Beautiful Zamboanga."

Zamboanga has a population of more than half a million people. It is one of the most populous cities in the country. Zamboanga has been the center of commerce, trade, health services, and education for all of the Western Mindanao Region. The people of Zamboanga speak a unique language called Chavacano, which is a blend of Spanish and local dialects, but mainly using Cebuano as its indigenous language.

Zamboanga city is located on the southernmost tip of the Zamboanga Peninsula, on the island of Mindanao. It is located south of Manila, northeast of Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, and northeast of Indonesia. It is bounded on to the west by the Sulu Sea, to the east by the Moro Gulf, and to the south by the Basilan Strait and Celebes Sea. It is about 1 1/2 hours away by plane from Manila, and an hour away from both the cities of Cebu and Davao.