ILOILO, PHILIPPINES

Iloilo

 is a province of the Philippines located

 in the Western Visayasregion.

 Iloilo occupies the southeast portion of

 Panay Island and is bordered by province of Antique

 to the west and province of

 Capiz and the Jintotolo Channel to the north.

 Just off Iloilo's southeast coast

is the island province Guimaras,

 once part of Iloilo but now an independent province.

Across the Panay Gulf and

Guimaras Strait is Negros Occidental.

 Iloilo's capital is Iloilo City though

the city itself is independent and not governed

 by the provincial government of Iloilo.

The province is divided into two distinct geographic regions;

 the highlands of the Madia-as

 on the western border and the lowland

 plains which account for a larger portion of the province.

 Small islands east of its northernmost

tip also dot the Visayan Sea - of these,

 Pan de Azucar and Sicogon are well-known.

The Province of Iloilo has the largest

 marshland in Western Visayas after the Sanderbans.

People from Iloilo are called Ilonggos.

 There are two local languages spoken in the province:

 Hiligaynon sometimes called Ilonggo,

 and Kinaray-a.

 Hiligaynon and variants of it are

 spoken in Iloilo city and a few towns of the province.

 Spanish is strictly a local language,

 at least in a historical way with the number

 of natural Spanish speakers

strongly declining after WWII, and due to this,

 there are today many Ilonggos who do

not consider it a local language.