Iloilo City is the capital city of the province of Iloilo, Panay. According to the 2007 census, Iloilo City has a population of 418,710 residents. Iloilo City, together with it's neighboring city, Bacolod, on the Island o Negros, recently topped a survey by MoneySense Magazine as one of the "Best Places to Live in the Philippines". The major agriculture of Iloilo and it's province is sugarcane, coconuts, rice, bananas and mangoes.

The neighboring island of Guimaras, that is basically a stone's throw away from, and separates, the islands of Panay and Negros, is considered as belonging to the Metro Iloilo area and is part of the province of Iloilo. Guimaras is famous worldwide for its mangoes, which are considered to be the sweetest and smoothest textured mangoes in the world. Mangoes from Guimaras Island are reported to be served at Buckingham Palace and The White House.

In 1566, the Spaniards under Miguel López de Legazpi came to Panay and established a settlement in Ogtong (now Oton). Legazpi appointed Gonzalo Ronquillo as deputy encomiendero, a position which would become governor in later years. In 1581 Ronquillo moved the town center approximately 12 km east due to recurrent raids by Moro pirates and Dutch and English privateers, and renamed the area La Villa de Arevalo in honor of his hometown in Ávila, Spain.

In 1700, due to ever-increasing raids especially from the Dutch and the Moros, the Spaniards again moved their seat of power some 25 km eastward to the village of Irong-Irong, which had a natural and strategic defense against raids and where, at the mouth of the Iloilo river, they built Fort San Pedro to better guard against the raids which were now the only threat to the Spaniards' hold on the islands. Irong-Irong or Ilong-Ilong was shortened to Iloilo.

In the late 18th century, the development of large-scale weaving industry started the movement of Iloilo's surge in trade and economy in the Visayas. Sometimes referred to as the "Textile Capital of the Philippines", the products were exported to Manila and other foreign cities. Sinamay, piña and jusi are examples of the products produced by the looms of Iloilo. The introduction of cheap textiles from the UK and the emergence of the sugar economy eventually signaled and end to the textile boom in the mid-19th century.

Iloilo's port was opened to the worlds market in 1855, which put Iloilo's industry and agriculture in direct access to foreign markets. But what triggered the economic boom of Iloilo in the 19th century was the development of the sugar industry in Iloilo and its neighboring island of Negros. Sugar during the 19th century was of high demand. Nicholas Loney, the British vice-consul in Iloilo developed the industry by giving loans, constructing warehouses in the port and introducing new technologies in sugar farming. The rich families of Iloilo developed large areas of Negros, which was more suitable for growing sugarcane. Because of the increase in commercial activity, new infrastructures, recreational facilities, educational institutions, banks, foreign consulates, commercial firms and much more sprouted in Iloilo. It was at this time that the Queen Regent of Spain raised the status of the town into a city, honored it with the title "La Muy Leal y Noble Ciudad de Iloilo", and in 1890, the city government was established.

In October of 1898, the Ilonggo leaders agreed to revolt against the Spanish occupation. By December 25, 1898, the Spanish government surrendered to the Ilonggo revolutionaries in Plaza Alfonso XVII (Plaza Libertad today). Although the Ilonggos were victorious, the American forces arrived in Iloilo in late December 1898 and started to mobilize for colonization by February 1899. Resistance was the reaction of Ilonggos upon the invasion which went up until 1901.

In 1900, at the coming of the Americans, the first Baptist church in the Philippines was established under the banner of the Northern Baptists, today known as the Jaro Evangelical Church. American Baptist mission activities gave birth to the Central Philippine University in 1905, among other schools to provide education to locals, particularly theological training for ministers to be deployed throughout the country. Iloilo thus became the center of Baptist missions in the islands, and the home of the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches.

The Americans reverted the city's status into a township again, yet because of the continuous commercial activities and because it was an important port of call in the Visayas-Mindanao area, it gained cityhood status once more in July 16, 1937, incorporating the towns of Molo, Jaro, Mandurriao, La Paz and Villa de Arevalo. During the American Commonwealth era, Iloilo was prosperous and was popularly known as "The Queen City of the South".

During the Japanese occupation of World War II, Iloilo was controlled by several Japanese Battalions. When Filipino & American forces liberated Iloilo from Japanese military occupation on March 25, 1945 the remnants of these battalions were held in Jaro Plaza as a make-shift detention facility.

By the end of the war, Iloilo's economy, life and infrastructure were seriously damaged. Continuing conflicts between labor unions in the port area, and the declining sugar economy gave way to a deteriorating peace and order situation in the countryside. As a result, Iloilo began to experience the exodus of its ancestral residents and businessmen to other cities and islands that offered better opportunities such as Bacolod and Cebu.

Beginning in the 1960s, Iloilo's economy started to progress at a moderate pace, mainly due to the construction of a fish port, an international seaport and the influx of other commercial firms that saw an opportunity to invest in Iloilo. This trend continued thru the 1990's and marked the city's emergence, once again, as a regional trading and business center.

Being the regional capital and the regional inter-island transportation hub, Iloilo City has a number of malls serving it, among them are SM City Iloilo, SM Delgado, SM Jaro, Robinson's Place Iloilo, Gaisano City Iloilo, Marymart Mall, The Atrium, Amigo Mall and Times Square. (Mall Map)

The Paraw Regatta is a race among seafarers on colorful sailboats called Paraws in the straits between Guimaras Island and the city of Iloilo. It is held every 3rd weekend of February. The present-day Paraw Regatta has managed to maintain its original design from the sailboats of the first settlers from Borneo. Surviving over the centuries, the paraws have become a vital part of the Filipino seafaring life. The first race started in 1973 with the mission to preserve the historic value of the paraws. Today, the event has grown from being a boat race into a festival with various interesting and exotic activities.

Jaro's celebration of the Feast of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria (Our Lady of the Candles) is held every February 2 and is well-known throughout the Philippines. The fiesta features pageantry with a fiesta queen from one of the prominent families and a cockfight at the Iloilo Coliseum, where cockfighting aficionados from all over the Philippines converge.