Cebu

Island and province of the Philippines, situated in the Visayan Sea between the islands of Negros and Bohol; area 5,090 sq km/1,965 sq mi; population (1995) 2,921,000. The capital is Cebu. The island is crossed by mountain ranges. The chief products are sugar, copra, tobacco, and hemp, in all of which there is a flourishing export trade. Shell and coral jewellery and rattan furniture are also produced. Coal, copper, iron ore, gold, and silver are mined. The food-processing industry is important to the island's economy, as is tourism.

Cebu as a whole suffers from overpopulation and soil erosion; 15,394 ha/38,040 acres of national park contain the remaining forest of a once well-forested island.

Ferdinand Magellan introduced Christianity to the Philippines on Cebu in 1521.