Tacloban City the biggest and most attractive city on Leyte Island

The City of Tacloban is a port city approximately 360 miles southeast of Manila. It is the first in eastern Visayas to be classified as a Highly Urbanized City. It is the capital of the province of Leyte and is the largest city in terms of population.

Tacloban was first known as Kankabatok an illusion to the first inhabitants of the place Kabatok.

Tacloban has an excellent harbor with facilities for handling large ships and overseas trade.

The city is divided into 138 barangays.

Nearly all of the people of the City of Tacloban are Christian, with 70% Roman Catholic. The 25% are mostly Protestant and evangeligal Christian. And 4% of other Christian sects such as Mormon and Iglesia Ni Cristo.

The Muslim population cavers about 3% of the total city population. Based on a national census, this city has a population of 217,199 inhabitants up from 178,693 in the year of 2000.

Tacloban was first known as Kankabatok. Kankabatok was a favorite haunt of fishermen. They would use a bamboo contraption called Taklub to catch crabs, shrimps or fish. This city is one of the fastest growing cities in the Philippines. Tacloban is also the shopping center in Eastern Visayas. The city has been proclaimed as a highly urbanized city by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on October 18, 2008.

Tacloban is located on Cancabato Bay in the San Juanico Strait which divides the islands of Leyte and Samar.