Bacolod

Bacolod, officially the City of Bacolod, is a 1st class highly urbanized city in the region of Western Visayas, Philippines. It is the capital of the province of Negros Occidental, where it is geographically situated but governed administratively independent. With a total of 600,783 inhabitants as of the 2020 census, it is the most populous city in Western Visayas and the second most populous city in the entire Visayas after Cebu City. It is the center of the Bacolod metropolitan area, which also includes the cities of Bago, La Carlota, Silay, Talisay, Victorias, and the municipalities of Enrique B. Magalona, Murcia, Pulupandan, San Enrique, and Valladolid, with a total population of 1,435,980 inhabitants, along with a total area of . It is notable for its MassKara Festival held during the third week of October and is known for bearing the nickname "The City of Smiles". The city is also famous for its local delicacies piaya, cansi, and chicken inasal. Etymology Bacólod, is derived from bakólod (Old Spelling: bacólod), the Old Hiligaynon (Old Ilonggo) (Old Spelling: Ylongo and Ilongo) word for a "hill, turtle, mound, rise, hillock, down, any small eminence or elevation", since the resettlement was founded on a stony, hilly area, now the barangay of Granada. It was officially called Ciudad de Bacólod (City of Bacolod) when Municipalidad de Bacólod (Municipality of Bacolod) was converted into a city in 1938.