The city

The Monument of Manuel L Quezon, The Past President of The Philippines

The City

Quezon City is the biggest city in Metro Manila, which at approximately 160 square kilometers covers almost one-fourth of the area of Metro Manila. The city lies on a relatively high plateau on the northeast corner of the metropolis between the lowlands of Manila to the southwest and the Marikina River valley to the east. The southern portion is drained by the very narrow San Juan River and its tributaries to Pasig River, while running in the northern portions of the city is the equally narrow Tullahan River.

Quezon City is bordered by Manila to the southwest, by Caloocan City and Valenzuela City to the west and northwest. To the south lies San Juan and Mandaluyong City while Marikina City and Pasig City borders Quezon City to the southeast. To the north across Marilao River lies San Jose del Monte City in the province of Bulacan and to the east lies Rodriguez and San Mateo, both in the province of Rizal.

The city can be divided into a number of areas. The southern portion of the city, where most of the interesting places are, is divided into a number of places including Diliman, Commonwealth, the Project areas, Cubao, Kamias-Kamuning, New Manila, San Francisco del Monte and Sta. Mesa Heights. The northern half of the city is often called Novaliches and contains the areas of Fairview and Lagro. Most of these areas have no defined boundaries and are primarily residential in nature.

Quezon City also has a vibrant nightlife. Tomas Morato Avenue is known as restaurant row where one can find a variety of restaurants from fine dining to fast food. Bars and cafes also line up Tomas Morato. West Avenue also has its own version of restaurant row, but the difference is that West Avenue restaurants come in clusters, while Tomas Morato has restaurants in nearly the entire stretch.

And for the more adventurous, Quezon Avenue, Timog (South) Avenue and West Avenue are lined up with nightclubs and other drinking joints. Some are seedy while others are wholesome.

Quezon City is also home to the major television broadcasting networks. ABS-CBN, GMA, ABC, RPN, IBC and NBN are all located in Quezon City.

Quezon City was created on October 12, 1939 by virtue of Commonwealth Act 502. It became the capital of the Philippines with the enactment of Republic Act No. 333 on July 17, 1948. In 1975, Quezon City became part of the larger urban governance scheme that is Metro Manila, with the creation of the Metropolitan Manila Commission by virtue of Presidential Decree 824. On July 24, 1976, then President Ferdinand E, Marcos issued Presidential Decree No. 940, conferring the role of the nation's capital to Metro Manila, hence the name National Capital Region.

President Quezon himself served as the city's first Mayor and he later appointed Tomas Morato to the position. A long line of distinguished Mayors succeeded Morato in the stewardship of the city as follows: Ponciano Bernardo, Nicanor Roxas, Ignacio Santos Diaz, Norberto Amoranto, Adelina Rodriguez, Brigido Simon, Jr., Ishmael Mathay, Jr. and the incumbent Feliciano Belmonte, Jr,

While relatively a young City, great events that shaped the nation's course of history took place in fabled lands now part of Quezon City territory. The National Centennial Commission, tasked to spearhead appropriate commemoration of 100 years of Philippine Independence, has included Quezon City in the "FreedomTrail" highlighting places and important events in the struggle for freedom and sovereignty, including the historic "Cry of Pugad Lawin" led by the Great Plebeian, revolutionary hero Andres Bonifacio on August 23, 1896, the People Power Revolution in EDSA that toppled the regime of President Ferdinand E. Marcos and the installation of Corazon Aquino, as the 11th President of the Philippines.

Quezon City has a population of 2,173,831 people, the largest in Metro Manila. The population is spread over four districts and 142 barangays. District II is the most densely populated area.

Average annual population growth rate (1995 - 2000) is 1.92%. By the year 2005, it is estimated that 2,390,688 people would be living in Quezon City.

Type of establishments	Number
Public schools: Elementary Secondary	138 96 42
Private schools	283
Public daycare centers	190
Public hospitals	18
Health centers	54
Police force	2,462
Fire fighting force	434
Media centers: Television networks Radio stations Print media offices	6 major networks 10 5
National government offices Government-owned & controlled corporations	125 25

Quezon City is at the northeastern portion of Metro Manila. It has a land area of 16,112.12 hectares, almost one-fourth of the National Capital Region (NCR) and is the biggest among NCR's 12 cities and 5 municipalities. Situated on the Guadalupe Plateau, the city's topography is largely rolling with alternating ridges and lowlands. The southern region of the city has low-grade terrain while the northern half is undulating, culminating at the Novaliches Reservoir. Served by a network of rivers and creeks, the city is efficiently drained except for some portions which experience flash floods due to the deterioration of waterways.

The City shares an aquifer system with Metro Manila which, due to overdrawing, has been subjected to saltwater intrusion. Another feature which it shares with the rest of the region is the Valley (Marikina) Fault System traversing the city's eastern portion.

District I	382,167
District II	942,074
District III	267,568
District IV	397,610