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Manila...rich in History

The City of Manila  is the capital of the Philippines  and one of the cities that make up Metro Manila.

Manila is the center of government in the country and one of the central hubs of a thriving metropolitan area home to over 14 million people.  It is located on the shores of Manila Bay just west of the geographical center of the metropolis also known as the National Capital Region.

Manila is the second most populous city in the Philippines, with more than 1.6 million inhabitants. An adjacent city named Quezon City, the country's former capital, is more populous. The metropolitan area is the second most populous in  the entire Southeast Asia.

Manila lies at the mouth of the popular Pasig River on the eastern shores of Manila Bay, which is on the western side of the island of Luzon.  It lies about 950 kilometers southeast of Chinese Hong Kong  and 2,400 kilometers northeast of Singapore. The river bisects the city in the middle. Almost all of the city sits on top of centuries of prehistoric alluvial deposits built by the waters of the Pasig River and on some land reclaimed from Manila Bay. The layout of the city was haphazardly planned during Spanish Era as a set of communities surrounding the original Spanish Era walled city of Manila, called Intramuros.  The majestic Intramuros is one of the oldest walled cities in the far east. During the American Period, some semblance of city planning using the architectural designs and master plans by Daniel Burnham was done on the portions of the city south of the Pasig River. Burnham, the noted American city planner and architect, was famed for his plans and designs of Chicago, Cleveland (the Group Plan), San Francisco, Washington, DC (the McMillan Plan), and Baguio City, details of which appear in The Chicago Plan publication of 1909.

Manila is bordered by several cities in Metro Manila such as Navotas and Caloocan City to the north, Quezon City to the northeast San Juan  and Mandaluyong City to the east, Makati City to the southeast, and Pasay City to the south.

Well into the 13th century, the city consisted of a fortified settlement and trading quarter at the bay of the Pasig River, on top of previous older towns. The official name of the city under its Malay aristocracy was Seludong/Selurung, which was the same name given for the general region of southwestern Luzon at that time, suggesting that it was the capital of Ancient Tondo. However, the city became known by the name given to it by its Tagalog inhabitants, Maynila, first recorded as Maynilad. The name is based on the nila, a flowering mangrove plant that grew on the marshy shores of the bay, used to produce soap for regional trade; it is either from the phrase may nila, Tagalog for "there is nila," or it has a prefix ma- indicating the place where something is prevalent (nila itself is probably from Sanskrit nila 'indigo tree').(The idea that the plant name is actually "nilad" is a myth.)

The original Manila was inside the fortified walls of Intramuros meaning (within the walls) it was constructed and designed by Spanish Jesuit missionaries to keep from invading Chinese pirates and natives uprising. Manila became the seat of the colonial government of Spain when it officially controlled the Philippine Islands for over three centuries from 1565 to 1898. The city was also temporarily occupied by Great Britain for two years from 1762-1764 during the seven years war. During those two years under the British flag the capital was temporarily moved to Pampanga. Manila also became famous during the Manila-Acapulco trade which lasted for three centuries and brought the goods as far as Mexico all the way to South East Asia. Beginning in 1899, the United States ceded the Philippines from Spain and colonized the whole Philippine archipelago until 1946. During World War II, much of the city was destroyed. It was the second most destroyed city in the world after Warsaw, Poland during World War II. The Metropolitan Manila region was enacted as an independent entity in 1975.

Today, Manila is a city that hardly sleeps. With neighboring Makati as the country's business district, Manila is always on its feet in every industry. With its harbors as gateway to local and international businesses, Manila remains truly the capital of the Philippines. 

Metro Manila is now a city full of life where city-life continues until the wee hours of the morning even on weekdays. Full of activity, bars, restaurants, movie houses and malls become the usual places to-be at this city. Coupled with the good hospitality of the Filipino people, your visit to the city will truly be a memorable one.

(reference: Wikipedia)