Cavite City

Cavite City, officially the City of Cavite (Lungsod ng Cavite, Spanish and Ciudad de Cavite), is a 4th class component city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 100,674 people. The city was the capital of Cavite province from the latter's establishment in 1614 until 1954, when it was transferred to the newly created city of Trece Martires near the center of the province. It was started as the small port town of Cavite Puerto that prospered during the early Spanish colonial period when it became the main seaport of Manila hosting the Manila-Acapulco galleon trade and the port used for other heavy and larger sea-bound ships. Thereafter, San Roque and La Caridad, two former independent towns of Cavite province, were later added to form one municipality. The present larger Cavite City now includes the communities of San Antonio (includes Cañacao and Sangley Point), the southern districts of Santa Cruz and Dalahican, and the outlying islands of the province, including the historic Corregidor Island. The city has been known by at least two Tagalog names, the first being Tangway, which was the name given to the area by Tagalog settlers. Tangway simply means "peninsula". The second is Kawit or "hook", referring to the hook-shaped landform along the coast of Bacoor Bay, and from which the Chinese Keit and Spanish Cavite are in turn derived. The early inhabitants of Cavite City were the Tagalogs ruled by the Kampilan and the bullhorn of a datu, the tribal form of government. According to folklore, the earliest settlers came from Borneo, led by Gat Hinigiw and his wife Dayang Kaliwanag who bore seven children. Archaeological evidences in the coastal areas show prehistoric settlements. On May 16, 1571, the Spanish conquistador Miguel López de Legazpi declared the region a royal encomienda, or royal land grant. Spanish colonizers settled in the most populated area of the place (present day Kawit), they called it Cavite.