Tacloban
city of the Philippines and capital of the province of Leyte
Tacloban ( tak-LOH-ban; Tagalog pronunciation: [tɐkˈloban]), officially the City of Tacloban (Waray: Syudad han Tacloban; Filipino: Lungsod ng Tacloban), is a highly urbanized city in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 259,353, making it the most populous city in Eastern Visayas. The city is located 360 miles (580 km) southeast of Manila.
Tacloban is the regional center of Eastern Visayas and the largest city and capital of Leyte. Although geographically situated within Leyte and grouped with the province by the Philippine Statistics Authority, it is administratively independent.
Tacloban briefly served as the capital of the Philippines under the Commonwealth government from October 20, 1944, to February 27, 1945. In a survey released by the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center in 2010, it ranked fifth among the country's most competitive cities and second among emerging cities. The city was devastated by Typhoon Haiyan on November 8, 2013, having previously suffered similarly destructive typhoons in 1897 and 1912. On January 17, 2015, Pope Francis visited Tacloban during his apostolic visit to the Philippines and celebrated Mass at Barangay San Jose and Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport.
Etymology
The area got its name from the word taklub, a bamboo tray used to catch crabs or shrimp.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Tacloban” as city of the Philippines and capital of the province of Leyte. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as city of the Philippines and capital of the province of Leyte. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q40626. VIAF identifies the subject as 235215605. Authority coordinates are 11.244, 125.004. 1 of 7 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2024, 1944, 1945 and 2010.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Tacloban”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Tacloban primary sources, Tacloban archive and Tacloban research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Tacloban”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Tacloban” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.