Population: 13943.29 as of 2020 Census
Land Area: 4,821 km2 (1,861 sq mi) and a coastline 261 km (162 mi) long,
Capital: Tagbilaran City
Tagbilaran City Population: 104,976
Tagbilaran City Land Area: 3,270 hectares including about thirteen kilometers of coastline.
Located at the heart of Central Visayas, the Island province of Bohol is the 10th largest island in the Philippines with a total land area of 4,117.3 square kilometres. It is composed of an oval-shaped mainland surrounded by 72 smaller islands.
A popular tourist destination, the province is abundant of beaches and resorts. Its well-known beaches are found in Panglao Island, which is situated south-west of the province, and in Anda, located on the island’s east side.
The province of Bohol is a first-class province divided into 3 congressional districts, comprising 1 component city and 47 municipalities. It has 1,109 barangays.
As of 2020 census, Bohol has a population of 1,394,329. The capital, Tagbilaran City, has a population of 104,976. Land area is 4772.52 square kilometers.
Bohol is bordered, clockwise from the Northeast, by the Camotes Sea, Canigao Channel, Bohol Sea, and Cebu Strait.
The province is a popular tourist destination with its beaches and resorts. The Chocolate Hills, numerous mounds of brown-colored limestone formations, are the most popular attraction. The formations can be seen by land (climbing the highest point) or by air via ultralight air tours.
Panglao Island, located just southwest of Tagbilaran, is famous for its diving locations and is routinely listed as one of the top ten diving locations in the world. Numerous tourist resorts and dive centers dot the southern beaches. The Philippine tarsier, among the world's smallest primates, is indigenous to the island.
It was the home province of Carlos P. Garcia, the eighth president of the Republic of the Philippines (1957–1961) who was born in Talibon, Bohol.
In 2017, the provincial government began initiating the nomination of the entire province to the UNESCO Global Geoparks Network.
Bohol is said to have been derived from bo-ol, a kind of tree that flourished on the island. Similar to Nahuatl, the h in the middle was used to transcribe a glottal stop which is a common phoneme in the languages of the Philippines. Claims that Bohol comes from the word "Bo'ol," which refers to the name of a place (the place thought of as the site of the Sikatuna-Legazpi blood compact) located a few kilometers away from Tagbilaran City is quite well-known. Some sources, however, say that it actually comes from the Visayan term "boho" (hole) owing to the abundant caves, caverns, and holes in the island.
Tagbilaran City, the capital of Bohol, is known as the “City of Friendship.” Situated in the south-western part of the province, it has a total land area of 32.70 km2 (12.63 sq mi) and a coastline of 13 km (8.1 mi). The city shares its boundaries with the municipalities of Cortes, Corella, and Baclayon. It is 630 km (390 mi) southeast of the national capital of Manila and 72 km (45 mi) south of the regional capital, Cebu City.
Tagbilaran City’s name is derived from “Tagu Bilaan” which means TAGU (to hide) and BILAAN (a Muslim marauder tribe) – hence its name means to hide from Muslim marauders.