Olongapo
Philippines · Asia
About Olongapo
Olongapo, officially the City of Olongapo, is a highly urbanized city in the Central Luzon region of the Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 264,903 people.
Although geographically located within Zambales and grouped with the province by the Philippine Statistics Authority, Olongapo is administratively independent. Portions of the city also form part of the Subic Special Economic and Freeport Zone.
Together with the municipality of Subic, Olongapo forms Metro Olongapo, one of the twelve metropolitan areas in the Philippines.
In 1868, a Spanish military expedition was dispatched to study the possibility of relocating the Cavite Naval Station in Subic Bay due to its unhealthy conditions.
Spanish King Alfonso XII through a royal decree made Subic Bay (then called Subig) as Spain's stronghold in the Far East in 1884. Vice Admiral Juan Bautista de Antiquiera made Olongapo a settlement for the Spanish Navy.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA. Photography via Wikimedia Commons.