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Manila[munil´u] Pronunciation Key, city (1990 pop. 1,601,234), capital of the Philippines, SW Luzon, on Manila Bay. Manila is the center of the country's largest metropolitan area, its chief port, and the focus of all governmental, commercial, industrial, and cultural activities. In addition to its extensive and superb port facilities, Manila has a major international airport and is the terminus of the island's railroads and highways. It is the manufacturing center of the Philippines, with large metal fabrication, automobile assembly, and textile and garment industries. It also has food- and hemp-processing plants, cigarette factories, and establishments making toilet articles, pharmaceuticals, and other chemical products.
The navigable Pasig River flows through the city, dividing it into two sections, with Intramuros (the old Spanish walled city) and Ermita (the site of most government buildings and tourist hotels) on the south bank, and the "newer" section (which includes the commercial district, many congested slum areas, and the Chinese quarter in Binondo) on the northern bank. Malacanang Palace, the presidential mansion, is on the Pasig.
Manila is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Asia. It has many daily newspapers and periodicals, radio and television stations, a symphony orchestra, and more than 20 universities and colleges. These include the Univ. of Santo TomAs (1611), which during World War II served as an internment camp for thousands of American, British, and Dutch civilian prisoners; the Ateneo de Manila (1859); the Univ. of Manila; the Univ. of the East; and Manila Central Univ. The oval-shaped Luneta, the country's national park on Manila Bay, contains a monument to JosE Rizal, who was executed by a Spanish firing squad there.
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