Cabanatuan

Cabanatuan is a component city in the province of Nueva Ecija on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, officially the City of Cabanatuan. The 2024 census counted 343,672 residents, making it the most populous city in Nueva Ecija, the seventh largest in Luzon outside the Greater Manila Area, and the largest city north of Metro Manila along the Pan-Philippine Highway. It is nicknamed the Gateway to the North and the Tricycle Capital of the Philippines because it is home to more than 30,000 motorized tricycles. Its location along the Cagayan Valley Road has made it the major economic, educational, medical, shopping and transportation centre for Nueva Ecija and the neighbouring provinces of Tarlac, Aurora and Bulacan. Cabanatuan was the provincial capital until 1965, when Palayan was recognised as the new capital, and it briefly served as the capital of the Philippines during the First Philippine Republic while President Emilio Aguinaldo moved north.