Negros Occidental is a province occupying the north-western part of Negros. It is the fourth most populated province in the Philippines, known for its Chicken Inasal and its booming sugar industry, nicknamed The Sugar Bowl of the Philippines and home to one of the Philippines’ active volcanoes, the majestic Mt. Kanlaon (also named Canlaon or Kanla-on).
Prior to Hispanic rule, Negros was known as Buglas and when the Spanish arrived in 1565 they named the island Negros as the people who settled there before were Negritos. The first settlements were founded in Ilog and Binalbagan. Ilog then was declared as capital but then transferred to Himamaylan and finally transferred to Bacolod in 1849. By 1890 the island was divided into two: Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental. The Spanish rule had angered the people and they started wanting freedom from the Spanish. A rebellion led by Juan Araneta and Aniceto Lacson started on November 1898 which led to the defeat of the Spanish and was called the Negros Revolution, they then formed the Republic of Negros which then included the province of Negros Oriental which had their own administration.
