Santa Cruz, officially the Municipality of Santa Cruz (), is a first class municipality and capital of the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 123,574 people. Santa Cruz is situated on the banks of the Santa Cruz River which flows into the eastern part of Laguna de Bay. The town is bounded by the Bay on the north, by Lumban and Pagsanjan towns in the east, Pagsanjan and Magdalena towns in the south, and Pila in the west. It is from Manila via Calamba and Los Baños. It is accessible by land from Metro Manila passing through Rizal Province via Manila East Road or via South Luzon Expressway Santa Cruz is considered as the service and commercial center on the eastern part of the province. The town is composed of five barangays in the Poblacion area and 21 classified urban barangays. Although relatively far from the immediate urbanizing influence of Metropolitan Manila, Santa Cruz continues to progress. It is now classified as first class municipality. The present administration is headed by the Mayor Egay San Luis Sr.. Santa Cruz is also the seat of the provincial government since 1885, giving the municipality an additional administrative function over the entire province. It also functions as the service center for transportation, commerce, health, education, and other social services for the predominantly rural north-eastern municipalities of the province. Boosting the economy of the municipality are the incipient and fast-growing agribusiness industries such as livestock raising, horticulture and aquaculture. The town is composed of twenty-six (26) urban barangays. All barangays are being classified as urban. The development of Santa Cruz as the administrative, commercial, and service center of Laguna makes it accessible for all private/public vehicles going to nearby places particularly Pagsanjan, Lake Caliraya, Liliw, Paete and Nagcarlan. History During the last decade of the 16th century, Santa Cruz was once a well populated barrio of the present municipality of Lumban, as well as other contemporary towns like Pagsanjan, Cavinti, Paete and Pangil. On September 6, 1602, Santa Cruz separated from Lumban and became a pueblo with its church and local government. Since its foundation in 1602, the town had been ravaged by calamitous forces such as fires, typhoons, floods and human vandalism during the Philippine Revolution of 1896–1899, the war of the Philippine Independence (1899–1902), Battle of Santa Cruz, the assault of the Tulisanes (bandits)