Tanjay, officially the City of Tanjay (; ), is a 4th class component city in the province of Negros Oriental, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 82,642 people. It became a city by virtue of Republic Act 9026 otherwise known as "An act converting the Municipality of Tanjay, province of Negros Oriental into a component city to be known as the City of Tanjay". The Act was approved and signed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on March 5, 2001. This act, which is a consolidation of House Bill No. 8880 and Senate Bill No. 2256, was finally passed by the House of Representatives and the Senate on February 8, 2001. Tanjay was finally proclaimed a component city on April 1, 2001, after a plebiscite was conducted for the purpose. The city is part of the 2nd Congressional District of the Negros Oriental and is located north of Dumaguete. It is bounded on the north by Bais, on the south by the Municipality of Amlan, on the east by the Tañon Strait and west by the Municipality of Pamplona. The municipality is home to two indigenous languages, the Minagahat language and the Cebuano language as listed by the Komisyon ng Wikang Filipino. The city is known as the City of Professionals. History Señor Santiago and Tanjay The first map of the Negros Island, dated 1572 and charted by Diego Lopez de Povedano identified it as Buglas, the native reference derived from the tall cane-like grass which ranged thick and persistent over the island. Here, in much earlier times, lived men whose relics and artifacts, dating back to 200–500 AD and the 12th century Song dynasty have turned up in recent excavations were said to have ventured perhaps in the area we now know as Tampi in Amlan. Here, in 1565, Esteban Rodriguez of the Legazpi expedition, caught by storm on his way back to Cebu from Bohol, sought refuge in the eastern shore of the island and came upon squat negroid inhabitants called ata, agta, or ati. His report upon returning to Cebu prompted Fray Andrés de Urdaneta to visit the island, landing in what is now Escalante in Negros Occidental. In the same year, Capitan Mateo de Cadiz led a small expedition which reached an area near Tanjay. Capitan Miguel de Loarca followed with a bigger expedition and force and proceeded to lay claim to