Bulacan, officially the Province of Bulacan (), is a province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Malolos. Bulacan was established on August 15, 1578, and part of the Metro Luzon Urban Beltway Super Region. It has 569 barangays in 20 municipalities and four component cities (Baliwag, Malolos the provincial capital, Meycauayan, and San Jose del Monte). Bulacan is located immediately north of Metro Manila. Bordering Bulacan are the provinces of Pampanga to the west, Nueva Ecija to the north, Aurora and Quezon to the east, and Metro Manila and Rizal to the south. Bulacan also lies on the north-eastern shore of Manila Bay. In the 2020 census, Bulacan had a population of 3,708,890 people, the most populous in Central Luzon and the third most populous in the Philippines, after Cebu and Cavite. Bulacan's most populated city is San Jose del Monte, the most populated municipality is Santa Maria while the least populated is Doña Remedios Trinidad. In 1899, the historic Barasoain Church in Malolos was the birthplace of the first constitutional democracy in Asia. On November 7, 2018, the Provincial Government of Bulacan bagged its fourth Seal of Good Local Governance award. The SGLG award is a progressive assessment system that gives distinction to remarkable governance performance. This province is a part of Greater Manila Area. History Spanish Colonial Era The Conquest of Bulacan traces to the first years of the Spanish in the Philippines. Upon the defeat of the Macabebe and Hagonoy natives led by Bambalito in the Battle of Bangkusay on June 3, 1571, that caused Martín de Goiti to move north, first to Lubao in September 1571. Two months later, on November 14, 1571, Goiti reached Malolos and Calumpit respectively and it was reported to Adelantado Miguel Lopez de Legaspi, the first Governor-General of the Philippines. Adelantado established Calumpit and Malolos as an Encomienda entrusted to Sargento Juan Moron (Morones in other documents) and Don Marcos de Herrera. These two conquistadores were one of the first group of conquerors accompanied by Legaspi who have arrived in the Islands in 1565. On April 5, 1572, the Encomiendas of Calumpit and Malolos were unified co-administered by Moron and Herrera. Also on that year, Alcaldia de Calumpit was formed in which the areas of Macabebe, Candaba, Apalit in Pampanga, and the settlements of Meyto, Panducot, Meysulao, and Malolos. On December 28,