Bulacan is a province in the Philippines, located in the Central Luzon Region (Region III) in the island of Luzon, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) north of Manila (the nation’s capital), and part of the Metro Luzon Urban Beltway Super Region. Bulacan was established on August 15, 1578. It has 569 barangays from 21 municipalities and three component cities (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 2015 census, Bulacan had a population of 3,292,071 people, the most populous in Central Luzon and the third most populous in the Philippines, after Cebu and Cavite.[4] 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.