Metro Manila (menil´e), city (1990 pop. 1,601,234), capital of the Philippines, SW Luzon, on Manila Bay. Manila is the center of the country's largest metropolitan area, its chief port, and the focus of all governmental, commercial, industrial, and cultural activities. In addition to its extensive and superb port facilities, Manila has a major international airport and is the terminus of the island's railroads and highways. It is the manufacturing center of the Philippines, with large metal fabrication, automobile assembly, and textile and garment industries. It also has food- and hemp-processing plants, cigarette factories, and establishments making toilet articles, pharmaceuticals, and other chemical products. The navigable Pasig River flows through the city, dividing it into two sections, with Intramuros (the old Spanish walled city) and Ermita (the site of most government buildings and tourist hotels) on the south bank, and the newer section (which includes the commercial district, many congested slum areas, and the Chinese quarter in Binondo) on the northern bank. Malacaņang Palace, the presidential mansion, is on the Pasig.Manila is one of the most cosmopolitan cities in Asia.