Davao City is in the Philippines' deep south. Located in Davao del Sur Province, it is bounded on the north by Davao Province, on the east and south by Davao Gulf, and on the west by North Cotabato Province. Here, you will find Mt Apo (the country's tallest peak), the Philippine Eagle (country's national bird and one of the air's magnificent fliers), waling-waling (an exotic rare orchid), and durian ("fruit of the gods").

It is considered one of the largest cities in the world in terms of land area.

Davao is the major economic, financial, and educational centre in Southern and Eastern Mindanao. It serves as the gateway to the island of Mindanao, being serviced by several national as well as international air and sea carriers. To this day, Davao City continues to straddle two worlds - the new and the old. Part of it is a flourishing metropolis of business districts, mechanized farms and cosmopolitan villages where "instant millionaires" live. And the other part is a rural landscape of hills that roll down into fertile valleys, dominated by the 2,954-meter-high Mount Apo, the grandfather of all Philippine mountains, and peopled by the Bagobo, Manobo, Mandaya, Bilaan and other ancestral tribes.

Today, about 1.2 million people of different origins call Davao City home. Most Davaoenos speak English, Pilipino (or Tagalog), and Bisaya, plus a host of other Philippine dialects.  English remains the main language for educational institutions and business transactions.