The City of Cebu is the capital of Cebu in the Philippines and is the second most important metropolitan center in the country. The city lies on the eastern shore of the island of Cebu and is the first Spanish settlement in the country. It is the country's main domestic shipping hub and is home to more than 80% of the country's inter-island shipping companies. Cebu is also the main hub, outside of the capital, of international flights into the country and is the most important center of commerce, trade, and industry in the Visayas and Mindanao, the southern parts of the country. It is because of this and other important aspects that Cebu City is dubbed the Queen City of the South. According to the official 2000 census, it has a population of 718,821 people in 147,600 households.