The City of Lucena (Filipino: Lungsod ng Lucena) is a first class highly urbanized medium sized city in the province of Quezon, Philippines. It is the capital city of Quezon and belongs to the 20 most competitive cities of the Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 251,575 people in 52,047 households. Nearby towns include Pagbilao (east), Tayabas City (north) and Sariaya (west). It is the only first class, highly urbanized city in the Calabarzon Region.

Lucena was originally a barrio of Tayabas town, then the capital of the Province of Tayabas which was explored by Captain Juan de Salcedo in 1571 & 1572. Tayabas was organized by the Spaniards through the Franciscan missionaries.

One of the former names of Lucena was "Cotta" meaning a strong fort, because forts or cottas were built to defend it from Muslim piratical raids. Spanish records mention the existence of cottas (Tagalog: kuta) along the coast of Lucena, particularly in Cotta itself and in the Barrio of Mayao, though these structures are no longer extant. Finally, on November 5, 1878, pursuant to an Orden Real Superior Civil, the community was named "Lucena." It became an independent municipality on June 1, 1879. The growth of local maritime trade facilitated in the Cotta port and the final defeat of Moro pirates plying the Luzon and Visayan waters, afforded the growth of Lucena as a town which eventually led to its being the capital of Tayabas province.

The Philippines ⁱ/ˈfɪlɨpiːnz/ FI-lə-peenz (Filipino: Pilipinas [ˌpɪlɪˈpinɐs]), officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (Filipino: Republika ng Pilipinas) is a sovereign country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam. The Sulu Sea to the southwest lies between the country and the island of Borneo, and to the south the Celebes Sea separates it from other islands of Indonesia. It is bounded on the east by the Philippine Sea. Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and its tropical climate make the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons but have also endowed the country with natural resources and made it one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. An archipelago comprising 7,107 islands, the Philippines is categorized broadly into three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Its capital city is Manila.

With an estimated population of about 98 million people, the Philippines is the 7th most populated Asian country and the 12th most populated country in the world. An additional 12.5 million Filipinos live overseas. Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelago's earliest inhabitants. They were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples who brought with them influences from Malay, Hindu, and Islamic societies. Trade introduced Chinese cultural influences which remain to this day.