The Visayan Sea is a sea in the Philippines surrounded by the islands of the Visayas. It is bounded by the islands Masbate to the north, Panay to the west, Leyte to the east, and Cebu and Negros to the south.
The sea is connected to several bodies of water: the Sibuyan Sea to the northwest via the Jintotolo Channel, the Samar Sea to the northeast, the Guimaras Strait to the southwest which leads to Panay Gulf, the Tañon Strait to the south, and the Camotes Sea to the southeast.
Panay is the sixth-largest and fourth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of 12,011 km (4,637 sq mi) and a total population of 4,669,037 as of 2024 census. Panay comprises 4.4 percent of the entire population of the country. The City of Iloilo is its largest settlement, with a total population of 473,728 inhabitants as of the 2024 census.
Panay is a triangular island, located in the western part of the Visayas. It is about 160 km (99 mi) across. It is divided into four provinces: Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Iloilo, all in the Western Visayas Region. Just off the mid-southeastern coast lies the island-province of Guimaras. It is located southeast of the island of Mindoro and northwest of Negros across the Guimaras Strait. To the north and northeast is the Sibuyan Sea, Jintotolo Channel and the island-provinces of Romblon and Masbate; to the west and southwest is the Sulu Sea and the Palawan archipelago and to the south is Panay Gulf. Panay is the only main island in the Visayas whose provinces does not bear the name of their island.