[11][12][13] Bacólod (English: Bacolod), is derived from bakólod (Old Spelling: bacólod), the Old Hiligaynon (Old Ilonggo) (Old Spelling: Ylongo and Ilongo) word for a "hill, turtle, mound, rise, hillock, down, any small eminence or elevation",[14] since the resettlement was founded on a stony, hilly area, now the barangay of Granada.

[citation needed] Historical church accounts provide a glimpse of the early years of Bacolod as a mere small settlement by the riverbank known as Magsungay (translated as "horn-shaped" in English).

When the neighboring settlement of Bago was elevated into the status of a small town in 1575,[16] it had several religious dependencies and one of which was the village of Magsungay.

[17] Bacolod was not established as a town until 1755 or 1756, after the inhabitants of the coastal settlement of San Sebastián de Magsung̃ay, were attacked by forces under Datu Bantílan of Sulu on July 14, 1755, and the villagers transferred from the coast to a hilly area called Bacólod (which is now the barangay of Granada).

The success of the uprising in Bacolod and environs was attributed to the low morale of the local imperial Spanish detachment, due to its defeat in Panay and Luzon and to the psychological warfare waged by Generals Aniceto Lacson and Juan Araneta.

On November 7, 1898, most of the revolutionary army gathered together to establish a provisional junta and to confirm the elections of Aniceto Lacson as president, Juan Araneta as war-delegate, as well as the other officials.

[28][29] Lieutenant General Kawano "Kono" Takeshi, the Japanese commanding officer of the 77th Infantry Brigade, 102nd Division, seized the homes of Don Generoso Villanueva, a prominent sugar planter—whose home, the Daku Balay served as the "seat of power" (occupational headquarters for the Japanese Forces in Negros and all of the Central Visayan region of the Philippines) and being the tallest building of Bacolod it served as the city's watchtower—and the home of his brother-in-law, Don Mariano Ramos, the first appointed Municipal President of Bacolod.

In March 1945, upon the invasion of the American and Philippine Commonwealth forces, the withdrawal of the Japanese army into the mountains and the temporary occupation of Bacolod by the combined U.S. and Philippine Commonwealth armed forces, the house of Villanueva was then occupied by Major General Rapp Brush,[29] commander of the 40th Infantry Division, known as the "Sun Burst" Division, for approximately five months.

When the country finally gained independence from the United States, the city's public markets and slaughterhouses were rebuilt during the administration of then Mayor Vicente Remitió from 1947 to 1949.

[30] Bacolod was classified as a highly urbanized city on September 27, 1984, by the provision of Section 166 and 168 of the Local Government Code and the DILG Memo Circular No.

[33] In 2017 & 2019, Bacolod was awarded the "Top Philippine Model City" as the most livable urban center in the country by The Manila Times.

[34][35][36] In 2021, Bacolod received the "2021 Most Business-Friendly Local Government Unit (LGU) Award" under the category of highly urbanized cities outside the National Capital Region (NCR) in the search organized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI).

As a coastal city, it is bounded on the west by the Guimaras Strait, serving as a natural border of northwestern Negros Island Region to the neighboring Western Visayas.

[citation needed] The altitude is 32.8 feet or 10.0 metres above sea level, with the Bacolod City Public Plaza as the benchmark.

[50] Bacolod ranked 3rd among the top ten "Next Wave Cities" of the Philippines for the best location for BPO and offshoring according to a 2010 report of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology.

[33] Among the notable BPO and KPO companies operating in the city are Concentrix, Teleperformance, TTEC, iQor, Transcom, Ubiquity Global Services,[53][54] Panasiatic Solutions,[55] Focus Direct Inc. – Bacolod,[56] Pierre and Paul Solutions Inc.,[56][57] TELESYNERGY Corp. – Bacolod,[58] Hit Rate Solutions/Next Level IT Teleservices Inc.,[59][56] Focusinc Group Corporation (FGC Plus),[60] Pathcutters Philippines Inc.,[61] TeleQuest Voice Services (TQVS),[56][57] ServiceFirst Call Center and BPO, Fair Trade Outsourcing, Global Strategic Business Process Solutions, Monster Group Bacolod, Orbit Teleservices, VISAYA KPO Bacolod, and iReply Back Office Services.

In 2012, a two-hectare (4.9-acre) portion of the four-hectare (9.9-acre) Paglaum Sports Complex was partitioned for the construction of the provincial government-owned Negros First CyberCentre (NFCC) as an IT-BPO Outsourcing Hub with a budget of P674-million.

It is located at Lacson corner Hernaez Streets and offers up to 22,000 square meters of mixed IT-BPO and commercial spaces.

AIM also recognized Bacolod as one of the Top Five most competitive mid-size cities together with Batangas, Iligan, Iloilo, and San Fernando.

The 2008 PBA All-Star Weekend was held in the city and has since been a regular venue of the Philippine Basketball Association's out-of-town games.

Bacolod is home to many mixed martial arts competitions including quarterly fights hosted by the Universal Reality Combat Championship.

The stadium is also the home of Panaad sa Negros Festival, a week-long celebration participated in by all cities and municipalities in the province held annually every summer.

Bacolod public plaza is the final destination of Masskara street dancing competitions which is the highlights of the celebration.

The cafe and the resident chef serves as the official caterer of the Office of the Governor and the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental for official dignitary functions[78][circular reference] The Paglaum Sports Complex is a provincial-owned sports venue adjacent to the Negros Occidental High School established during the 1970s that hosted various football events, such as the 1991 Philippines International Cup and the football event of the 2005 Southeast Asian Games.

In 2012, a two-hectare portion of the four-hectare complex was partitioned for the construction of the Capitol-owned Negros First CyberCentre (NFCC) as an IT-BPO Outsourcing Hub.

As of 2013, the provincial government has been proposing for a renovation of the stadium to serve as alternative venue to Panaad Park and Sports Complex, particularly for football competition.

Recently, the Paglaum Sports Complex also serves as an alternative venue to the Bacolod Public Plaza for the MassKara Festival celebration.

The Negros Occidental Multi-Purpose Activity Center (NOMPAC) is a provincial-owned multi-use gym adjacent to the Capitol Park and Lagoon.

These are: Other noteworthy educational institutions include: The Bacolod–Silay Airport, located in nearby City of Silay, is 15 kilometers north-east from Bacolod.

It has Fastcrafts going to Iloilo City daily, with different companies such as Weesam Express, OceanJet, Montenegro Lines, SuperCat.