Tacloban [key], city (1990 pop. 136,891), capital of Leyte prov., NE Leyte, the Philippines, on an inlet of Leyte Gulf. It is a port and trade center. Tacloban was the first landing place (Oct., 1944) for U.S. troops in the World War II campaign that liberated the Philippines from the Japanese; a monument there commemorates the event. In 2013 Typhoon Haiyan devastated the city. Tacloban is the seat of Eastern Visayas State Univ., Leyte Normal Univ., and a campus of the Univ. of the Philippines Visayas.
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