Tarlac

Tarlac
Province
Province of Tarlac
(from top: left to right) Capas National Shrine, Tarlac Provincial Capitol, Old Camiling site, Tarlac Cathedral, and Tarlac City.
Flag Seal
Nickname:  Melting Pot of Central Luzon
Anthem: Awit ng Tarlac
Location within the Philippines
OpenStreetMap
Coordinates: 15°30′N 120°30′E / 15.5°N 120.5°E / 15.5; 120.5
Country	Philippines
Region	Central Luzon
Founded	28 May 1873
Capital and largest city	Tarlac City
Government
• Type	Sangguniang Panlalawigan
• Governor	Susan Y. Sulit (NPC)
• Vice Governor	Carlito S. David (NPC)
• Legislature	Tarlac Provincial Board
Area [1]
• Total	3,053.60 km2 (1,179.00 sq mi)
• Rank	45th out of 81
Highest elevation (Mount Iba)	1,655 m (5,430 ft)
Population  (2020 census)[2]
• Total	1,503,456
• Rank	18th out of 81
• Density	490/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
• Rank	13th out of 81
Divisions
• Independent cities	0
• Component cities	1 Tarlac City
• Municipalities	17 Anao Bamban Camiling Capas Concepcion Gerona La Paz Mayantoc Moncada Paniqui Pura Ramos San Clemente San Jose San Manuel Santa Ignacia Victoria
• Barangays	511
• Districts	Legislative districts of Tarlac
Demographics (2000) [3]
• Ethnic groups	Kapampangan Ilocano Pangasinan Tagalog
• Languages	Kapampangan Ilocano Pangasinan Tagalog English
Time zone	UTC+8 (PST)
IDD : area code	+63 (0)45
ISO 3166 code	PH-TAR
Website	visit-tarlac.com

Tarlac, officially the Province of Tarlac (Kapampangan: Lalawigan ning Tarlac; Pangasinan: Luyag/Probinsia na Tarlac; Ilocano: Probinsia ti Tarlac; Tagalog: Lalawigan ng Tarlac; [tɐɾˈlak]), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Tarlac. It is bounded on the north by the province of Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija on the east, Zambales on the west and Pampanga in the south. The province comprises three congressional districts and is subdivided into 17 municipalities and one city, Tarlac City, which is the provincial capital.

The province is situated in the heartland of Luzon, in what is known as the Central Plain also spanning the neighbouring provinces of Pampanga, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija and Bulacan. Tarlac covers a total land area of 3,053.45 km² (305,345 ha).

Early in history, what came to be known as Valenzuela Ranch today was once a thickly-forested area, peopled by roving tribes of nomadic Aetas who are said to be the aboriginal settlers of the Philippines, and for a lengthy period, it was the remaining hinterland of Luzon's Central Plains. Today, Tarlac is the most multi-cultural of the provinces in the region for having a mixture of four distinct ethnic groups: the Kapampangans, the Pangasinans, the Ilocanos and the Tagalogs. It is also known for its fine food and vast sugar and rice plantations in Central Luzon.^[4]