Explore Philippines (Tarlac)

  

Tarlac - Melting Pot Of Central Luzon

BRIEF DESCRIPTION
Tarlac is the most multicultural of the Central Luzon provinces. A mixture of four district groups, the Pampangos, Ilocanos, Pangasinenses, and Tagalogs, share life in the province.

Tarlac is best known for its fine foods and vast sugar and rice plantations. That it has fine cooking to offer is due largely to the fact that it is the melting pot of Central Luzon. It offers some of the best cuisines from the places of ancestry of its settlers, the provinces of Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Pangasinan, and the Ilocos Region.

Historical sites, fine food, vast plantations, a beautifully landscaped golf course, and so many other attractions – all these make the province of Tarlac one of the best of the places to visit in Central Luzon.

Geography
The province is situated at the center of the Central Plains of Luzon, landlocked by four provinces: Nueva Ecija on the east, Pangasinan on the north, Pampanga o the south, and Zambales on the west. Approximately 75% of the province is plain while the rest is hilly to mountainous.

Political Subdivision
Tarlac is divided into three congressional districts with 18 towns and an aggregate of 510 barangays.

Population
Tarlac has a population of 859, 222.

Language/Dialect
Ilocano is spoken by half of the population followed by Pampango spoken by 41%. Everybody understands the Tagalog language.

Climate
Like the rest of Central Luzon, the province has two distinct seasons: dry from November to April and wet for the rest of the year.

Major Industries
Principal crops are rice and sugarcane. Other major crops are corn and coconut; vegetables such as eggplant, garlic, and onion; and fruit trees like mango, banana, and calamansi.

Because the province is landlocked, its fish production is limited to several fishponds. On the boundary with Zambales in the west, forestlands provide timber for the logging industry. Mineral reserves such as manganese and iron can also be found along the western section.

Tarlac has its own rice and corn mills as well as sawmills and logging outfits. It has three sugar centrals. Other firms service agricultural needs such as fertilizer. Among its cottage industries, ceramics making has become important because of the abundant supply of clay.