A landlocked province in the heart of Cental Luzon, Tarlac is bounded on the north by Pangasinan, on the east by Nueva Ecija, on the south by Pampanga, and on the west by Zambales. Terrain is dominated by flat lands in the east side of the province and hills and mountains in the west side. Climate is charaterized by two pronounced seasons: dry during the months of November to April and dry during the rest of the year.

Tarlac Provincial Capitol

The province is a melting pot of many cultural groups majority of whom are Ilocanos, Tagalogs, Kapampangans, and Pangasinenses. Other groups are the Aetas.

1. Severino Aquino
2. Benigno Aquino Jr. - Former Senator and martyred opposition leader to the Marcos Regime
3. Corazon C. Aquino
4. Benigno Simeon Aquino III
5. Cesar Bengzon - Supreme Court Chief Justice (1961 - 1966)
6. Carlos P. Romulo - Cabinet Member; foremost Filipino diplomat
7. Lorna Tolentino - Multi-awarded movie and television actress
8. Tyron Perez - Movie and television actor
9. Francisco 'Django' Bustamante - Famous pool/billiard player

Agricultural production of Tarlac in 2007 is as follows (figure in thousand metric tons, rank among 79 provinces)

Animal inventory of Tarlac in 2007 are as follows (figure in thousand, rank among 79 provinces)

Another prominent farm product is sugar. Industries in the province involve the production of tires, and electronic materials. Tarlac City is the northern end of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEx). Poverty incidence among population stood at 27.6% in 2006 which is a little lower than the national average of 32.9%. There were 88 banks in the province with total deposits of 17.9 billion pesos in 2007.

One of the most politically and economically entrenched families in the country is the Aquino-Cojuangco Clan. They own the vast Hacienda Luisita that spanned many towns of the province.

With sufficient road network and its proximity to the international airport in Clark Economic Zone, Tarlac is ripe for sustained economic development. Starting with agricultural modernization, the province needs investors to put up commercial poultry and livestock raising, feed milling, fertilizer production, farm implement manufacturing, food producing, and herbal medicine production. A cold storage facility would greatly enhance the production of high value crops such as fruits and vegetables.

Industrial development of the province calls for investment in industrial estates and in the production of consumer goods, furniture, garments, electronics, and other products for the local and export market.

1. Death March Monument - in Capas
2. Dolores Hot Spring
3. Bamban Park and Caves
4. Luisita Mall
5. Maria Clara Museum - Camiling
6. Luisita Mall
7. Magsaysay Dam

Capitol photo credit to skyscrapercity.com

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