Victoria, officially the Municipality of Victoria (; , ), is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

in the

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

Tarlac Tarlac, officially the Province of Tarlac (; ; ; ; ), is a landlocked Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon Regions of the Philippines, region. It had a population of 1,503,456 people according to ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 69,370 people.

History

The establishment of Victoria as a community may be traced back in the mid-1800s when the Spanish regime started to expand north from Manila. It almost happened at the same time when

Porac Porac, officially the Municipality of Porac (; ), is a municipality of the Philippines, municipality in the Philippine Province, province of Pampanga, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 140,751 people. History Pora ...

and Floridablanca (now part of

Pampanga Pampanga, officially the Province of Pampanga (; ; ), is a province in Central Luzon in the Philippines. Lying on the northern shore of Manila Bay, Pampanga is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, ...

) and Tarlac (now

Tarlac City Tarlac City, officially the City of Tarlac (; ; ; ), is a component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 385,398 people, making it the most p ...

) were formed. In the mid-1800s people started to settle around the swamp or wetland in search for a place where food is abundant. By 1849, houses and pockets of communities were deriving subsistence from the wetland. The biggest sitio was Namitinan, which became part of the earliest barrio, called San Vicente de Canarum, which was formed in 1852. Not until the signing of the decree by the Spanish Governor General Manuel Crespo on March 28, 1855, that barrio San Vicente de Canarum was separated from Tarlac to form an independent pueblo named Victoria. The name was used to highlight the victorious battle of the faithful followers of Queen Isabela II of Spain over their European enemies. Traces of its Spanish history may still be seen in the well preserved municipal building, several old houses depicting Spanish architecture and various edifices that were built more than a hundred years ago.

Geography

Victoria lies between 1"42’ north latitude and 120º35’ and 120"45 east longitude. It is bounded by

to the southwest; the municipalities of Pura, Gerona, and

La Paz La Paz, officially Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Aymara language, Aymara: Chuqi Yapu ), is the seat of government of the Bolivia, Plurinational State of Bolivia. With 755,732 residents as of 2024, La Paz is the List of Bolivian cities by populati ...

to the northwest; and, the province of

Nueva Ecija Nueva Ecija, officially the Province of Nueva Ecija ( ; ; ; ), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the Central Luzon region. Its capital is the city of Palayan, while Cabanatuan, its former capital, is the largest Local gove ...

to the east. The municipality has a total land area of 11,150 hectares, of which a large portion is used for agricultural activities. Victoria is from Tarlac City and from

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

Barangays

Victoria is politically subdivided into 26

barangay The barangay (; abbreviated as Brgy. or Bgy.), historically referred to as ''barrio'', is the smallest Administrative divisions of the Philippines, administrative division in the Philippines. Named after the Precolonial barangay, precolonial po ...

s, as shown below. Each barangay consists of

purok A ''purok'' () is an informal division within a barangay in the Philippines. While not officially considered a local government unit (LGU), a ''purok'' often serves as a unit for delivering services and administration within a barangay. ''Pur ...

s and some have

sitios A ''sitio'' (Spanish language, Spanish for "site") in the Philippines is a territorial enclave that forms part of a barangay. Typically rural, a ''sitios location is usually far from the center of the barangay itself and could be its own bar ...

. * Baculong * Balayang * Balbaloto * Bangar * Bantog * Batang-batang * Bulo (

Poblacion ''Poblacion'' (from Spanish '' población'', meaning "population"), sometimes abbreviated as Pob., is a term used in the Philippines to refer to the administrative center, downtown, old town, or commercial area of a city or municipality. It ...

) * Cabuluan * Calibungan * Canarem * Cruz * Lalapac * Maluid * Mangolago * Masalasa * Palac-palac * San Agustin * San Andres * San Fernando (

) * San Francisco * San Gavino (

) * San Jacinto * San Nicolas (

) * San Vicente (

) * Santa Barbara (

) * Santa Lucia (

)

Climate

Demographics

In the 2020 census, the population of Victoria, Tarlac, was 69,370 people, with a density of .

Economy

Victoria Industrial Park

Victoria Industrial Park, established in 2024, is a Filipino

special economic zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

comprising located in Barangay Baculong. It was created on July 4 by Proclamation No. 623 pursuant Republic Act 7916, the Special Economic Zone Act of 1995. The new Park will be evaluated by the

Philippine Economic Zone Authority The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA), formerly known as the Foreign Trade Zone Authority (FTZA) and Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA), is a Philippine government agency attached to the Department of Trade and Industry. It was ...

(PEZA) based on an

engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

and

feasibility study A feasibility study is an assessment of the practicality of a project or system. A feasibility study aims to objectively and rationally uncover the strengths and weaknesses of an existing business or proposed venture, opportunities and threats pr ...

Incidents

Town center fire

On December 13, 2024, around 6:00 in the evening, a fire erupted in a bakery near the town market. The fire lasted for an hour and burnt down an

ancestral home An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...

. It required more firetrucks from

to be put out. As of now, the cause of the fire is unknown and only one casualty has been recorded.

References

External links

Victoria Profile at PhilAtlas.com
* * Philippine Standard Geographic Codebr>Philippine Census Information
{{Authority control Municipalities of Tarlac