# Victoria, Tarlac

Victoria, officially the Municipality of Victoria (Ilocano: Ili ti Victoria; Kapampangan: Balen ning Victoria, Tagalog: Bayan ng Victoria), is a municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. 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 and Floridablanca (now part of Pampanga) and Tarlac (now Tarlac City) 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 formed in 1852 called San Vicente de Canarum. The name was derived from the wetland called Canarum Lake. Not until the signing of the decree by the Spanish Governor General Manuel Crespo on March 28, 1855, that the 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 Tarlac City, municipalities of Pura, Gerona, La Paz and to the east by the province of Nueva Ecija. The municipality has a total land area of 11,150 hectares, of which a large portion is used for agricultural activities.
Victoria is 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from Tarlac City and 139 kilometres (86 mi) from Manila.

### Barangays

Victoria is politically subdivided into 26 barangays.  Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.
* Baculong
* Balayang
* Balbaloto
* Bangar
* Bantog
* Batang-batang
* Bulo (Poblacion)
* Cabuluan
* Calibungan
* Canarem
* Cruz
* Lalapac
* Maluid
* Mangolago
* Masalasa
* Palac-palac
* San Agustin
* San Andres
* San Fernando (Poblacion)
* San Francisco
* San Gavino (Poblacion)
* San Jacinto
* San Nicolas (Poblacion)
* San Vicente (Poblacion)
* Santa Barbara (Poblacion)
* Santa Lucia (Poblacion)

### Climate

Climate data for Victoria, Tarlac :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 30 (86) | 31 (88) | 33 (91) | 35 (95) | 33 (91) | 31 (88) | 30 (86) | 29 (84) | 29 (84) | 30 (86) | 31 (88) | 30 (86) | 31 (88) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 19 (66) | 19 (66) | 20 (68) | 22 (72) | 24 (75) | 24 (75) | 24 (75) | 24 (75) | 23 (73) | 22 (72) | 21 (70) | 20 (68) | 22 (71) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 3 (0.1) | 2 (0.1) | 5 (0.2) | 10 (0.4) | 80 (3.1) | 107 (4.2) | 138 (5.4) | 147 (5.8) | 119 (4.7) | 70 (2.8) | 26 (1.0) | 8 (0.3) | 715 (28.1) |
| Average rainy days | 2.0 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 4.6 | 16.1 | 20.8 | 24.0 | 23.0 | 21.4 | 15.5 | 8.0 | 3.2 | 143 |
| Source: Meteoblue ||||||||||||||

## Demographics

| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1903 | 14,945 | — |
| 1918 | 15,661 | +0.31% |
| 1939 | 19,575 | +1.07% |
| 1948 | 24,398 | +2.48% |
| 1960 | 26,555 | +0.71% |
| 1970 | 33,141 | +2.24% |
| 1975 | 34,889 | +1.04% |
| 1980 | 34,942 | +0.03% |
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
| 1990 | 42,360 | +1.94% |
| 1995 | 47,546 | +2.19% |
| 2000 | 50,930 | +1.48% |
| 2007 | 57,085 | +1.59% |
| 2010 | 59,987 | +1.82% |
| 2015 | 63,715 | +1.15% |
| 2020 | 69,370 | +1.69% |
Source: Philippine Statistics Authority :
In the 2020 census, the population of Victoria, Tarlac, was 69,370 people, with a density of 620 inhabitants per square kilometre or 1,600 inhabitants per square mile.

## Economy

Poverty incidence of Victoria
* 5
* 10
* 15
* 20
* 25
* 30
* 2006 21.60
* 2009 20.17
* 2012 11.34
* 2015 18.89
* 2018 8.45
* 2021 15.70
* Source: Philippine Statistics Authority

### Victoria Industrial Park

Victoria Industrial Park, established in 2024, is a Filipino special economic zone comprising 297 hectares (730 acres) 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 (PEZA) based on an engineering and feasibility study.

## 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. It required more firetrucks from Tarlac City to be put out. As of now, the cause of the fire is unknown and only one casualty has been recorded.