Victoria, Tarlac

Victoria, officially the Municipality of Victoria (Ili ti Victoria; Balen ning Victoria, Bayan ng Victoria), is a 2nd class 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 km from Tarlac City and 139 km 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)

Demographics
In the 2020 census, the population of Victoria, Tarlac, was 69,370 people, with a density of undefined PD/km2.

Victoria Industrial Park
Victoria Industrial Park, established in 2024, is a Filipino special economic zone comprising 297 ha 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 a engineering and feasibility study.