Tarlac City

On June 21, 1969, President Ferdinand Marcos signed and approved the Republic Act 5907, converting this municipality into a city. However, its plebiscite was unsuccessful, showing their voters rejected cityhood.

On April 21, 1990, the barangays of Burgos, David, Iba, Labney, Lawacamulag, Lubigan, Maamot, Mababanaba, Moriones, Pao, San Juan de Valdez, Sula, and Villa Aglipay, originally part of the then-municipality of Tarlac, separated and formed to be the part of San Jose. Tarlac now retains its 274.66 km² (106.05 sq mi) area.

Finally, on March 12, 1998, Republic Act 8593 was signed by President Fidel V. Ramos, making Tarlac as the component city of the province of Tarlac. On April 18, 1998, its residents approved the conversion of the municipality into a city. Tarlac was proclaimed as the component city by COMELEC on the next day, on April 19, 1998.

On October 27, 2005, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed the Proclamation No. 940, making Tarlac City into a highly urbanized city in the province.[5] However, the provincial government opposed the city's campaign for conversion into HUC. The majority of voters rejected the conversion in the plebiscite on February 11, 2006.

Tarlac City is politically subdivided into 76 barangays.[6]

Being at the meeting point of both Kapampangan and Pangasinan languages, cultures, and ethnicities, both languages are predominantly spoken in the city and environs. Ilocano and Tagalog are also used by a few city dwellers, especially those with Ilocano and/or Tagalog ethnicity/ancestry, respectively, with the latter language also serving as a medium for inter-ethnic communications.

According to statistics compiled by the Philippine government, the most dominant religion in the city is Christianity. The majority of Christians are Roman Catholics followed by a large concentration of Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ). Other Christian groups belong to various Protestant denominations. There are some being non-Christian such as Muslims, etc.

There are several shopping malls established within the city. To name a few, there is the SM City Tarlac, which is the first SM Supermall in the Tarlac Province, located along McArthur Highway in San Roque; Plaza Luisita Mall, which is the first shopping center in Central Luzon (now Robinsons Luisita); the Magic Star Mall along Romulo Blvd. in Barangay Cut-cut; My MetroTown Mall in Barangay Sto Cristo; Palm Plaza Mall located along McArthur Highway corner F. Tanedo St. Barangay Matatalaib; CityWalk also located in Barangay San Roque and CityMall located in Barangay San Rafael.

The Malatarlak Festival, celebrated every January in Tarlac City, is one of the most remarkable festivals in the province. In 2011, the City Mayor then changed the name of the festival to Melting Pot Festival, but it is still remembered by its former name. The festival is a commemoration to the first people who built civilization in the province, the Aetas. The names and themes of the festivals in Tarlac City have changed over the years depending on the City's leadership. For the current administration (since July 2016), the local fiesta or festival has been called Kaisa Festival derived from the word magkaisa (to unite).