Overview
Pampanga is a province in the Philippines, northwest of Manila. Nayong Pilipino, a cultural theme park in Clark Freeport, has replicas of major national sites. Animatronic dinosaurs roam at Dinosaurs Island nearby.
Description
A mountain trail leads to the streams of Miyamit Falls, southwest. Farther west, a turquoise lake fills Mt. Pinatubo’s volcanic crater. In Angeles, the Museo ning Angeles documents the area's history.
Pampanga’s creation in 1571 made it the first Spanish province in Luzon. Cebu was the first province in the Visayas founded in 1565. Also, La Pampanga served as the archipelago’s capital from 1762 to 1754 during the British invasion of Manila.
The province of Nueva Ecija borders the northern part while Bataan and Zambales on the southwestern and western regions, respectively, and Bulacan on the eastern and southeastern parts. It opens up to Manila Bay as seen on the map of Pampanga.
Pampanga serves as the home to two Philippine Air Force bases namely Clark Air Base and Basa Air Base in Angeles City and Floridablanca, respectively. Angeles City is geographically within Pampanga province, but it has an independent government being a highly urbanized and first-class city.