The town of Villa de Bacolor in the province briefly served as the Spanish colonial capital when Great Britain invaded Manila as part of the Seven Years' War.

[4] The territorial area of old Pampanga included portions of the modern provinces of Tarlac, Bataan, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Bulacan and Aurora; i.e. covered almost the entire Central Luzon.

Due to excessive abuses committed by some encomenderos, King Philip II of Spain in 1574 prohibited the further awarding of private estates, but this decree was not fully enforced until 1620.

Manila and its surrounding region were then primarily dependent on Kapampangan agricultural, fishery and forestry products as well as on the supply of skilled workers.

During the 17th century, The Dutch recruited men from Pampanga as mercenaries who served the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army, known as Papangers[9] part of the larger Mardijkers community.

[15] Due to its proximity to the capital and the presence of Clark Air Base, Pampanga was became one of the flashpoint of social upheavals of the early 1970s, and the ensuing dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.

[22] Prominent detainees imprisoned there include Edicio de la Torre,[23] Judy Taguiwalo,[24] Tina Pargas,[25] Marie Hilao-Enriquez,[26] and Bernard-Adan Ebuen.

[27] Prisoners who were documented to have been tortured include the sisters Joanna and Josefina Cariño,[28] the brothers Romulo and Armando Palabay,[22] and Mariano Giner Jr of Abra.

[29] Others were killed without being arrested, such as close friends Pepito Deheran, Rolando Castro and Lito Cabrera were sleeping in Cabrera's property in Sapang Bato, Angeles when they were attacked, captured, and tortured by Marcos' Civilian Home Defense Force militia forces after they participated in the protest movement that grew out of the assassination of opposition leader Ninoy Aquino.

The June 15, 1991, eruption of Mount Pinatubo displaced a large number of people with the submersion of whole towns and villages by massive lahar floods.

1992), which authorized the President to issue a decree converting the military reservation in the Clark area covering Angeles City, Mabalacat, and Porac, Pampanga and Capas, Tarlac into a special economic zone.

[33] On June 14, 1996, the CSEZ was expanded with the addition of the Sacobia area, which includes lands from Mabalacat, Pampanga and Bamban, Tarlac, through Ramos' Proclamation No.

[36] Pampanga covers a total area of 2,002.20 square kilometres (773.05 sq mi)[37] occupying the south-central section of the Central Luzon region.

[37] The province is bordered by Tarlac to the north, Nueva Ecija to the northeast, Bulacan to the east, Manila Bay to the central-south, Bataan to the southwest, and Zambales to the northwest.

Tagalogs live in areas on the boundaries with Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, & Bataan; they are mostly descendants of settlers arrived from those provinces, w/ others from Aurora.

Because of its proximity to Metro Manila from its south, people from farther provinces settled in Pampanga, resulting to minor populations of Bicolano, Ilocano, Ilonggo, Pangasinense and Visayans, mostly living in city areas.

Islam (0.017%) is also present in the province, mainly due to migrants originating from the south, as well as Buddhism, which is practiced by a few people of Chinese descent.

In addition to farming and fishing, the province supports thriving cottage industries that specialize in wood carving, furniture making, guitars and handicrafts.

Native sweets and delicacies like pastillas, turonnes de casuy, buro, are the most sought after by Filipinos including a growing number of tourists who enjoy authentic Kapampangan cuisine.

[50][51] The cookies are made with arrowroot, sugar, coconut milk and butter and are blessed in Catholic parishes every year on the feast of San Nicolas Tolentino.

Well-known annual events include the Giant Lantern Festival in December, the hot air balloon festival in Clarkfield in February and in Lubao in April, the San Pedro Cutud Lenten Rites celebrated two days before Easter, and the Aguman Sanduk in Minalin celebrated on the afternoon of New Year's Day.

Pampanga's geography has made the province an important rallying point for biodiversity conservation, particularly in the case of the Candaba Wetlands which provides critical habitat for migratory bird species which visit the Philippines from sites further north in Asia.

The province has 24 public telegraph offices distributed among its towns while the facilities of PT&T and RCPI were set up to serve the business centers in Angeles, San Fernando City and Guagua.

Angeles and small parts of Mabalacat are supplied by Angeles Electric Corporation (AEC) Villa de Bacolor, Guagua, Sta, Rita, Lubao, Sasmuan, Porac, Mabalacat and small part of Floridablanca are supplied by Pampanga Electric Cooperative II (PELCO II).

Buses that travel the routes of Manila-Bataan, Manila-Zambales, Manila-Tarlac, Manila-Nueva Ecija, Manila-Bulacan-Pampanga, and Manila-Pampanga-Dagupan serve as connections with the nearby provinces and Metro Manila.

The 84 kilometres (52 mi) North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) extends from Balintawak in Quezon City, Metro Manila, to Santa Ines in Mabalacat.

The province is also home to the Pampanga Giant Lanterns, which began play in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) during the 2018–19 season.

[57][58] The province also hosted the Pampanga Dragons of the defunct Metropolitan Basketball Association (MBA), who were also the league's inaugural champions.

The Provincial government is composed of a Governor as the Local Chief Executive of the Province, Vice-Governor and Members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.

The Third Judicial Region includes RTCs in Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Palayan and San Jose, inter alia: xxx.