La Paz, officially the Municipality of La Paz (; , ), is a municipality in the province of Tarlac, Philippines. According to the , it has a population of people.
The early history of La Paz needs to be clarified. Legends state that an old pueblo called "" was situated along the bank of the Chico River, bordering the province of Tarlac and Nueva Ecija. When the Chico River overflowed during a storm, a great flood swept the entire pueblo during the night. The flood is said to have devastated the area, claiming many lives.
This forced the inhabitants of "Cama Juan" to evacuate. The old site (Cama Juan) is known as "Balen Melakwan" or "Abandoned Town".
The inhabitants chose a field of evergreen grass and shrubbery on which to rebuild, which they named "Matayumtayum".
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Francisco Macabulos and Captain Mariano Ignacio selected a more centrally located site for the future town to be known as La Paz. This existed only as a barrio of the town of Tarlac until 1892, when it was separated from the latter and rechristened in honor of its patron saint Nuestra Senora de La Paz y Buen Viaje. Its emergence as a new town gave its citizens a chance to run their own government with Martin Aquino as the first Governadorcillo.
La Paz was made the first seat of the revolutionary government of the province of Tarlac during the Spanish regime with Gen. Francisco Makabulos as its first provincial governor.
La Paz lies in the southeast portion of the province and is from Metro Manila, from the provincial capital of Tarlac City, and from Cabanatuan. It is bounded to the north by the town of Victoria, to the east by the Province of Nueva Ecija, to the south by the town of Concepcion, and to the west by Tarlac City.
The municipality has a total land area of which represents 2.34% of the entire provincial area. La Paz is politically subdivided into 18 barangays, of which barangays San Isidro and San Roque are considered as urban areas and the rest of the barangays are considered rural areas.
La Paz is home to Solaren Renewable Energy Solutions Corporation, a Department of Energy (DOE) and Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board (PCAB)âÂÂaccredited solar EPC contractor headquartered in the municipality.
La Paz is politically subdivided into 21 barangays:
In the 2024 census, the population of La Paz was 71,978 people, with a density of .
The feast of Nuestra De Seá¹ ora De La Paz every January 23 to 24. Other tourism attractions in the town include Macabulos ancestral house, Nuestra Seá¹ ora De La Paz Church, and Chico River Grill Station.
The municipality has an approximate total road network of which are classified into four (4) categories, namely: national, provincial, municipal and barangay roads.
The barangay road network has an approximate length of . The roads are paved with either concrete, asphalt, gravel or dirt. The gravel and dirt roads have a total length of .
La Paz is the northern terminus of the SubicâÂÂClarkâÂÂTarlac Expressway (SCTEx) where it connects with TarlacâÂÂPangasinanâÂÂLa Union Expressway (TPLEx) and Central Luzon Link Expressway (CLLEx).
Several buses from Metro Manila going Nueva Ecija passes through the town via SubicâÂÂClarkâÂÂTarlac Expressway (SCTEx).
There are two schools district offices which govern all educational institutions within the municipality. They oversee the management and operations of all private and public, from primary to secondary schools. These are La Paz North Schools District Office, and La Paz South Schools District Office.