The province of Pampanga is a part of the great plain extending from Manila Bay north of the gulf of Lingayen, Pangasinan. Most of this area is only a few meters above sea level. Mt. Arayat, with a height of 3,200 ft. and the elevated strip along the western boundary of the Zambales Mountain rise to a height of nearly 1,900 meters constitute the only highland. The general slope is south and southeast towards Manila Bay and Rio Grande. In the northwestern part of the province, however, the land slope is going downward towards Mt. Arayat. Not far from the base is the Pampanga River which channels floodwaters into the wide Candaba Swamp, then to tributaries, rivulets, creeks and finally to Manila Bay.
Pampanga is chiefly an agricultural province endowed with natural resources. It has always been chosen as model area because of its vast and fertile land devoted to rice production and other high value commercial crops. Of the total land area of 218,068 hectares, 138,707 hectares or 63.61 % is devoted to agricultural production.
The total land area of Pampanga is classified as follows:
- Agriculture - 138,707
- Built-up areas - 33,909
Subtotal 172,616 has.
- Forest Reserves - 12,484
- Established Timberland - 6,929
- National Parks- 3,709
- Military & Naval Reservations- 7,452
- Fishpond - 14,878
Subtotal 45,452 has
Total - 218,068 hectares
Pampanga has two pronounced seasons of types C and D based on the PAGASA classification. The dry season starts from November to April and wet from May to October. Only cyclonic or summer rainfall prevail the northeast monsoon rains being hardly noticeable, hence the long dry season. July, August and September are the months of high precipitation while March, April and May are the dry and hot months. The heaviest rains come during the month of July and sometimes last up to October. The heavy rainfalls bring about disastrous floods in some areas like San Luis, San Simon, Lubao, Bacolor, Guagua, Sto. Tomas, Minalin and Apalit.
