General Tinio, officially the Municipality of General Tinio (Tagalog: Bayan ng Heneral Tinio, Ilocano: Ili ti Heneral Tinio), is a first-class municipality in the province of Nueva Ecija, Philippines. According to the 2024 census, it has a population of 58,093 people. It was known as Papaya until 1957.

The town is at the foot of the Sierra Madre Mountains, adjoining the Fort Magsaysay Army Reservation on the northeastern side.

According to the story passed on through generations, the town got its name because of a miscommunication between the natives and the Spanish colonizers. A native settler, when asked by a Spanish soldier, "Llama el pueblo?"(“what is the name of this town?”) replied, not understanding the Spanish language, "Papaya," referring to the particular fruit tree growing abundantly in the place. The name stuck with the Spanish colonizers, and the place from then on was called "Papaya."

Papaya was a sitio of Bo. Mapisong, which was then a barrio of Gapan. Bo. Mapisong became a town in 1851, changing its name to Peñaranda after Spanish engineer Jose Maria Peñaranda. Papaya became one of its barangays. Papaya became a town on January 1, 1921, through the collaborative efforts of Capitan Mamerto Padolina, who was then the Secretary of the Governor of the Province, Judge Segundo Bernardo, and Francisco Padolina.

Congressman Celestino Juan sponsored a congressional act changing the name of Papaya to General Tinio in honor of General Manuel Tinio, a revolutionary leader against the Spaniards who hailed from Nueva Ecija. The act was signed into law on June 20, 1957, as Republic Act No. 1665. The new name of the town was inaugurated days later, on August 19, 1957.

General Tinio is politically subdivided into 13 barangays. Each barangay consists of puroks and some have sitios.

Poverty incidence of General Tinio

Source: Philippine Statistics Authority