The name was originally given to the Amazon River that runs through the state by the Spaniard Francisco de Orellana in 1541. Claiming to have come across a warlike tribe of Indians, with whom he fought, he likened them to the Amazons of Greek mythology, giving them the same name of Río de las Amazonas.
With a landscape of steep river gorges and mountains, Amazonas is the location of Kuelap, a huge stone fortress enclosing more than 400 stone structures; it was built on a mountain about 3,000 meters high, starting about 500 AD and was occupied to the mid-16th century. It is one of Peru's major archeological sites.
Amazonas is a state of Brazil, located in the North Region in the northwestern corner of the country. It is the largest Brazilian state by area and the 9th largest country subdivision in the world, and is greater than the areas of Uruguay, Paraguay, and Chile combined.
It would be the sixteenth largest country in land area, slightly larger than Mongolia. It is larger than the whole of the Northeast Region of Brazil with its nine states. Amazonas is roughly the size of the American largest state of Alaska and is equivalent to 2.25 times the area of Texas.
Neighbouring states are from the north clockwise Roraima, Para, Mato Grosso, Rondonia, and Acre. It also borders Peru, Colombia and Venezuela. This includes the Departments Amazonas, Vaupes and Guainia in Colombia, as well as the Amazonas State, Venezuela, and the Loreto Region in Peru.
Amazonas is named after the Amazon River, and was formerly part of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, a region called Spanish Guyana. It was settled by the Portuguese in the early 18th century and incorporated into the Portuguese empire after the Treaty of Madrid in 1750. It became a state of the Brazilian Republic in 1889.
Most of the state is tropical jungle; cities are clustered along navigable waterways and are accessible only by boat or plane. The capital and largest city is Manaus, a modern city of 2.1 million inhabitants in the middle of the jungle on the Amazon River 1,500 km upstream from the Atlantic Ocean.
Nearly half the state's population lives in the city; the other large cities, Parintins, Manacapuru, Itacoatiara, Tefe, and Coari are also along the Amazon River in the eastern half of the state.
At one time Amazon River flowed westward, perhaps as part of a proto-Congo (Zaïre) river system from the interior of present-day Africa when the continents were joined as part of western Gondwana. Fifteen million years ago, the Andes were formed by the collision of the South American Plate with the Nazca Plate (eastern Pacific oceanic) plate.
The rise of the Andes and the linkage of the Brazilian and Guyana bedrock shields, blocked the river and caused the Amazon to become a vast inland sea. Gradually this inland sea became a massive swampy, freshwater lake and the marine inhabitants adapted to life in freshwater.
For example, over 20 species of stingray, most closely related to those found in the Pacific Ocean, can be found today in the fresh waters of the Amazon.
About ten million years ago, waters worked through the sandstone to the west and the Amazon began to flow eastward. At this time the Amazon rainforest was born. During the Ice Age, sea levels dropped and the great Amazon lake rapidly drained and became a river. Three million years later, the ocean level receded enough to expose the Central American isthmus and allow mass migration of mammal species between the Americas.
The Ice Ages caused tropical rainforest around the world to retreat. Although debated, it is believed that much of the Amazon reverted to savanna and montane forest. Savanna divided patches of rainforest into "islands" and separated existing species for periods long enough to allow genetic differentiation,a similar rainforest retreat took place in Africa.
Delta core samples suggest that even the mighty Congo watershed was void of rainforest at this time. When the ice ages ended, the forest was again joined and the species that were once one had diverged significantly enough to be constitute designation as separate species, adding to the tremendous diversity of the region.
About 6,000 years ago, sea levels rose about 130 meters, once again causing the river to be inundated like a long, giant freshwater lake.
The pre-Columbian Amazonas was inhabited by seminomadic peoples whose livelihood mixed occasional agriculture with a fishing and hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Because of Christopher Columbus' misunderstanding of the continent at which he had arrived, the native population were and are denominated "índios" by the Portuguese.
Approximately two thousand Indian tribes lived in the region in the sixteenth century, perhaps amounting to some millions of people, but phenomena such as disease and assimilation to Brazilian culture caused their numbers to fall to approximately three hundred thousand, and two hundred tribes, by the end of the twentieth century. Certain uncontacted tribes still exist in the region.
Characterized by being the largest of the States of Brazil, with an area of 1,559,159.148 square kilometres (601,994.713 sq mi). Has most of your land occupied by forest reserves and water. The access to the region is mainly made by waterway or by plane.
It is located part of the North of Brazil, with bordering the States of Mato Grosso, Rondonia, and Acre to the South; Pará and Roraima, in the North East beyond the republics of Peru, Colombia and Venezuela to the Southwest and Northwest respectively.
Most of its territory is in the time zone UTC−4 (with 4 hours unless the Greenwich mean time GMT, and 1 hour less in relation to GMT. Thirteen municipalities in the West of the State are in the zone UTC−5, is one of the States of Brazil that contains two time zones in its territory.
Amazonas State is cut per all the territorial extension by river of the similar name in the horizontal course, the river is the largest in the State and in Brazil, is called from Tabatinga until Manaus of Solimoes River, a name that was given by the Portuguese chroniclers during the expeditions on the territory; in the state, the river has several tributaries, including the rivers; Negro, Madeira, Purus, Japura, Jurua, Iça or Putumayo and many other confluent, most rivers are navigable up to for large ships.
The average temperature varies very little by season, between 26 by 28 °C (79 by 82 °F), the rainfall varies from 50 to 250 mm per month, averaging 2100 mm per year.
Most of the state is in the tropical rainforest climate zone, a type of tropical climate in which there is no dry season—all months have mean precipitation values of at least 60 mm. Its latitude is within five degrees of the equator—which is dominated by the Intertropical Convergence Zone. The equatorial climate is denoted Af in the Koppen climate classification
Amazonas is almost entirely covered by the Amazon Rainforest, 98% according to officials, and it is divided into three types of habitat, viz:
-igapos – permanently flooded land, roots of vegetation always submerged
- varzeas – higher than igapos, land is only submerged when rivers are at their highest during the wet season
- low plateau – higher still, never submerged
The Amazon represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests and comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world. Wet tropical forests are the most species-rich biome, and tropical forests in the Americas are consistently more species rich than the wet forests in Africa and Asia.
As the largest tract of tropical rainforest in the Americas, the Amazonian rainforests have unparalleled biodiversity. More than 1⁄3 of all species in the world live in the Amazon Rainforest and species are discovered on an almost daily basis. The largest biodiversity of the planet is present across the State of Amazonas, generating great surprise in its visitors.
The industrial sector is the largest component of GDP at 69.9%, followed by the service sector at 23.93% (2012). Agriculture represents 3.6% of GDP (2004). Amazonas exports: mobile phones 48.7%, others electronics 19.5%, motorcycles 7.7% (2002).
Amazonas economy was once reliant almost entirely upon rubber; today it has wide and varied industries, including the farming of cassava, oranges, and other agricultural products.
Recently the Brazilian government is pursuing the development of industries whose main focus will be the exporting of consumer goods. Due to its geographical proximity to the markets in the northern hemisphere and Amazon countries, like Venezuela, they believe this move will have a great economic impact not only in the north region of Brazil but in the entire country.
Over the last decades, a system of federal investments and tax incentives have turned the surrounding region into a major industrial center,the Free Economic Zone of Manaus.
The mobile phone companies and games consoles Flextronics, LG and Sony run mobiles phones and games consoles manufacturing plants in Manaus. Also, many other major electronics and motorcycles manufacturer such as Samsung Electronics, Honda and Yamaha plants there.
Tourism is now focused on ecotourism, centered in the cities of Manaus, Presidente Figueredo, Parintins, Barcelos and Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira.
Ecotourism is rampant here:
- Amazon Rainforest.
- Amazon River
- Meeting of the Waters,Rio Negro river and Solimoes river, in Brazilian Portuguese the river Solimoes is the local name of an extension of the Amazon River.
- Rio Negro
Anavilhanas Archipelago - The world’s largest fresh water archipelago of river islands, Anavilhanas is located on the Rio Negro in the Brazilian Amazon - 100 km upstream from Manaus.
- The Anavilhanas National Park is located between Manaus and Novo Airao.
- Lago Janauari Ecological Park
- Pico da Neblina National Park, Pico 31 de Março.
- State Park Ecological Serra do Acara.
- State Reserve Ecological of Nhamunda.
- Amazon Jungle Hikes & Canopy Tours
- Adolfo Ducke Forest Reserve
The Meeting of Waters is the confluence between the dark (blackwater) Rio Negro and the pale sandy-colored (whitewater) Amazon River or Rio Solimoes, as the upper section of the Amazon is known in Brazil upriver of this confluence.
- Mamiraua Sustainable Development Reserve
- Jau National Park
- Abufari Biological Reserve
- Pompadour fish.
- Cardinal tetra
- Pterophyllum scalare (freshwater angelfish).
- Açutuba Beach
- Tupe Beach
- Adolpho Lisboa Municipal Market in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil
Heritage and Culture sites
- City of Manaus,Rio Negro Palace, Amazon Theater, Justice Palace, Pied Tamarin Ecological Reserves, Municipal Park of Mindú, CIGS Zoo and Police Museum.
- City of Parintins,folklore festival occurs in June each year, included the carnival which occurs in February.
- City of Sao Gabriel da Cachoeira,culture of indigenous tribes: Baniwa, Yanomami and Tukano, the hill of the Six Lakes and Pico da Neblina - is the highest mountain in Brazil.
- Ponta Negra Beach
- Presidente Figueiredo natural waterfalls.
- Balbina Lake, where the piranha fishing and other amazonian fish are found.
- The Science Grove.
- Boi-Bumbas of Parintins Festival.
- Adolpho Lisboa Municipal Market.
The state also holds one of the greatest folkloric festivals of the country: Parintins Folklore Festival, which combines music, dance and all the cultural roots of the state, and the Amazonas Opera Festival.
Main theaters of the Amazonas
- Manauara Theater
- Chamine Theater
- LaSalle Theater
- Amazon Theater which is the most famous.
- Cultural Center Peoples of Amazonian
- Main museums of the Amazonas
- MUSA, Amazonia Museum
- Indians Museum or Museu do Indio
- Casa Eduardo Ribeiro Museum
- Paço da Liberdade Museum
- Museum of Natural Sciences
- Caucho Museum or Seringal Museum the official name is Museu do Seringal
- Tiradentes Museum Manaus
Shopping centers in the Amazonas
- Manauara Shopping Center
- Amazonas Shopping Center
- ViaNorte Mall
- Ponta Negra Mall
- Millennium Shopping
- Sumauna Park and Shopping Center
- Cidade Leste Mall
- Grande Circular Shopping
- UAI Sao Jose Mall
- Parintins Mall
Eduardo Gomes International Airport(MAO) in Manaus employs roughly 3,300 people, among employees of Infraero, public agencies, concession holders, airlines and auxiliary services. The airport has two passenger terminals, one for scheduled flights and the other for regional aviation.
It also has three cargo terminals: Terminal I was opened in 1976, Terminal II in 1980 and Terminal III in 2004. Eduardo Gomes International Airport is Brazil's third largest in freight movement, handling the import and export demand from the Manaus Industrial Complex.
The Amazonas Region consists of regions covered by rainforests and mountain ranges. The rainforest zone predominates (72.93%) and it extends to the north over its oriental slope, up to the border with Ecuador in the summits of the Cordillera del Condor. The mountain range zone is located in the southern provinces of the Amazonas Region and it only includes 27.07% of its whole territorial surface.
One of the factors that help to give big importance to its geography is not only that the big valleys and plains of its rainforest zone are the closest to the Pacific Ocean, but also its connections with the routes of the coast are the lowest.
This is because they use the Paso de Porculla,the mountain pass of Porculla that is located at 2,144 m. This is the lowest pass of the whole Peruvian Andes to arrive to the Pan-American road system.
The vast and deep Maranon valley which constitutes one of the most important morphologic features of the region.
The Maranon valley crosses a big part of its territory and expands itself from south to north. It reaches its greatest width in the province of Bagua. It narrows when it crosses the Cordillera Oriental Spanish for "eastern mountain range" in its most violent route towards the east, towards the lowest part of the Amazon. It crosses those wonderful canyons and natural porches called punkus, a Quechua word that means doors.
The Utkupampa valley which is the real axis of the Amazonas Region is located between 5° and 6° of south latitude and 78° and 79° of west longitude. It is longitudinally developed up to the Marañón River, in which it flowed at 400 m.
This zone is the principal center of production and human groups location. It is developed in four very pronounced sectors:
- Vertiente del Maranon (Maranon's spring), that has important quebradas (Seca, Bocana, Copallín Nuevo and Choloque).
- Valle Medio (the middle valley) that has eleven quebradas in its both borders.
- Valle Alto (the high valley) that has seven quebradas. The most important one is Magunchal.
- Planicie de Bagua (the Bagua's plain), wavy and picturesque, that is located at 550 m. In some places, it mounts up to 900 m., for example in the inhabited point called La Peca.
The principal tributaries of the Utkupampa are the Chiriaco, the Nieva, the Santiago that is born in Ecuador and the Cenepa, that is born in the north zone of the Cordillera del Condor. The Cenepa River receives in its trip numerous tributaries like the Comaina. It flowed in the Maranon river, located near Orellana (Condorcanqui Province).
The Utkupampa valley which is born in the high jalcas of the Chachapoyas Province and which runs from southeast to northwest to mix with the waters of the Maranon River, forms the immense plain of Bagua. This plain has a warm climate, which temperature can reach a maximum of 40 °C, being the minimum one 21 °C.
Like in the whole high jungle region of Peru –head of mountain-, its water regimen is irregular and sometimes without rains.
Some of the important places inside this route are the touristic corridor of the Utkupampa and the lake Pumaqucha.
Some excavation of archaeological sites covered over by the rain forest have attested to the presence of humans in the area since ancient times. Most of the Pre-Hispanic cultures that became prosperous in the area are still a mystery due to the lack of research. Deep in the interior, Kuelap's Fortress is an ancient walled city and archeological site in the mountains.
The largest stone complex in South America, it is located 3,000 meters above sea level, higher than the site of Machu Picchu. It is located above the Amazon River, where it bends before entering the broad lowland basin. A huge construction of military architecture, Kuelap's Fortress includes the ruins of some 450 houses.
The Chachapoyas culture developed during the Inca age; these people strongly opposed the Incan conquest and repelled the first Inca attempts to incorporate the region to their empire in the 15th century.
The Spanish colonial region's capital, Chachapoyas, was founded in 1538 by Alonso de Alvarado. During the same year, its first church was built. Later the Santa Ana, San Lazaro and Senor de Burgos churches were built. In April 1821, the city's inhabitants expelled the Spaniards and ignored their rule, following the steps taken by the San Martin liberating army as Peru gained independence from Spain.
The area of the Amazonas Region was strongly linked to the movement for independence. The cleric Toribio Rodriguez de Mendoza was its most outstanding representative, encouraging the patriots of this era and signing the National Act of Independence.
The Cordillera del Condor, located in this region, was the scene of the border war between Peru and Ecuador in 1981.
The natives of the region received in a jubilant and cordial way the first Spanish who came into Amazonas. They knew about their arrival in Peru by the news that they had received from Cajamarca.
Those people had told Francisco Pizarro that Chachapoyas was an excellent agricultural region where the people possessed a lot of gold and silver. The conquistador did not lose time and formed an expedition of 20 men, putting captain Alonso de Alvarado in charge of it, with the express order to found a Christian city at Chachapoyas.
The chroniclers say that, when the Spanish arrived to the region, the Chachapoyas people gave big parties in their honor and gave them many rich gifts willingly, also numerous examples of appreciation, including showing some interest to become Christians.
Pizarro decided to send a second expedition, this time with instructions to take possession of the zone, delivering Alvarado a provision so he would be able to found the city of San Juan de la Frontera de los Chachapoyas.
But this time Pizarro's envoy met the bellicose resistance of a curaca called Huamán, whom they had to defeat before coming to their destination, where they founded the mentioned city on September 5, 1538.
Alvarado had chosen a place called Jalca, which apparently did not have the demanded conditions. This was the reason why the location of the flaming city was changed several times.
According to the papers of the epoch, the last time that a change was made was in 1544, but it is unknown when the city was established in its current place.
The same day of Chachapoyas' foundation, the members of the first cabildo were elected, turning out to be designated the councillors Gomez de Alvarado, Alonso de Chavez, Gonzalo de Trujillo, Gonzalo de Guzman, Luis Valera (father of the chronicler Blas Valera), Pedro Romero, Bernardino de Anaya and Francisco de Fuentes.
According to the Spanish custom, the layout of the city was made by means of rectilinear design streets.
A few years after its foundation, the prosperity of the region began to demonstrate itself in magnificent constructions in the city of Chachapoyas, with big courts, wide lounges and architectural characteristics adapted to the zone.
The colonial aspect of Chachapoyas stays almost intact until now, and it is one of the most attractive characteristics of this old city.
A refined religious feeling was one of the characteristics that distinguished the settlers of this region during the colonial period. In the same year of the foundation of Chachapoyas, the first church was built. Its first priest was Hernando Gutierrez Palacios. Later the churches of Santa Ana, San Lazaro and Señor de Burgos were built.
Three religious convents were also established: San Francisco, La Merced and that of the betlehemitas. The majority of the persons who settled in Chachapoyas from the time of its foundation were people with nobility, but poor. They were living in a modest and worthily way and they devoted themselves to agriculture and mining.
Many settlers achieved a loose economic position, keeping, nevertheless, the austerity of the customs that was one of the highlight points of Chachapoyas' social life.
With time the settlers were spreading to other zones of the region, such as Luya, city that was established in 1569 by the governor Lope Garcia de Castro, ratified later in its administrative organization by the viceroy Francisco de Toledo.
There it bloomed an agriculture of varied production and the upbringing of dairy, sheep and equine cattle.
In one of his pastoral visits, Saint Toribio de Mogrovejo visited the principal populations of this department in this epoch.
The inhabitants of Chachapoyas became involved in the movement for independence. In April 1821, helping the action of San Martin's liberating army, they ignored the Spanish authorities, exiling the subdelegate Francisco Baquedano and the bishop of Maynas Hipolito Sanchez, who were fighting openly against independence.
Noted patriots born in Amazonas include:
- Mariano Aguilar
- Manuel Rodriguez
- Luis Zagaceta
- Lucero Villacorta
- Juan Reina
- Jose Fabian Rodriguez
- Dionisio Hernandez
The military chief of Moyobamba, colonel Jose Matos, organized an army of 600 men, who confronted the patriots on June 6, 1821 in Higos Urco pampa. Although the latter lacked training, military knowledge or discipline, they faced the realistas determined to give their lives in defense of the proclaimed freedom. Matea Rimachi was an Amazonas woman renowned as a heroine of Higos Urco.
Toribio Rodríguez de Mendoza, a professor, politician, philosopher and jurist, was one of the most important patriot leaders of the Amazonas. He signed the record of national independence in Lima.
He was the rector of the Convictorio de San Carlos, member of the Sociedad Amantes del Pais or Lovers of the Country Society, founder and collaborator of the newspaper Mercurio Peruano, deputy of the Spanish Parliament and congressman of the first Constituent Congress, in which the majority of its members were his disciples.
The department of Amazonas was created by a law issued by the government of the marshal Agustin Gamarra, promulgated on November 21, 1832. The initiative belonged to two illustrious children of Chachapoyas: Modesto de la Vega and Jose Braulio de Camporredondo. Camporredondo was in charge of the presidency of the republic, in absence of the marshall Gamarra.
The same law contained a series of norms to promote the economic development of the new Hindu network including exonerations of rights in its commerce with Ecuador or Brazil. In accordance with this law, the regions of Pataz, Chachapoyas and Maynas will stay inside the limits of the Amazonas Region.
Salaverry tried futilely to annul the creation of this department that, later, according to diverse demarcating dispositions was diminishing in its area. Most of its territory was dismembered in 1866, when the department of Loreto was created.
The creation of its current provinces was realized in the following dates:
- February 12, 1821, Chachapoyas.
- February 5, 1861, Luya.
- December 26, 1870, Bongara.
- October 31, 1932, Rodríguez de Mendoza.
- September 1, 1941, Bagua.
- May 18, 1984, Condorcanqui.
- May 30, 1984, Utcubamba.
The colonial splendour of Chachapoyas, almost a complete city, was disappearing during the Republic because it had been imposed in the country new means of transport that were turning it in a cloistered and outlying city from the rest of the country.
Chachapoyas remained this way during more than one century in the Republic. Without highways of access, the route had to be done on horse, in long and painful caravans from the coast, or by the rivers from the region of the east. Such situation continue until 1960, date in which the highway arrived to Chachapoyas, although it had been already preceded by air transport.
Later, during the last government of the doctor Manuel Prado, there was constructed and inaugurated the highway that joins Chachapoyas with the big route of penetration Olmos-Marañon. With this, Amazonas was put in direct communication with Lima and the rest of the Republic.
The department of Amazonas possesses a great past that is still precariously evaluated and spread. On its borders, there are fabulous archaeological testimonies like Cuelap, the most extensive monument of the Peruvian ancestral past. Cuelap was the main city of the Chachapoyas culture in their peak years.
When the Spanish arrived in Peru in the 16th century, the Chachapoya were among the many nations incorporated into the Inca Empire. Their incorporation to the Inca Empire had not been easy, due to the sprouts of resistance that the chachapoyas offered repeatedly to the Inca's troops.
The chronicler Pedro Cieza de Leon offers some notes about the Chachapoyas:
They are the whitest and most handsome of all the people that I have seen in Indies, and their wives were so beautiful that because of their gentleness, many of them deserved to be the Incas' wives and to also be taken to the Sun Temple.The women and their husbands always dressed in woolen clothes and in their heads they wear their llautos, which are a sign they wear to be known everywhere.
Cieza adds that, after the annexation to the Inca Empire, the Chachapoya apparently adopted the customs imposed by the people from the department of Cuzco.
The meaning of the word chachapoya is unknown. If it is in the Quechua language, it may have been derived from sacha-p-collas, meaning the "colla people who live in the woods" sacha = wild p = of the colla = nation in which Aimara is spoken.
The Chachapoya territory was very extensive. It included the triangular space that is shaped by the confluence of the Maranon and Utcubamba rivers in the zone of Bagua, up to the basin of the Abiseo river. In this place are the Chachapoya's ruins of Pajaten.
To the south, their territory extended to the Chontayacu river. That was beyond the current border of Amazonas. The center of the Chachapoyas culture was the basin of the Utcubamba river.
This territory has been defined by the remains of structures in the distinctive Chachapoya architectural style. Garcilazo de la Vega records that the Chachapoyas' territory was so extensive that,
We could easily call it a kingdom because it has more than fifty leagues long per twenty leagues wide, without counting the way up to Muyupampa, thirty leagues long more,the league was a measurement that covered about 5 kilometers.
The area of the Chachapoyas corresponds to a region that was part of a mountain range and covered by dense tropical woods. It was named as the Amazonian Andes, to replace the former "mountain region".
As fast as the population was growing, the forests of the Amazonian Andes were felled in order to extend the agricultural area. This resulted in destruction of the rain forest and desertification, since the climate and rain combined to make a soil of low fertility.
Many plants could not be cultivated here, but deforestation exposed the land to aridity. Soil erosion has taken place in areas that became deforested. In the 21st century, the Amazonian Andes resemble the barren scenery of the Andean moorlands.
The Amazonian Andes are constituted by the oriental flank of the Andes, covered originally by a dense Amazon vegetation. It spread from the cordillera spurs until reaching surprising altitudes where the forests have not been felled, in certain cases exceeding the 3 500 m.
The Amazonian Andes have a height range of 2 to 3,000 meters of altitude, where the Chachapoya could develop their settlements. The numerous architectural remains show they were well established here.
The Amazonas Region has a millennial history. There are some testimonies exhibited on rocky walls dated from the most remote times. Such is the case of the rock paintings of Chinuna-Yamon and Limones-Calpon in the province of Utcubamba.
From the Chachapoyas culture, there are innumerable architectural remains, such as Cuelap, Congon the place that was re-baptized by the name of Vilaya, Olan, Purunllaqta the place that was re-baptized by the name of Monte Peruvia, Pajaten, etc. All these expressions of architecture show a model that allows to identify them like if they are related to each other.
What has not been established yet is the age of these architectural remains, neither which one would be the most ancient and which one the last in the cultural development of the chachapoyas.
Some of the archaeological testimonies that talk about the cultural splendour reached by the Chachapoyas in pre-Inca times are fantastic. These principally refer to two forms of grave and one wall painting.
These are some of the most important archeological sites found in the Amazonas Region:
- Sarcofagi of Carajía
- Revash's mausoleums
- Tunnels of San Antonio
- Kuelap
- Political division
The region is divided into 7 provinces or provincias, singular: provincia which are composed of 83 districts or distritos, singular: distrito.
The provinces and their capitals are:
Bagua - Bagua
Bongara - Jumbilla
Chachapoyas - Chachapoyas
Condorcanqui - Sta. María de Nieva
Luya - Lamud
Rodriguez de Mendoza - Mendoza
Utcubamba - Bagua Grande
Among others the region is populated by Aguaruna and Huambisa people.
According to the 2007 Peru Census, the language learnt first by most of the residents was Spanish (84.90%). The following table shows the results concerning the language learnt first in the Amazonas Region by province:
- Bagua
- Bongará
- Chachapoyas
- Condorcanqui
- Luya
- Rodríguez de Mendoza
- Utcubamba
The folklore of Amazonas is not as varied as in other departments of Peru.
The profusion of dances, songs and clothing is not seen in here, like in Puno or Cuzco. Its folklore is nourished from legends and stories in which mystery and inexplicable things are always present. Towns, lagoons, hills, religious images, always have an origin that violates in an invariable way the rules of logic or biology.
For example, if you ask people about the lake Quchakunka (Cochaconga) they will say that it is enchanted. They say it has the "form of a neck" and that with the smallest noise provoked by an animal or the scream of a person, there will be a tremendous thunderstorm in which an enormous monster will appear in the shape of cow.
This monster will become mad with the strangers. That's why, whoever passes by this remote place, does it with maximum precautions for not altering the local silence.
To give accommodation to travelers is an elementary norm of good behaviour with people. To deny it can provoke the most tremendous evil on the selfish person.
An irrefutable evidence is the marsh of Mono Muerto or Dead Monkey's marsh, in the Huambo District - Rodríguez de Mendoza Province. A dramatic story that people tell, with more or less details, but with the same respect.
A very rich man was living in his house. The marsh was a part of his estate, in which he was happy and lacking of nothing, until the day a traveler asked him for home and he denied it to him.
A witch doctor of the surroundings, who found out about the attitude of the wealthy neighbor, entrusted that all the curses fell on him. All his goods disappeared and his grounds became a stinking marsh.
Mysterious power are also assumed to the four lagoons of Pukyu, in which there are monsters that influence the crops, as well as to the lake Santa Barbara which disappears before the view of the walkers and it is destined to initiate the end of the world with the overflow of its waters.
Next to the city Chachapoyas there is a hill called Pisquwanuna or Piscohuanuna, in the way towards the forest. This name means where the bird dies, because the mountain kills all the birds that approach it.
People attribute pernicious influences to certain animals like the mochuelo that freezes the soul, or quien-quien, that makes fun of the travelers in the roads; or the cricket, which singing in certain circumstances, like when it has sound of bells, presages big evil.
People have big respect to the antique remains. They firmly believe that there will be terrifying punishments for those who violate the graves of the aguelos or mummies.
Most of the population of the department of Amazonas is indigenous and mestizo, being notable the people' quantity, in some cases entire communities, in which the Spanish type predominates. Since the time of the Incas, there are legends about the existence of white people in these places.
There are also versions gathered by chroniclers in which they assure that women were chosen here for the Inca, precisely because they were white.
Some of the dances most representative of the Department of Amazonas are:
- The Chumaichada
- Huanca dance
- The Danzantes de Levanto or Levanto's Dancers
- Carnaval en Amazonas or Carnival in Amazonas
Religiousness is an outstanding note in the most of these towns and they demonstrate it through the enthusiasm and withdrawal that they put into these celebrations. But, faithful to their tradition, their religious beliefs are mixed with fantastic apparitions and there is almost always a cave in them.
There are three Virgins who are famous:
- Virgen de Belen (Virgin of Bethlehem) in Chachapoyas.
- Virgen de Sonche (Virgin of Sonche)
- Virgen de Levanto (Virgin of Levanto)
Well, there is no one who does not believe the story that said that the three Virgins were found in a cave to which a young shepherd was mysteriously attracted. And when the Virgin of Levanto goes to Chachapoyas "her sisters" go to the outer parts of the town for "receiving her".
The venerated image of Santa Lucía (Saint Lucy) was also found by a girl in a cave. Cristo de Bagazan (Christ of Bagazan), who is venerated in Rioja, was also found by a stockbreeder who was looking for a lost ox. Near Almirante, he heard a voice that was calling him by his name from the interior of a cave, in which he found a Christ image that told him: take me.
In days of long drought, Cristo de la Contradiccion or the Christ of Contradiction disappears from the chapel of the cemetery of Chachapoyas and he is discovered when it begins to rain, beginning then big celebrations up to the time of taking him to his place again.
Corpus Christi, Holy Week, the Assumption, Dia de los Difuntos or Day of the death, and Christmas are classic dates in the calendar of this department. In Christmas Days there are groups of little shepherds that walk around the streets singing and dancing in front of the cribs. With the same splendour, the patronal feasts are celebrated in all the towns.
One of the most well-known and traditional celebrations is known as:
Los pastorcillos de Navidad or Christmas's little shepherds.
Some of the most well-known and delicious typical dishes of this region are the following:
- Tamalitos
- Cazuela
- Carne arrollada or rolled beef).
- Humitas de choclo or sweet tamale made of corn.
- Chipasmute
- Platanos rellenos or stuffed bananas.
Rice is the most important cultivation in this region.
This department includes inter-Andean and forest regions. It has a strong forest and hydro energy potential. The province of Bagua, because of geographical factors, has an agricultural development producing such commodity crops as rice, coffee, Cocoa bean, fruit trees and livestock.
The department of Amazonas presents three well-defined geographical areas with distinct climates:
- District of El Cenepa or province of Condorcanqui, humid tropical forest
- Province of Bagua, has a dry tropical forest.
The other provinces have the Amazonian very humid low mountainous forest, humid subtropical forest, and dry low mountainous forest.
The provinces of Bongara, Luya and Chachapoyas present a very hilly geographical configuration, that gives them mountain range characteristics. They have been called the Amazonian Andes.
Amazonas has a primarily agrarian economy. It also features mining and energy, specifically, hydropower and oil development.
The department has excellent and favorable conditions in both: climate and pastures availability for the agricultural-livestock development.
The information about structure of the agricultural surface, size of the agricultural units, main cultivations and cattle population is taken from what was recorded in the III National Agricultural Census 1994 (III CENAGRO), made by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informatica (INEI) (National Institute of Statistics and Informatics).
The department of Amazonas has 48,173 agricultural units (UA) with 9,811.75 km2. 99.9% of the UA have lands and 0.1% do not have them. This 0.1% are exclusively dedicated to the breeding of animals.
Structure of the agricultural area.
Agricultural structure Surface area (ha)
a. Total - 975,034
b. Agricultural surface - 159,934
- Farming lands - 71,595
- Permanent cultivations - 69,579
- Associate cultivations - 18,760
c. Non agricultural surface - 815,100
- Natural grasslands - 212,371
- Scrublands and forests - 538,032
- Other types of lands - 64,697
It only considers the area of the agricultural units that have worked lands.
From the total of agricultural lands (9750.34 km2), only 16,4% includes the agricultural area and 83,6% includes the non-agricultural area.
Size of the agricultural units and principal cultivations
Main variables Agricultural unit and Surface area (ha)
a. Main transitory cultivations 34,363 69,794
- Rice 4,294 12,942
- Dry yellow maize 9,634 12,508
- Yucca 11,186 10,896
- Banana 8,058 8,448
- Sugarcane for producing alcohol 5,702 4,156
- Soft corn 3,376 4,112
b. Main permanent cultivations 18,610 29,865
- Coffee 12,232 19,819
- Cocoa bean 2,282 3,121
- (soft) sharp lemon 351 409
- Coca 290 254
- Aguaje 235 253
It only considers the area of the agricultural units that have worked lands.
Agricultural units with 0.5 km2 and more only represent 4.4% of the whole department, but concentrate 61.8% of the agricultural surface.
Coffee concentrates 66.4% of the agricultural area with permanent cultivations (198.19 km2), followed by Theobroma cacao (cocoa bean) with 31.21 km2 (10,5%).
Livestock species
- Livestock species
- Cattle
- Sheep
- Pigs
Cattle are the most important one in the department. It is raised in 21,857 AU (Agricultural units) with a population of 139,267 head of cattle. Pigs are the second one with 34,421 head, distributed in 14,573 AU.
Institutions that are linked with the Amazon Region.
Several institutions are linked with the Amazon region in Peru and help its economic and social development and preservation. These include the following:
- Asociacion Interetnica de Desarrollo de la Selva (AIDESEP) - Interethnic Association for the Rainforest Development
- Centro Amazonico de Antropologia y Aplicacion Practica (CAAAP) - Amazon Center of Anthropology and Practical Application
- Instituto Lingüístico de Verano - Linguistic Summer Institute
Notable natives and residents
- Blas Valera
- Toribio Rodriguez de Mendoza
- Manuel Antonio Mesones Muro
- Jose del Carmen Marín
Places of interest
- Cordillera de Colan Reserved Zone
- Ichigkat muja - Cordillera del Condor National Park
- Santiago-Comaina Reserved Zone
- Gocta Cataracts
Tourism Observer
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