Marañón River

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Marañón River

Marañón River, an important waterway that joins the Ucayali River to form the Amazon River in the rainforest or Montaña region of Peru. Originating in the Peruvian central Andes, the Marañón flows northward until its confluence with the Santiago River and then eastward in the low Montaña region, where it is joined by the Huallaga River and later the Ucayali. It is a navigable river used commercially since the introduction of steamships in 1866, its banks supporting both industry and agriculture, including the mining of gold and limestone and the production of coffee, cacao, wheat, and fruits. In 1542, Francisco de Orellana, the Spanish explorer, was able to navigate through it and across the Amazonian jungle to reach Spain.

See alsoAmazon River; Mining: Colonial Brazil.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Javier Pulgar-Vidal, Análisis geográfico sobre las ocho regiones naturales del Perú (1967).

Additional Bibliography

Ferreira, Ramón. Comunidades vegetales de la cuenca superios de los ríos: Marañón, Huallaga y Ucayali. Iguitos, Perú: IIAP, 1996.

Rodríguez, Manuel, and Durán, Angeles. El descubrimiento del Marañón. Madrid: Alianza Editorial, 1990.

                                   Alfonso W. Quiroz

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