The Carchi River is a river of
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
. It rises on the slopes of
Chiles Volcano, elevation , on the border of Ecuador and
Colombia. The river flows eastward across the high plateau of El Angel. The Carchi has a total course of about , forming the border between Colombia and Ecuador for about . It passes between the cities of
Tulcan, Ecuador and
Ipiales, Colombia and beneath the
Rumichaca Bridge, the principal terrestrial link between Colombia and Ecuador. Entering Colombia, the Carchi becomes known as the
Guáitara River which is a tributary of the
Patía River
The Patía River () is a river in southwestern Colombia. It flows over to drain into the Pacific Ocean north of Tumaco. The Patía River is the longest river on the Colombian Pacific Coast. The last is navigable by boat.
Geography
The Patía ...
.
The
Pasto people lived along the Carchi River in pre-Columbian times. At the northernmost point of the
Inca Empire
The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, ( Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The adm ...
the Pasto were never fully conquered by the Incas. The Carchi was known as the Angasmayo River by the Incas and the early
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
colonists. A natural stone bridge at Rumichaca was the northernmost outpost of the Inca Empire.
[Almeida Reyes, Dr. Eduardo (2015), "El Camino del Inca en las Sierra Norte del Ecuador y su Valoracion Turistica", Revista de Invetigacion Cientifica, No, 7, pp. 75-87]
See also
*
List of rivers of Ecuador
The rivers of Ecuador are an important part of the nation's geography and economy. Most of the over 2,000 rivers and streamsTerry have headwaters in the Andes mountain range, flowing therefrom either westward toward the Pacific Ocean or eastward to ...
* Rand McNally, The New International Atlas, 1993.
GEOnet Names Server
Water Resources Assessment of Ecuador
References
{{reflist
Rivers of Ecuador
Geography of Carchi Province
Colombia–Ecuador border
International rivers of South America
Rivers of Colombia
Border rivers