Cajatambo or Kashatampu is the capital of the

Cajatambo Province The Cajatambo Province is one of nine provinces in the Lima Region of Peru. It is bordered to the north by the Ancash Region, to the east by the Huánuco Region, to the south by the Oyón Province, and to the west by the Huaura Province. Overvi ...

in the

Lima Region The Department of Lima () is a department and region located in the central coast of Peru, the ''seat of the Regional Government'' is Huacho. Lima Province, which contains the city of Lima, the country's capital, is located west of the Departm ...

of Peru.

History

Founded during the

Tawantinsuyu 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 ...

(Inca Empire) before the advent of the Spanish conquistadors, with the name of ''Kasha Tanpu'', it was one of the stops along the Inca highway, being part of the imperial region of Chinchay Suyu.

Demography

The population of Cajatambo was estimated in 1896 to be roughly 6,000 people, although roughly 15 years later the ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition put the population at closer to 4,500. In recent decades many people have migrated to places with better opportunities and services, such as the city of

Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...

. Spanish is the language which the majority of the population (80.05%) learnt to speak in childhood, followed by Quechua (19.27%). The variety of Quechua spoken in the area is the Cajatambo Quechua (part of the Central Quechua "Wankay"), a Quechua I dialect which shares 74% intelligibility with the neighboring Huamalies Quechua.

Toponymy

The toponym Cajatambo comes from the

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

words: kasha ("thorn", "cold") and tanpu ("inn").

Geography

Geographically, Cajatambo is located in the Quechua region bordering the Suni region, its climate is dry and moderately cold with the sun's rays being temperate, however the temperature drops considerably at night.

Economy

Near the city there are silver mines, which used to employ a section of the population. In 2002, the Peruvian government declared regions of the mountains upon which Cajatambo is located to be protected, and future mining was prohibited. Nowadays, Cajatambo's vicinity is agricultural and pastoral. It is known for its cheeses, butter, manjar blanco and

chicharrón (, , plural ; pt, torresmo ; fil, chicharon; ch, chachalon) is a dish generally consisting of fried pork belly or fried pork rinds. may also be made from chicken, mutton or beef. Name , as a dish with sauce, or as finger-food snacks, ar ...

, which are found at very economic prices.

Tourism

Some tourist attractions near the town include the Astobamba's prairie and its peaks, the Baths of Shucsha, and of course the incredible Waywash range. Inca trails are still preserved and they are used as bridle paths by the locals. The fauna of Cajatambo conserves several wild species: andean foxes,

vicuña The vicuña (''Lama vicugna'') or vicuna (both , very rarely spelled ''vicugna'', its former genus name) is one of the two wild South American camelids, which live in the high alpine areas of the Andes, the other being the guanaco, which live ...

s, vizcachas,

andean condor The Andean condor (''Vultur gryphus'') is a giant South American Cathartid vulture and is the only member of the genus ''Vultur''. Found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America, the Andean condor is the larg ...

s, eagles, falcons, among others. In the same town falcons can be seen.

References

Populated places in the Lima Region {{LimaRegion-geo-stub