Ucayali () is an inland department and region of

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

. Located in the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, Amazon jungle or ; es, Selva amazónica, , or usually ; french: Forêt amazonienne; nl, Amazoneregenwoud. In English, the names are sometimes capitalized further, as Amazon Rainforest, Amazon Forest, or Amazon Jungle. ...

, its name is derived from the

Ucayali The Ucayali River ( es, Río Ucayali, ) is the main headstream of the Amazon River. It rises about north of Lake Titicaca, in the Arequipa region of Peru and becomes the Amazon at the confluence of the Marañón close to Nauta city. The city o ...

River. Its capital is the city of

Pucallpa Pucallpa (, qu, puka allpa, lit=red dirt; Shipibo: ''May Ushin'') is a city in eastern Peru located on the banks of the Ucayali River, a major tributary of the Amazon River. It is the capital of the Ucayali region, the Coronel Portillo Provi ...

. It is the second largest department in Peru, after Loreto. Pucallpa Plaza San Martín Fountain by Night

Geography

Boundaries

The department of Ucayali is bordered by the

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

ian state of

Acre The acre is a unit of land area used in the imperial and US customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong (66 by 660 feet), which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, of a square mile, 4,840 square ...

on the east; the department of Madre de Dios on the southeast;

Cusco Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the seventh most populous in Peru; ...

on the south; Junín, Pasco and

Huánuco Huánuco (; qu, Wanuku) is a city in central Peru. It had a population of 196,627 as of 2017 and in 2015 it had a population of 175,068. It is the capital of the Huánuco Region and the Huánuco District. It is the seat of the diocese of Hu� ...

on the west; and Loreto on the north.

Demographics

Population

According to the 2007 Census, the Ucayali department has a population of 432,159 inhabitants, 51.4% of which (222,132) are male and 48.6% (210,027) are female. 75.3% of the population (325,347) live in urban areas while the remaining 24.7% (106,812) live in rural areas. , the

Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática The Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática (INEI) ("National Institute of Statistics and Informatics") is a semi-autonomous Peruvian government agency which coordinates, compiles, and evaluates statistical information for the countr ...

estimated the department's population to be 468,922.

Languages

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 ...

is spoken as a first language by 87.6% of the population, while 4.1% speak

Asháninka The Asháninka or Asháninca are an indigenous people living in the rainforests of Peru and in the State of Acre, Brazil. Their ancestral lands are in the forests of Junín, Pasco, Huánuco and part of Ucayali in Peru. Population The Ashán ...

, 1.5% speak

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 ...

and 0.1% speak

Aymara Aymara may refer to: Languages and people * Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language ** Aymara language, the main language within that family ** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...

. Other

indigenous language An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by indigenous peoples. This language is from a linguistically distinct community that originated in the area. Indigenous languages are not neces ...

s, including

Shipibo The Shipibo-Conibo are an indigenous people along the Ucayali River in the Amazon rainforest in Peru. Formerly two groups, the Shipibo and the Conibo, they eventually became one distinct tribe through intermarriage and communal ritual and are cur ...

, are spoken by 6.6% of the population and 0.0% speak foreign languages.

Immigration

Persons originating from other departments of the country make up 34.7% of the population and 0.2% of residents were born abroad. The largest immigrant groups come from the

Loreto Region Loreto () is Peru's northernmost department and region. Covering almost one-third of Peru's territory, Loreto is by far the nation's largest department; it is also one of the most sparsely populated regions due to its remote location in the Ama ...

(12.5% of the total population).

Age

The population is spread out, with 53.9% under the age of 20, 9.3% from 20 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 8.8% from 45 to 64, and 2.5% who are 65 years of age or older.

Education

Secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final ph ...

has been attended by 29% of the population and 2.3% also have graduated from non-

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United Stat ...

higher education, while 1.7% have complete university studies. 49.3% only have attended

primary education Primary education or elementary education is typically the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/ kindergarten and before secondary school. Primary education takes place in '' primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or ...

and 9.1% have not had any education. The

illiteracy Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in Writing, written form in some specific context of use. In other wo ...

rate in the region is 14.2%

Political division

The department is divided into 4 provinces ( es, provincias, singular: ''provincia''), which are composed of 14 districts (''distritos'', singular: ''distrito'').

Provinces

The provinces, with their capitals in parentheses, are: * Atalaya ( Atalaya) * Coronel Portillo (

) * Padre Abad (

Aguaytía Aguaytía is a town situated in Peru, capital of the province Padre Abad Province, Padre Abad in the region Ucayali Region, Ucayali. It is situated on the banks of the Aguaytía River (a tributary of the Ucayali River) at the highway between Pucal ...

) * Purús (

Esperanza Esperanza is the Spanish word for hope, and may refer to: Places Philippines * Esperanza, Agusan del Sur, a municipality * Esperanza, Masbate, a municipality * Esperanza, Sultan Kudarat, a municipality United States * Esperanza, Mississippi, ...

)

Places of interest

El Sira Communal Reserve El Sira Communal Reserve ( es, Reserva Comunal El Sira) is a protected area in Peru created to preserve the biodiversity of the Sira Mountains and the ancestral sustainable use of the area's resources by the nearby native peoples. It also protect ...

Gran Pajonal The Gran Pajonal (Great Scrubland or Great Savanna) is an isolated interfluvial plateau in the Amazon Basin of Peru. It is located in the departments of Ucayali, Pasco and Junín. The plateau is inhabited by the Asháninka or Ashéninka people a ...

* Purús Communal Reserve *

Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Pucallpa The Immaculate Conception Cathedral (also known as Pucallpa Cathedral or the Cathedral of Ucayali; es, Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepción) is the most important Catholic church in the Department of Ucayali in Peru. The cathedral was inaugurate ...

References

External links

*
Gobierno Regional de Ucayali
– Ucayali Regional Government website Regions of Peru {{Ucayali-geo-stub