Rioja is the
capital
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...
of
Rioja Province
The Rioja Province is one of ten Provinces of Peru, provinces of the San Martín Region in northern Peru.
Location
The province is bordered to the north and east by the Moyobamba Province and to the south and west by the Amazonas Region.
The pro ...
in the
San Martín Region in northern
Peru. It is situated to the west of
Moyobamba. There are 24,263 inhabitants according to the 2007 census.
The town is 848 metres above
sea level and has a semi-
humid subtropical climate
A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...
.
History
During the period of the
Incas, the Rioja Province was inhabited by two tribes, the
Uquihuas and the
Chepenes.
At the end of the
16th century
The 16th century begins with the Julian year 1501 ( MDI) and ends with either the Julian or the Gregorian year 1600 ( MDC) (depending on the reckoning used; the Gregorian calendar introduced a lapse of 10 days in October 1582).
The 16th cent ...
, one of the first
Catholic missionaries arrived at
Uquihua.
Rioja was founded in September, 1782 and was originally named ''Santo Toribio de la Nueva Rioja''.
Geography
Rioja is situated in the valley of the upper
Mayo River in the north of the
San Martín Region. Its coordinates are longitude 77°08’30” and latitude 06º03’00”.
The peaks surrounding Rioja exceed 1,000 metres above sea level.
The average temperature is 22.5 °C. with actual temperatures varying between 16.5 °C and 28.4 °C.
Communications and Transport
Rioja is connected to the rest of the country by land, air, and water.
Land
Connections via the "Carretera Marginal" (the main jungle highway). There are daily bus services as well as
minibuses,
collective taxis
A collective is a group of entities that share or are motivated by at least one common issue or interest, or work together to achieve a common objective. Collectives can differ from cooperatives in that they are not necessarily focused upon an ...
and lorries.
Air
The
Rioja Airport accommodates small and medium sized airplanes, both for passengers and cargo.
River
Motor boats, canoes and rafts use the Mayo,
Tonchima and
Negro rivers for small cargo.
References
Populated places in the San Martín Region
{{SanMartin-geo-stub