Tena () is a city in the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

Ecuador Ecuador, officially the Republic of Ecuador, is a country in northwestern South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. It also includes the Galápagos Province which contain ...

. It is the seat of Tena Canton, as well as the capital and largest city of Napo Province. Tena is located approximately 195 kilometers from

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

, the capital of Ecuador.

History

Tena is one of several Ecuadorian cities founded by Gil Ramírez Dávalos, a Spanish explorer and

conquistador Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (; ; ) were Spanish Empire, Spanish and Portuguese Empire, Portuguese colonizers who explored, traded with and colonized parts of the Americas, Africa, Oceania and Asia during the Age of Discovery. Sailing ...

. Dávalos — who served as Governor of

from 1556 until 1559 — also founded the cities of Cuenca (1557), Baeza (1560) and Azogues (1562).

Geography

At the confluence of the Tena and Pano rivers in the center of town is located the ''Parque Amazónico La Isla'' with a pedestrian bridge, ''el Puente Espiral''. At this point the rivers become the Tena River, which soon joins with the Misahualli and eventually flows into the Napo River. From this point, the Napo — which is the 11th largest tributary to the Amazon River in terms of inflow — winds its way east into Peru.

Climate

Tena is located in the rainforest, above sea level. There is rainfall year-round, with an annual average of .

Tourism

Tena is known for the rainforest and rivers that surround the town, and it is popular with tourists. Many inexpensive hotels, tourist agencies, and restaurants cater to backpacker tourism. Tena is surrounded by forested hills and is located at the edge of the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

, which are visible to the west. The jungle rivers on the Amazon side of the Andes are bigger and have more consistent flows than their west-Andean counterparts, and for this reason Tena has become a popular launching point for jungle,

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

and

rafting Rafting and whitewater rafting are recreational outdoor activities which use an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other body of water. This is often done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water. Dealing with risk is often a ...

tours in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest region. The entry to the city is marked by a statue of the indigenous hero Jumandy, who led an uprising against the Spanish colonizers in 1578 and was subsequently executed. Tena and its surrounding indigenous communities are also bases for many volunteers working for

reforestation Reforestation is the practice of restoring previously existing forests and woodlands that have been destroyed or damaged. The prior forest destruction might have happened through deforestation, clearcutting or wildfires. Three important purpose ...

projects, with community support in development initiatives in diverse, and connected areas such as,

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...

and capacity building. The indigenous populations of Ecuador are some of the most politically organized in Latin America, and Tena houses two major confederations, Fenakin (Federación de Organizaciones de la Nacionalidad Kichwa de Napo) and Ashin (Asociación de Shamanes Indígenas de Napo); one of the major stand-offs during the 2001 indigenous uprising in Ecuador, took place here. Oil prospecting is a point of contention here, as there is drilling of the Pungarayacu heavy oil field by Canadian corporation Ivanhoe. Illegal sand and mineral mining, such as for gold, near and within Napo's rivers is also a huge concern for many of Tena's inhabitants."An Integrative Approach to Assess the Environmental Impacts of Gold Mining Contamination in the Amazon"
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Transportation

The road from Quito to Tena is 99% paved as of 2021. It includes a spectacular passage over Papallacta Pass, above 4,000 m elevation, as well as views of several waterfalls. On clear days the 3,990 m Sumaco volcano can be seen to the east. There is bus service to Tena via Baeza which takes about 4 hours, and private transport from Quito takes about 3 to 3.5 hours. Small yellow truck-taxis are abundant in the city and cost $1.25. Around the time of the discovery of oil in the province, Mayor Galo de la Torre Airport was constructed to serve Tena. It closed in 2011. A new airport, Jumandy Airport located to the east near Ahuano, was inaugurated in 2011. The only airline that served it, TAME, ended flights to Tena in January 2016 citing low passenger loads.

Gallery

File:Tena, Ecudaor.JPG, Tena (2011) File:REDONDEL - panoramio.jpg, statue of Jumandy, at rotary located on Ecuador Highway 45 at the entrance to the city File:Iwias desfilando en Tena.jpg, Soldiers of the Jungle Commands Group parading in Tena File:Iwias en Tena.jpg, Soldiers of the Jungle Commands Group parading in Tena File:Local_children_of_Tena,_Ecuador_(2009).jpg, Local children File:Street_1_in_Tena,_Ecuador_(2009).jpg, Street in Tena (2009) File:Local_child_of_Tena,_Ecuador_(2009).jpg, Child with dog

References

External links

* {{Authority control Populated places in Napo Province Provincial capitals in Ecuador