Amazonas (Spanish pronunciation: [amaˈsonas]) is a department and region in northern Peru bordered by Ecuador on the north and west, Cajamarca on the west, La Libertad on the south, and Loreto and San Martín on the east. Its capital is the city of Chachapoyas.
With a landscape of steep river gorges and mountains, Amazonas is the location of Kuelap, a huge stone fortress enclosing more than 400 stone structures; it was built on a mountain about 3,000 meters high, starting about 500 AD and was occupied to the mid-16th century. It is one of Peru's major archeological sites.
The department of Amazonas consists of regions covered by rainforests and mountain ranges. The rainforest zone predominates (72.93%) and it extends to the north over its oriental slope, up to the border with Ecuador in the summits of the Cordillera del Cóndor. The mountain range zone is located in the southern provinces of the Amazonas Region and it only includes 27.07% of its whole territorial surface.
One of the factors that help to give big importance to its geography is not only that the big valleys and plains of its rainforest zone are the closest to the Pacific Ocean, but also its connections with the routes of the coast are the lowest. This is because they use the Paso de Porculla (the mountain pass of Porculla) that is located at 2,144 m. This is the lowest pass of the whole Peruvian Andes to arrive to the Pan-American road system.
The vast and deep Marañón valley which constitutes one of the most important morphologic features of the region.
The Marañón valley crosses a big part of its territory and expands itself from south to north. It reaches its greatest width in the province of Bagua. It narrows when it crosses the Cordillera Oriental (Spanish for "eastern mountain range") in its most violent route towards the east, towards the lowest part of the Amazon. It crosses those wonderful canyons and natural porches called punkus, a Quechua word that means doors.
The Utkupampa valley which is the real axis of the department of Amazonas is located between 5° and 6° of south latitude and 78° and 79° of west longitude. It is longitudinally developed up to the Marañón River, in which it flowed at 400 m.
This zone is the principal center of production and human groups location. It is developed in four very pronounced sectors:
Vertiente del Marañon (Marañon's spring), that has important quebradas (Seca, Bocana, Copallín Nuevo and Choloque).
Valle Medio (the middle valley) that has eleven quebradas in its both borders.
Valle Alto (the high valley) that has seven quebradas. The most important one is Magunchal.
Planicie de Bagua (the Bagua's plain), wavy and picturesque, that is located at 550 m. In some places, it mounts up to 900 m., for example in the inhabited point called La Peca.
The principal tributaries of the Utkupampa are the Chiriaco, the Nieva, the Santiago (that is born in Ecuador) and the Cenepa, that is born in the north zone of the Cordillera del Cóndor. The Cenepa River receives in its trip numerous tributaries like the Comaina. It flowed in the Marañon river, located near Orellana (Condorcanqui Province).