Madre de Dios Region
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Madre de Dios is a region in southeastern Peru, bordering Brazil, Bolivia and the Peruvian regions of Puno, Cusco and Ucayali. Its capital is the city of Puerto Maldonado. The name of the region is a very common Spanish-language designation for the Virgin Mary, literally meaning Mother of God.
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| See other Peruvian regions | ||
| President | Rafael Ríos | |
| Capital | Puerto Maldonado | |
| Area | 85,300.54 km² | |
| Population - Total - Density |
99 452 (2002 estimate) 1.2/km² |
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| Subdivisions | 3 provinces and 10 districts | |
| Elevation - Lowest - Highest |
183 m (Puerto Maldonado) 500 m (Mouth of Manu River) |
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| Latitude Longitude |
9º55'33" S to 88883º2004" S 68º39'27" W to 77º22'27" W |
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| Main resources | Cotton, coffee, sugar cane, cacao beans, Brazil nuts, palm oil, gold, rice, coconut, wood. | |
| Poverty rate | 36.7% | |
| Percentage of country's GDP | 0.37% | |
| Dialing code | 082 | |
| ISO 3166-2 | PE-MDD | |
| Official website: www.regionmadrededios.gob.pe | ||
Contents |
[edit] Geography
The region is almost entirely low-lying Amazonian rainforest. The climate is warm and damp, with average temperatures around 26º C (max. 34º C, min 21º C). The rainy season is from December to March, when torrential rainfall causes rivers to swell and often burst their banks. Annual precipitation can be as much as 3 metres.
The south-western boundary with the Cusco Region is known as the Isthmus of Fitzcarrald, a series of small mountains that separate the Madre de Dios River and the Urubamba River.
The most important rivers are those in the Madre de Dios River watershed:
- Inambari River.
- Tambopata River.
- Manu River.
- Tahuanamú River.
- de las Piedras River.
- Heath River.
- Acre River.
Due to the vast size of the area and its low population density, rivers provide the best way of getting from one town to another. Human activity is invariably confined to riverbanks. A number of explorers have searched for the lost city of Paititi in the jungle within the region
The only road of note is between Puerto Maldonado and the city of Cuzco (530 km away). However, it is in very poor condition and flights between Cuzco and Puerto Maldonado remain the most common and reliable method of transport between the two. From Puerto Maldonado there is a road to the mining town of Laberinto ("Labyrinth") (about 50 km long). There is also a road between Cuzco and the town of Atalaya. It is roughly 300 km long, and impassable in the rainy season.
[edit] Economy, Natural Resources and Environment
Madre de Dios depends heavily on natural products and raw materials for its economy. There is virtually no manufacturing industry. The main agricultural products are:
Gold mining is the only other large industry of the region, confined mainly to the beaches of the Inambari and Madre de Dios Rivers. While this presented a minor environmental problem in the past due to the use of mercury without proper precautions, these issues have largely been eliminated. Few gold miners continue to use mercury and those who do exercise great care, although this is due to the very expensive cost of mercury rather than a respect for the enviroment. Education and better handling practices have been credited with recent testing results that have indicated mercury levels in the Inambari and Madre de Dios rivers have dropped to near zero.
Other serious environmental problems in the region include loss of forest cover for agriculture, illegal selective logging (particularly for mahogany) and illegal poaching of endangered species (particularly the Giant River Otter, Amazonian turtles, caimans, and monkeys and macaws as pets).
The national bird of Peru, the near-extinct Cock-of-the-rocks, is also found in Madre de Dios and suffers from poaching and habitat disturbance.
[edit] Political division
The region is divided into three provinces (provincias, singular: provincia), which are composed of 10 districts (distritos, singular: distrito). The provinces, with their capitals in parenthesis, are:
- Manu (Manu)
- Tahuamanu (Iñapari)
- Tambopata (Puerto Maldonado)
[edit] External links
- Madre de Dios Region official website
- Manu National Park
- Peru Info: Madre de Dios Region
- Manu accommodation
- Mnau National park information
- Manu video
- Tambopata video
| Political division of Peru |  |
|---|---|
|
Amazonas | Ancash | Apurímac | Arequipa | Ayacucho | Cajamarca | Callao | Cusco | Huancavelica | Huánuco | Ica | Junín | La Libertad | Lambayeque | Lima | Loreto | Madre de Dios | Moquegua | Pasco | Piura | Puno | San Martín | Tacna | Tumbes | Ucayali |
|
| The Lima Province is not part of any of the twenty-five regions. |
