The Peruvian Amazon is the area of the Amazon jungle included in the territory of Peru, from the east of the Andes to borders with Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil and Bolivia. This region comprises 60% of the country and is marked by a large degree of biodiversity. The Peruvian Amazon is the second largest jungle after the Brazilian Amazon.
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Most Peruvian territory is covered by dense Amazon forests on the east side of the Andes, yet only 5% of Peruvians live in this area. The Amazon rain forest covers more than 60 percent of Peruvian territory, more than in any other country save Brazil.
According to the Research Institute of the Peruvian Amazon (Instituto de Investigaciones de la Amazonía Peruana, IIAP), the spatial delineation of the Peruvian Amazon is as follows:
The Peruvian Amazon is traditionally divided into two distinct ecoregions:
The lowland jungle (in Spanish Selva Baja) is also known as Omagua region, Walla, Anti, Amazonian rainforest or Amazon basin. This ecoregion is the largest of Peru, standing between 80 and 1000 meters above sea level. It has very warm weather with an average temperature of 28°C, high relative humidity (over 75%) and yearly rainfall of approximately 103 in. Its soils are very heterogeneous but almost all have river origins, and due to high temperatures and high rainfall they are poor soils with few nutrients. It contains long and powerful rivers such as the Apurimac, Mantaro, Amazon, Urubamba, Ucayali, Huallaga, Marañón, Putumayo, Yavarí, Napo, Pastaza, Madre de Dios, Manu, Purus, Yurua and rio Tigre. The Apurimac River is the Amazon River’s greatest contributor.
The highland jungle (in Spanish Selva Alta) is also called Rupa-Rupa region, andean jungle, ceja de selva. This ecoregion extends into the eastern foothills of the Andes, between 1000 to 3800 m above the sea level. The eastern slopes of the Andes are home to a great variety of fauna and flora due to the different altitudes and climates within the region. Temperatures are warm in the lowlands and colder in higher altitudes. There are many endemic fauna because of the isolation caused by the rugged terrain of this area. [1]
The Peruvian Amazon jungle is one of the most biologically diverse areas on Earth. Most species have probably still not been discovered, or adequately studied. As a nation, Peru has the largest number of bird species in the world and the third largest number of mammals; 44 percent of birds and 63 percent of the mammals inhabit the Peruvian Amazon. Peru also has a very high number of species of butterflies, orchids, and other organisms.
| Taxonomy | Species in the world | Species in Peru | Species in the Peruvian Amazon | Peru Vs. world (Percent) |
Peruvian Amazon Vs. Peru (Percent) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amphibians | 5,125 | 403 | 262 | 8 | 65 |
| Birds | 9,672 | 1,816 | 806 | 19 | 44 |
| Flowering plants (Angiosperms) | 263,537 | 17,144 | 7,372 | 7 | 43 |
| Ferns (Pteridophyta) | 10,000 | 1,000 | 700 | 10 | 70 |
| Mammals | 4,629 | 462 | 293 | 10 | 63 |
| Butterflies (Lepidoptera) | 16,000 | 3,366 | 2,500 | 21 | 74 |
| Fish (river fish) | 8,411 | 900 | 697 | 11 | 77 |
| Reptiles | 7,855 | 395 | 180 | 5 | 46 |
This table was elaborated by Edwin Jesús Villacorta Monzón, with data obtained among many sources from years 1997, 2001 and 2006.
Although it is the largest region of Peru, the Peruvian Amazon is the least populated. It is home to approximately 11 percent of the country's population. Many indigenous people, such as those of the Aguaruna, Cocama-Cocamilla and the Urarina peoples, [2] inhabit the jungle, some in relative isolation from the rest of the world.
The primary cities located in the Peruvian Amazon include: