Chanchamayo | |
|---|---|
 A bridge in the San Ramón District | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
 Location of Chanchamayo in the Junín Region | |
| Country | Peru |
| Region | Junín |
| Capital | La Merced |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Hermenegildo Navarro (2023–2026) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4,723.4 km2 (1,823.7 sq mi) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 151,489 |
| • Density | 32/km2 (83/sq mi) |
| Website | www |
Chanchamayo (in hispanicized spelling) or Chanchamayu (Quechua chanchay to walk and leap about, to walk quickly and confused, chancha chancha to walk quickly and irregularly, shancha a kind of bird, mayu river)[1][2] is a province in northern Junín Region, in central Peru.
The name of the province derives from the river Chanchamayu, whose source is in the Andean Sierra and flows northwards becoming the Perené River.
The province has an estimated population of 151,489 (2017), half of whom live in the provincial capital, La Merced. Another important town in the province is San Ramón. Both towns are on the west side of the province, surrounded by mountains and close to tourist attractions like jungle forests, waterfalls and thermal springs.
Downstream the Perené river, towards the east side of the province, the land becomes flatter and more suited for agriculture. The town Bajo Pichanaqui has grown a lot in recent years as a local center of agricultural markets.
The Chanchamayo province is famous for citrus production and quality coffee growing.
- ^ Teofilo Laime Ajacopa (2007). Diccionario Bilingüe: Iskay simipi yuyayk’anch: Quechua – Castellano / Castellano – Quechua (PDF). La Paz, Bolivia: futatraw.ourproject.org.
- ^ Diccionario Quechua - Español - Quechua, Academía Mayor de la Lengua Quechua, Gobierno Regional Cusco, Cusco 2005 (Quechua-Spanish dictionary)