La Libertad (; in English: ''The Liberty'') is a department and

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in northwestern

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. Formerly it was known as the Department of La Libertad ('). It is bordered by the Lambayeque,

Cajamarca Cajamarca (), also known by the Quechua name, ''Kashamarka'', is the capital and largest city of the Cajamarca Region as well as an important cultural and commercial center in the northern Andes. It is located in the northern highlands of Per ...

and Amazonas regions on the north, the San Martín Region on the east, the

Ancash Ancash (; ) is a department and region in western Peru. It is bordered by the departments of La Libertad on the north, Huánuco and Pasco on the east, Lima on the south, and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is the city of Huaraz, an ...

and

Huánuco Huánuco (; ) is a city in central Peru. It had a population of 196,627 as of 2017 and in 2015 it had a population of 175,068. It is the capital of the Huánuco Region and the Huánuco District. It is the seat of the diocese of Huánuco. The met ...

regions on the south and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is Trujillo, which is the nation's third biggest city. The region's main port is

Salaverry Salaverry is a port town located southeast of Trujillo, Peru, Trujillo city in the La Libertad Region, Peru. It is the capital of Salaverry District and it is located at around . The port, rebuilt in the 1960s by an English company, is able to ...

, one of Peru's largest ports. The name of the region is Spanish for "freedom" or "liberty"; it was named in honor of the

Intendancy of Trujillo The Intendancy of Trujillo (, formerly ''Truxillo''), also known informally as Trujillo Province (), was one of the territorial divisions of the Viceroyalty of Peru. This territory was ruled from the city of Trujillo, located in La Libertad Regio ...

's proclaiming independence from Spain in 1820 and fighting for that. It is the ninth smallest department in Peru, but it is also its second-most populous department after

Piura Piura is a city in northwestern Peru, located north of the Sechura Desert along the Piura River. It is the capital of the Piura Region and the Piura Province. Its population was 484,475 as of 2017 and it is the 7th most populous city in Peru. ...

and its second-most densely populated department after Lambayeque.

Name

During the

viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...

, the La Libertad region, together with the present-day regions of Lambayeque,

and Tumbes regions in Peru, and

Guayaquil Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...

and

El Oro Province El Oro (; ''oro'' = gold) is the southernmost of Ecuador's coastal provinces. It was named for its historically important gold production. Today it is one of the world's major exporters of bananas. The capital is Machala. History The area was s ...

in Ecuador, were all within the jurisdiction of the

. These were included in the domain of the city of Trujillo; together they comprised the ''Departamento de Trujillo'' of the viceroyalty. After the intendancy joined the

emancipation Emancipation generally means to free a person from a previous restraint or legal disability. More broadly, it is also used for efforts to procure Economic, social and cultural rights, economic and social rights, civil and political rights, po ...

cause and was the first to gain independence from Spain as the Department of Trujillo, in 1825 the Congress of the Peruvian republic changed the name to ''Departmento de la Libertad.'' Since the late 20th century, Peru has decentralized its government. All former Departments in Peru are now called Regions; their governors are elected, and they have more independent authority in decisionmaking.

Geography

La Libertad is the only Peruvian region that includes all three natural regions of the nation: coast, Sierra (highlands), and ''selva'' (rainforest). Trujillo, the capital, has a strategic location, near where the Andes come closest to the coast. Seen from Trujillo, the Andes appears as a row of low-elevation hills. The Andean Plateau increases altitude sharply to the east, in the provinces of Otuzco and Santiago de Chuco. These two provinces comprise the Pacific hydrographic watershed, which give rise to the Moche and

Virú Virú is a town in Northern Peru, capital of the province Virú in the region La Libertad. This town is located 48 km south Trujillo city and is primarily an agricultural center in the Viru Valley. In the 1960s around 850 families lived in t ...

rivers, to the south, and Chicama River to the north. Pacasmayo Province, located more to the north, is along the coast. To the east,

Sánchez Carrión Province Sánchez is a Spanish family name. Historical origins "The illustrious Sanchez Family... is descended from one of a number of Gothic knights (caballeros) who in the year 714 escaped from the ‘barbara furia’ of the Mohammedan invasion and to ...

waterways drain into the Amazon River and thus belong to the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

watershed.

Demographics

Population

La Libertad region is the third-most populous in Peru; the census 2007 recorded 1,617,050 residents, representing 5.9% of the Peruvian population. It was surpassed only by the Department of

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

and

. In 2012 its capital Trujillo is the second-most populated metropolitan area in Peru and the largest city in northern Peru. The largest population is concentrated in provincial capitals and districts, which comprise the majority urban population in La Libertad region. The migrant population to the region comes from border departments and immigrants from other countries.

Principal cities

The principal cities in La Libertad region are shown in the next table.

Political division

The Region is separated into 12 provinces (''provincias''), political divisions that generally correspond to counties in the United States of America. A Peruvian Region has as its head political executive a governor (''governador''), an elected official. The head political executive of each province is a lieutenant governor (''teniente governador''), an official appointed by the governor. These 12 provinces comprise a total of 80 districts (''distritos''). The provinces, with their capitals are:

Economy

Principal companies

Some of the main companies in La Libertad Region are the following: * Cementos Pacasmayo. It manufactures cement and it is based in Pacasmayo Province. * Sociedad Agrícola Virú, dedicated to agribusiness and based in

Virú Province Virú is a town in Northern Peru, capital of the province Virú in the region La Libertad. This town is located 48 km south Trujillo city and is primarily an agricultural center in the Viru Valley. In the 1960s around 850 families lived in th ...

* SEDALIB, water supply and sanitation company based in Trujillo city * Caja Trujillo, banking company centered in Trujillo * Cesar Vallejo University, based in Víctor Larco city

Archaeology

The coastal strip set the stage for the rise of many pre-Columbian cultures, such as the pre-Ceramic

Huaca Prieta Huaca Prieta is the site of a prehistoric settlement beside the Pacific Ocean in the Chicama Valley, just north of Trujillo, La Libertad Province, Peru. It is a part of the El Brujo Archaeological Complex, which also includes Moche (culture) s ...

civilization, which is more than 5,000 years old & the Cupisnique, which is more than 3,000 years old. From 200 A.C., the first one to expand beyond its cradle was the Moche or Mochica culture. It was basically an agriculture and/or a warrior culture, which built countless temples and palaces such as the '' Sol'' (Sun), ''Luna'' (Moon), ''El Brujo'' & ''Cao Viejo'', and other

huaca In the Quechuan languages of South America, a huaca or wak'a is an object that represents something revered, typically a monument of some kind. The term ''huaca'' can refer to natural locations, such as immense rocks. Some huacas have been asso ...

s. The

Chimú culture Chimor (also Kingdom of Chimor or Chimú Empire) was the political grouping of the Chimú culture (). The culture arose about 900 CE, succeeding the Moche culture, and was later conquered by the Inca emperor Topa Inca Yupanqui around 1470, f ...

emerged later and built its capital in

Chan Chan Chan Chan (), sometimes itself called Chimor, was the capital city of the Chimor kingdom. It was the largest city of the pre-Columbian era in South America. It is now an archeological site in the department of La Libertad west of Trujillo, P ...

, the largest pre-Columbian city in South America, & huacas like ''Esmeralda'' & ''Arco Iris'' (Rainbow). At its

zenith The zenith (, ) is the imaginary point on the celestial sphere directly "above" a particular location. "Above" means in the vertical direction (Vertical and horizontal, plumb line) opposite to the gravity direction at that location (nadir). The z ...

, Chan Chan was home to 60,000 inhabitants who stubbornly resisted the expansion of the

Inca Empire The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

. These ancient cultures used irrigation canals and water reservoirs, which systems were increasingly better engineered and extensive over the years. The technological acumen of these sophisticated agricultural systems was carried into the Inca Empire, which surrounded the remnants of the prior cultures. The Spanish colonizers destroyed most of the agricultural works to more effectively establish political control and provide ''de facto'' slave labor from the displaced native agriculturalists. The archaeological remains of Chan Chan, 6 km (3.7 mi) northeast of downtown Trujillo, are rather well-preserved despite being built out of

adobe Adobe (from arabic: الطوب Attub ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for mudbrick. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is use ...

(mud bricks), largely because 1) dearth of rainfall and consequent erosion, and 2) lack of significant re-use of its construction materials (adobes do not respond easily to removal and transport and are relatively cheap to make on-site in current methods of construction). During the Late Moche phase (AD 600 to 850), one of the largest power centers of the region was the fortified site of Cerro Chepén in the Jequetepeque Valley. It is located to the south of the site of San José de Moro. Cerro Chepén has a sophisticated system of fortifications, and a dominant position on top of the hill, with many monumental buildings. Recent excavations at the site revealed that there was much internal conflict there that affected local communities.

Archeological sites

Some of the

archeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

s in La Libertad Region are: *

El Brujo Located in the Chicama Valley, the El Brujo Archaeological Complex, just north of Trujillo, Peru, Trujillo, La Libertad Region, La Libertad Province, Peru, is an ancient archaeological site that was occupied from preceramic times. Considering ...

Huaca del Sol The Huaca del Sol is an adobe brick pyramid built by the Moche civilization (100 AD to 800 AD) on the northern coast of what is now Peru. The pyramid is one of several ruins found near the volcanic peak of Cerro Blanco, in the coastal dese ...

Huaca de la Luna Huaca de la Luna ("Temple or Shrine of the Moon") is a large adobe brick structure built mainly by the Moche (culture), Moche people of northern Peru. Along with the Huaca del Sol, the Huaca de la Luna is part of ''Huacas de Moche'', which ...

Marcahuamachuco Marcahuamachuco is an archeological site of Pre-Incan ruins in the La Libertad Region of Peru. Although less well-known than other sites, it is considered significant and has been referred to by archaeologists as "Machu Picchu of the North" and " ...

Pacatnamu The Pacatnamu ( Mochica : ''Pakatnamú'', Spanish : ''Pacatnamú'') site is located at the mouth of the Jequetepeque Valley on the northern coast of Peru. Rocky cliffs protect two of its sides and a humanmade wall protects the third. This are ...

* Pirqa Pirqa * San José de Moro * Huaca Santa Clara * Wiraquchapampa *Archeological Complex Caballo Muerto

Places of interest

* Calipuy National Sanctuary

Ecological regions

Water supply and sanitation

The public company for water supply and sanitation in La Libertad Region is SEDALIB which is formed by shareholders of municipalities of the Region.

Culture

Festivals and events

* Spring Festival * Marinera Festival * International Calzaferia El Porvenir. It is a fair of footwear and in 2012 took place the 10th edition; it is held in ''El Porvenir'' city. * Regional Fair of the Pineapple. It is held in the town of Poroto. * Virgin of La Puerta. Patronal Feast; the celebration originated in 1664 when it placed the image of the Virgin at the entrance of Otuzco as precaution of the risk of a pirate raid. The main day is celebrated on December 15 every year and in 2012 the feast of Our Lady of the Gate was declared a National Cultural Heritage by the Peruvian government. *

Contradanza ''Contradanza'' (also called ''contradanza criolla'', ''danza'', ''danza criolla'', or ''habanera'') is the Spanish and Spanish-American version of the contradanse, which was an internationally popular style of music and dance in the 18th cen ...

. Expression cultivated in Huamachuco city, in the villages Urpay, Shiracmaca and Culicanda. This dance in 2012 has been declared a National Cultural Heritage by the Peruvian government.

References

{{Coord, 8, 0, S, 78, 30, W, source:svwiki_region:PE_type:adm1st, display=title La Libertad La Libertad Cupisnique culture