Rioja is the

capital Capital and its variations may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** Capital region, a metropolitan region containing the capital ** List of national capitals * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Econom ...

of Rioja Province in the San Martín Region in northern

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 ...

. It is situated to the west of

Moyobamba Moyobamba () or Muyupampa ( Quechua ''muyu'' circle, ''pampa'' large plain, "circle plain") is the capital city of the San Martín Region in northern Peru. Called "Santiago of eight valleys of Moyobamba" or "Maynas capital". There are 50,073 inh ...

. There are 24,263 inhabitants according to the 2007 census. The town is 848 metres above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

and has a semi-

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

History

During the period of the

Incas 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 Inca civilisation rose fr ...

, the Rioja Province was inhabited by two tribes, the Uquihuas and the Chepenes. At the end of the

16th century The 16th century began with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calend ...

, one of the first

Catholic missionaries Missionary work of the Catholic Church has often been undertaken outside the geographically defined parishes and dioceses by religious orders who have people and material resources to spare, and some of which specialized in missions. Eventually, p ...

arrived at Uquihua. Rioja was founded in September, 1782 and was originally named ''Santo Toribio de la Nueva Rioja''.

Geography

Rioja is situated in the valley of the upper Mayo River in the north of the San Martín Region. Its coordinates are longitude 77°08’30” and latitude 06º03’00”. The peaks surrounding Rioja exceed 1,000 metres above sea level. The average temperature is 22.5 °C. with actual temperatures varying between 16.5 °C and 28.4 °C.

Climate

Communications and Transport

Rioja is connected to the rest of the country by land, air, and water.

Land

Connections via the "Carretera Marginal" (the main jungle highway). There are daily bus services as well as

minibuses A minibus, microbus, or minicoach is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word "minibus" is us ...

, collective taxis and lorries.

Air

The Rioja Airport accommodates small and medium sized airplanes, both for passengers and cargo.

River

Motor boats, canoes and rafts use the Mayo, Tonchima and

Negro In the English language, the term ''negro'' (or sometimes ''negress'' for a female) is a term historically used to refer to people of Black people, Black African heritage. The term ''negro'' means the color black in Spanish and Portuguese (from ...

rivers for small cargo.

References

Populated places in the Department of San Martín {{SanMartin-geo-stub