Ucayali () is an inland
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 ...
of
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 ...
. Located in the
Amazon rainforest
The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...
, its name is derived from the
Ucayali River. Its capital is the city of
Pucallpa. It is the second largest department in Peru, after
Loreto, and it is slightly larger than
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
.
The
arapaima
The arapaima, pirarucu, or paiche is any large species of bonytongue in the genus ''Arapaima'' native to the Amazon Basin, Amazon and Essequibo River, Essequibo basins of South America. ''Arapaima'' is the type genus of the subfamily Arapaiminae ...
is depicted on both the flag and the seal of the region
Geography
Boundaries
The department of Ucayali is bordered by the
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
ian state of
Acre
The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...
on the east; the department of
Madre de Dios on the southeast;
Cusco on the south;
Junín,
Pasco and
Huánuco on the west; and
Loreto on the north.
Demographics
Population
According to the
2007 Census, the Ucayali department has a population of 432,159 inhabitants, 51.4% of which (222,132) are male and 48.6% (210,027) are female. 75.3% of the population (325,347) live in urban areas while the remaining 24.7% (106,812) live in rural areas.
, the
Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática estimated the department's population to be 468,922.
Languages
Spanish is spoken as a first language by 87.6% of the population, while 4.1% speak
Asháninka, 1.5% speak
Quechua and 0.1% speak
Aymara. Other
indigenous language
An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by its indigenous peoples. Indigenous languages are not necessarily national languages but they can be; for example, Aymara is both an indigen ...
s, including
Shipibo, are spoken by 6.6% of the population and 0.0% speak foreign languages.
Immigration
Persons originating from other departments of the country make up 34.7% of the population and 0.2% of residents were born abroad.
The largest immigrant groups come from the
Loreto Region (12.5% of the total population).
Age
The population age distribution is 53.9% under the age of 20, 9.3% from 20 to 24, 25.4% from 25 to 44, 8.8% from 45 to 64, and 2.5% who are 65 years of age or older.
Education
Secondary education
Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education.
Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...
has been attended by 29% of the population and 2.3% also have graduated from non-
university
A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...
higher education, while 1.7% have complete university studies. 49.3% only have attended
primary education
Primary education is the first stage of Education, formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in ''primary schools'', ''elementary schools'', or first schools and middle s ...
and 9.1% have not had any education.
The
illiteracy rate in the region is 14.2%
Political division
The department is divided into 4 provinces (, singular: ''provincia''), which are composed of 14 districts (''distritos'', singular: ''distrito'').
Provinces
The provinces, with their capitals in parentheses, are:
*
Atalaya (
Atalaya)
*
Coronel Portillo (
Pucallpa)
*
Padre Abad (
Aguaytía)
*
Purús (
Esperanza)
Places of interest
*
El Sira Communal Reserve
*
Gran Pajonal
*
Purús Communal Reserve
*
Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Pucallpa
References
External links
*
Gobierno Regional de Ucayali – Ucayali Regional Government website
Ucayali
Ucayali
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