Departamento de Ancash

Ancash (Quechua: Anqash; Spanish: Áncash Spanish: [ˈaŋkaʃ]) 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, and its largest city and port is Chimbote. The name of the region originates from the Quechua word ('light, of little weight'), from ('blue') or from ('eagle').

Geography

Ancash is a land of contrasts: it features two great longitudinal valleys, which combine the mountain characteristics of the Callejón de Huaylas (Alley of Huaylas) with the sylvan ones of the Alto Marañón. Kilometres of sandy beaches and the blue waters of the Pacific. The territory of the coast, high plateaux and Andean punas of the department are flat, while the rest of the territory, in the Andes, is very rough. In the west, there are slopes with strong declivity form narrow canyons with abrupt and deserted sides.

The rough territory of the department is crossed by two mountain ranges: on the western side, the Cordillera Negra (Spanish for "black mountain range"), which has peaks without glaciers, and on the eastern side, the Cordillera Blanca ("white mountain range"), which has many peaks covered with snow and ice, such as the Huascarán and the Alpamayo. Between these two mountain ranges, the Santa River flows through the so-called Callejón de Huaylas. This valley narrows to form the Cañón del Pato ("duck canyon"). Also along the Pacific slopes, the Santa River has shaped a wide valley in the punas which narrows into the Cordillera Negra, where the Cañón del Pato canyon was formed.

The snow-covered peak of Huascarán, the highest peak of Peru and second of the Americas, reaches a height of and contrasts with the deep trough of Chimbote found in the ocean west of Ancash. Remnants of glaciers created many lakes such as Llanganuco Lakes and Lake Parón.

Following the Pan-American Highway north from Lima, the territory of the department begins just beyond the Fortress of Paramonga, between wide fields of sugarcane, and across the Fortaleza River, from Lima.

Along the coast of Ancash, from the Fortaleza River to the Santa River, the Pacific exerts great influence. The Peruvian current and the El Niño current exert considerable and sometimes tragic effect on local lives and regional economies.

Normally, the Peruvian current, also known as the Humboldt Current, brings cold water and large numbers of fish. With the development of the shoals of anchoveta, the Ancash ports and creeks became commercial fishing centers. During the 1950s, the bay of Chimbote was the top fishing port of the world.

However, when warmer waters from the north, such as the current of El Niño, bring catastrophic rains to the coast and sea, the shoals of anchoveta disappear, leaving the fishing fleets plants paralysed, and flooding rivers cause serious damage to the lands and cities. The cycles of these two sea currents that affect Peru are hard to predict.

Further north along the Pan-American highway, numerous islands and islets dot the sea near the coast. Most are home only to guano seabirds. From south to north, the most important islands include Tortuga Island (Turtle Island), La Viuda Island (The Widow Island), Isla Blanca (White Island) and Santa Island (Holy Island).

The coastal region of Peru includes many peninsulas, creeks, warm bays and sand beaches, full of colour. Because of the lack of roads and difficult terrain, many of these are inaccessible by land. The most important beaches include Grande Beach, La Gramita Beach and Las Salinas Beach.

Much of this coast is a monotonous stretch of huge sand deserts, a common denominator in all Peruvian coastal regions because of the influence of the Humboldt Current.

Along the rivers, there are green valleys, cultivated mainly with sugarcane, rice and cotton. From south to north, the main rivers of the Ancash coast are the following: Huarmey, Culebras, Casma, Sechín, Nepeña, Lacramarca and Santa.

Of these rivers, the only one with water year-round is the Santa River. Its sources are the glaciers and lakes of the Cordillera Blanca. The other rivers, as with most rivers of the Peruvian coast, are intermittent, depending on the highland rains or the advance of El Niño.

History

Between 400 and 600 BC, the first Peruvian civilization, known as Chavín, originated and flourished in this zone. The importance of this culture lies not only in its antiquity but in the history and culture it shares with other cultures along the Andean and Amazonian territories. As archaeologist Julio C. Tello put it, "Chavín was the mother of all the cultures that later bloomed in the old Peru." The name Chavín comes from the Quechua word Chawpin, which translates as center or headquarters. Tello believed that people came from the Amazonas, scaled the Andes, and developed the Chavín culture.

During the Inca age, the population of the Santa valley was assimilated into the Inca empire by Pachacuti.

The first Spaniards came to Huaylas attracted by the fame of the silver veins of the department. In time, the Spanish destroyed the Inca cities. !-- *otheus nonsense* --- Most of the Inca mines, exploited by the Spaniards, were very well appreciated like the San Luis de Huari mines.-->It was during this time that Jerónimo de Alvarado founded the city of Huaraz. Though in the Colonial Age this city held little importance and its artistic and cultural life did not have much relevance, it became the headquarters for Simón Bolívar during his campaign to liberate Peru.

The department of Ancash was created following the defeat of the Peru-Bolivia Confederation by the combined forces of the Peruvian restoration army and the Chilean army at the battle of Yungay in 1839.

The 1970 Ancash earthquake devastated the department, killing more than 50,000 people and damaging 186,000 houses in one of the deadliest natural disasters in Peru.

Today, most of the Ancash population is concentrated in the Callejón de Huaylas.

Beginning in 2011, the department has been the site of an ongoing anti-mining protest over allegations of water contamination and public versus private rights to the natural resources of the zone. Clashes between protesters, mining company security, and the federal police have resulted in numerous deaths and injuries.

Demographics

Languages

According to the 2007 Peru Census, the language learnt first by most of the residents was Spanish (68.34%) followed by Quechua (31.36%). The Quechua variety spoken in Ancash is Ancash Quechua. The following table shows the results concerning the language learnt first in the Department of Ancash by province:

Ethnicity

Most of the population identifies Mestizo or Quechua.

Religion

Literacy

As of 2017, 85.3% (923,542) of the population is literate and 14.7% (158,839) of the population is illiterate.

Toponyms

Many of the toponyms of the Department of Ancash originate from Quechua. In and around the Cordillera Blanca, in provinces like Huaylas and Yungay, these names are overwhelmingly predominant. Their Spanish-based orthography, however, is in conflict with the normalized alphabet of the language. According to Article 20 of Decreto Supremo No 004-2016-MC (Supreme Decree) which approves the Regulations to Law 29735, published in the state-owned newspaper El Peruano on 22 July 2016, adequate spellings of the toponyms in the normalised alphabets of the indigenous languages must progressively be proposed with the aim of standardizing the namings used by the National Geographic Institute (Instituto Geográfico Nacional, IGN). The National Geographic Institute realizes the necessary changes in the official maps of Peru.

Contrarily to intentions to replace indigenous toponyms by other names like Santa Cruz or Contrahierbas, the Ministry of Culture proposes to the municipalities of the provinces to recover ancient indigenous toponyms and that these names should be spread by the local and communal authorities on posters and other signage.

Tourism

The geographical centre of Ancash, the Callejón de Huaylas, is an area of intense interest to tourists. This is due to its large variety of natural attractions, its sport and recreational facilities, and the nearby archaeological remains of the ancient cultures that once flourished there. The Cordillera Blanca offers an interesting attraction for tourists visiting Peru. Visitors also come to see the natural beauty of the area's glaciers and valleys and to enjoy the many lakes and thermal fountains.

Ancash is sometimes referred to as the "Switzerland of Peru". There is the four mile high Huascarán, home to the Huascarán National Park. There is also the Alpamayo peak, considered one of the most beautiful in the world.

Among archaeological sites of interest, Ancash has many vestiges of old cultures, including the Guitarrero Cave (10,000 BC), the pr…