Puerto Maldonado
Puerto Maldonado is a Peruvian city, capital of the district of Tambopata and both of the province of the same name and of the department of Madre de Dios.
It was founded in 1902 and designated the departmental capital in 1912. It is located on the banks of the confluence of the Madre de Dios River and the Tambopata River and is one of the main commercial centers of the Amazon. It is connected to the rest of the country and to Bolivia and Brazil through the Interoceanic Highway.
It had a population of 78,996. according to the 2017 Census.
From the hierarchical point of view of the Catholic Church, it is the seat of the Apostolic Vicariate of Puerto Maldonado.
Historical overview
The native population of Madre de Dios must have appeared thousands of years ago with the arrival of the Arawaks, who were derived into many ethnic groups. Then he would relate to the Incas and the Spanish.
Puerto Maldonado was established in 1894 by the rubber businessman Carlos Fermín Fitzcarrald, who, during an exploration trip that led him to discover the Fitzcarrald isthmus, as he passed through the confluence of the Madre de Dios and Tambopata rivers, found a inscription made by the explorer Faustino Maldonado, who had succumbed in the Madera River in 1861. Fitzcarrald had the name of Maldonado engraved on a large tree, as a tribute to the pioneer, and continued the journey. Soon, the landmark was renamed Pueblo Maldonado and a jetty was established where ships of up to 180 tons were anchored. The official foundation was made by the First Commissioner and Supreme Delegate of the Government Mr. Juan S. Villalta, on July 10, 1902, located in what is now the Old Town. However, it was not until 1985 that the founding date of the city of Puerto Maldonado was made official.
Geography
Madre de Dios is a department with abundant virgin forests and captivating landscapes. It is possibly the least intervened and eroded area of the Peruvian Amazon. In addition, the combination of its abrupt geography, its innumerable microclimates and the variety of its soils have fostered the development of a diversity of living forms. Land of wide and leisurely rivers and beautiful lagoons surrounded by exuberant vegetation. Madre de Dios has the best soils in the entire Amazon jungle, being the production of Brazil nuts and rubber its main source of income. Likewise, the region is home to native tribes for whom the advance of civilization has not yet arrived. The main groups established in the region are the Huarayos, Mashcos, Piros, Amahuacas, Yaminahuas, Amaracaes and Machiguengas.
Climate
The climate of Puerto Maldonado is humid tropical with high temperatures throughout the year, although especially in August and September, to this is added the thermal sensation that on some occasions touches close to 50 °C. In most months of the year in Puerto Maldonado there is significant rainfall, especially abundant from October to April. The average annual temperature in Puerto Maldonado is 25.4 °C. There is about 2221 mm of rainfall. During the winter, the so-called friajes can occasionally occur, which are masses of cold air coming from Antarctica that manage to lower the temperature even below 10 °C.
 Average climate parameters of Puerto Maldonado | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Ene. | Feb. | Mar. | Open up. | May. | Jun. | Jul. | Ago. | Sep. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | Annual |
| Temp. max. abs. (°C) | 36.7 | 36.0 | 36.5 | 36.6 | 37.0 | 38.7 | 39.2 | 40 | 42 | 41 | 40 | 39.5 | 42 |
| Average temperature (°C) | 30.9 | 30.7 | 31.0 | 30.7 | 29.8 | 29.0 | 29.6 | 31.2 | 32.0 | 32.0 | 31.6 | 31.1 | 30.8 |
| Average temperature (°C) | 26.2 | 26 | 26 | 25.5 | 24.3 | 23.2 | 23.2 | 24.5 | 25.4 | 26.2 | 26.4 | 26.2 | 25.3 |
| Temp. medium (°C) | 21.4 | 21.2 | 20.9 | 20.3 | 18.8 | 17.4 | 16.8 | 17.8 | 18.8 | 20.4 | 21.1 | 21.3 | 19.7 |
| Temp. min. abs. (°C) | 15.0 | 14.0 | 13.0 | 11.5 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 4.5 | 7.4 | 4.7 | 13.0 | 13.0 | 15.5 | 4.5 |
| Rains (mm) | 342.6 | 333.4 | 274.9 | 154.2 | 105.5 | 57.6 | 56.8 | 63.3 | 98.1 | 164.4 | 236.9 | 279.3 | 2167 |
| Relative humidity (%) | 78 | 80 | 79 | 78.5 | 76 | 74 | 70 | 71 | 73.5 | 75 | 76.5 | 77 | 75.7 |
| Source: SENAMHI | |||||||||||||
Demographics
- Population - Inhabitants: 210,524, post 27 in Peru.
- Human Development Index (IDH): 1, 9 in Peru.
- Life expectancy: 70 years, 11 in Peru.
- Literacy: 95%, 5 in Peru.
- School: 86%, 12 in Peru.
Economy
During the colonial era and part of the Republican era, until the end of the 19th century, the link between Puerto Maldonado and the rest of the country and the world was characterized by periodic advances and withdrawals of extractive activities, which depended on the European business cycles. The most relevant were the extractive economy of rubber, and towards the end of the 19th century the cascarilla or quina, used to treat malaria. Also the shiringa, wood, chestnut and gold.
Starting in the 20th century, rubber extraction was introduced into the Madre de Dios River basin, entering the Fitzcarrald Isthmus and thus reaching Puerto Maldonado, which at that time was a transit point for all who will pass The rise in the price of gold after the Bretton Woods agreement in the 1940s once again pushed various settlers to the region in search of gold, which, in a gradual process full of setbacks, culminated in the construction of two highways: to Puerto Maldonado in the lower Madre de Dios, and to Shintuya in the upper Madre de Dios.
Currently, the capital of Madre de Dios is characterized by the heterogeneity of the economic activities carried out, distinguishing three economic fronts:
- Extractive, Conformed by the activities of gold exploitation, timber extraction and non-timber (Castro), it should be indicated that although it is true that Puerto Maldonado and its surroundings there is gold extraction, but the large part of the miners are informal so they do not directly contribute to the economy of the department, except for the purchases in large quantities to the stores that sell products of first need and products for the extraction of the gold,
- Agribusiness: It includes agriculture, livestock, located around the roads and the main river paths:
- Conservation: Legacy of an indigenous territorial economy, houses various indigenous peoples, ecotourism companies, and the whole of protected natural areas.
The dynamics of commercial activity, in charge of articulating the three economic fronts, has an increasingly growing behavior, thanks to migration from all parts of Peru.
Tourism
Since 2010, there is a paved road from Cusco to Iñapari on the border with Brazil. This road called Carretera Interoceánica is an access point to various attractions along its route, where Puerto Maldonado becomes an obligatory step on the tourist agenda.
The International Airport of Puerto Maldonado is an important reference for visitors attracted by ecological tourism.
Among the main tourist attractions are hotels that are characterized by their immersion in nature surrounded by the Madre de Dios River, such as the Enai Hotel, which stands out for being one of the most innovative in the area.
Featured Characters
Health
The city of Puerto Maldonado has the following Hospitals:
- Hospital I of Support Puerto Maldonado, called Hospital Santa Rosa.
- Hospital ESSALUD Víctor Lazo Peratta, located on the banks of the Southern Interoceanic Road.
Independently of these two Hospitals, which lack high-level specialists, it has a network of health centers and HEIs distributed throughout the city and the two existing provinces.