Editing Marañón River

{{Infobox river
| name               = Marañón River
| native_name        = {{native name|qu|Awriq mayu}}
| name_other         = {{langx|es|text=Río Marañón}}
| name_etymology     = 
<!---------------------- IMAGE & MAP -->
| image              = Maranon.jpg
| image_size         = 270
| image_caption      = Valley of the Marañón between [[Chachapoyas, Peru|Chachapoyas]] ([[Leimebamba District|Leimebamba]]) and [[Celendín]]
| map                = Marañón River watershed.jpg
| map_size           = 270
| map_caption        = Marañón River watershed ([https://mghydro.com/watersheds/shared/5C101D.html Interactive map])
| pushpin_map        = 
| pushpin_map_size   = 270
| pushpin_map_caption= 
<!---------------------- LOCATION -->
| subdivision_type1  = Country
| subdivision_name1  = [[Peru]]
| subdivision_type2  = 
| subdivision_name2  = 
| subdivision_type3  = 
| subdivision_name3  = 
| subdivision_type4  = 
| subdivision_name4  = 
| subdivision_type5  = 
| subdivision_name5  = 
<!---------------------- PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS -->
| length             = {{cvt|1,737|km|mi|abbr=on}}<ref name="ANÁLISIS DE LA EVALUACIÓN AMBIENTAL PRELIMINAR DE LA CENTRAL HIDROELÉCTRICA LORENA-Río Marañón">{{cite journal|journal=Environmental Sustainability|url=https://www.academia.edu/36155977/AN%C3%81LISIS_DE_LA_EVALUACI%C3%93N_AMBIENTAL_PRELIMINAR_DE_LA_CENTRAL_HIDROEL%C3%89CTRICA_LORENA_R%C3%ADo_Mara%C3%B1%C3%B3n|title=ANÁLISIS DE LA EVALUACIÓN AMBIENTAL PRELIMINAR DE LA CENTRAL HIDROELÉCTRICA LORENA-Río Marañón|last1=José|first1=Serra Vega|page=75|year=2017}}</ref> 
| width_min          = 
| width_avg          = 
| width_max          = 
| depth_min          = 
| depth_avg          = 
| depth_max          = 
| discharge1_location= Confluence of [[Ucayali River|Ucayali]]
| discharge1_min     = 
| discharge1_avg     =(Period: 1965–2013){{cvt|16,675.89|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Evaluación de recursos hídricos en la cuenca Marañón">{{cite web|url=https://repositorio.ana.gob.pe/handle/20.500.12543/39|title=Evaluación de recursos hídricos en la cuenca Marañón|year=2015}}</ref>
{{cvt|16,708|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="ANÁLISIS DE LA EVALUACIÓN AMBIENTAL PRELIMINAR DE LA CENTRAL HIDROELÉCTRICA LORENA-Río Marañón">{{cite journal|journal=Environmental Sustainability|url=https://www.academia.edu/36155977/AN%C3%81LISIS_DE_LA_EVALUACI%C3%93N_AMBIENTAL_PRELIMINAR_DE_LA_CENTRAL_HIDROEL%C3%89CTRICA_LORENA_R%C3%ADo_Mara%C3%B1%C3%B3n|title=ANÁLISIS DE LA EVALUACIÓN AMBIENTAL PRELIMINAR DE LA CENTRAL HIDROELÉCTRICA LORENA-Río Marañón|last1=José|first1=Serra Vega|page=75|year=2017}}</ref>
(Period: 1971–2000){{cvt|17,957.6|m3/s|cuft/s|abbr=on}}<ref name="Amazon">{{cite web|url=https://www.riversnetwork.org/V1/index.php/component/content/?view=article&id=43&catid=191&Itemid=179|title=Amazon}}</ref> 
| discharge1_max     = 
<!---------------------- BASIN FEATURES -->
| source1            = [[Andes]]
| source1_location   = Confluence of [[Lawriqucha River|Lauricocha]] and [[Nupe River|Nupe]]
| source1_coordinates= {{coord|9|59|16.674|S|76|40|58.854|W}}
| source1_elevation  = {{cvt|3,304|m|abbr=on}}
| source2            = [[Nupe River|Nupe]]
| source2_location   =[[Cordillera Huayhuash|Huayhuash]]
| source2_coordinates={{coord|10|16|44.598|S|76|52|3.2268|W}}
| source2_elevation  ={{cvt|4,351|m|abbr=on}}
| source3            = [[Lawriqucha River|Lauricocha]]
| source3_location   =[[Raura mountain range|Raura]]
| source3_coordinates={{coord|10|25|23.88|S|76|44|7.4544|W}}
| source3_elevation  ={{cvt|4,964|m|abbr=on}}
| mouth              = [[Amazon River]]
| mouth_location     = 
| mouth_coordinates  = {{coord|4|26|43.4076|S|73|27|11.5812|W}}
| mouth_elevation    = {{cvt|0|m|abbr=on}}
| progression        = [[Amazon River|Amazon]] → [[Atlantic Ocean]]
| river_system       = [[Amazon River|Amazon]]
| basin_size         = {{cvt|358,000|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}<ref name="ANÁLISIS DE LA EVALUACIÓN AMBIENTAL PRELIMINAR DE LA CENTRAL HIDROELÉCTRICA LORENA-Río Marañón">{{cite journal|journal=Environmental Sustainability|url=https://www.academia.edu/36155977/AN%C3%81LISIS_DE_LA_EVALUACI%C3%93N_AMBIENTAL_PRELIMINAR_DE_LA_CENTRAL_HIDROEL%C3%89CTRICA_LORENA_R%C3%ADo_Mara%C3%B1%C3%B3n|title=ANÁLISIS DE LA EVALUACIÓN AMBIENTAL PRELIMINAR DE LA CENTRAL HIDROELÉCTRICA LORENA-Río Marañón|last1=José|first1=Serra Vega|page=75|year=2017}}</ref> to {{cvt|364,873.4|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}<ref name="Amazon">{{cite web|url=https://www.riversnetwork.org/V1/index.php/component/content/?view=article&id=43&catid=191&Itemid=179|title=Amazon}}</ref>
| tributaries_right   =Yanayacu, [[Huallaga River|Huallaga]], Cahuapanas, Potro, Apaga, Samiria, [[Nieva River|Nieva]], Cananya, [[Chiriaco River|Chiriaco]], Congón, Rumirumi, Shuve, Chumuch, Pusac, Lavasen, Gansul, San Miguel, Challas, Tantamayo, San Juan, [[Lawriqucha River|Lauricocha]]
| tributaries_left  = [[Tigre River|Tigre]], Cunincu, Urituyacu, Nucuray, Ungumayo, [[Pastaza River|Pastaza]], Sasipahua, [[Morona River|Morona]], Cangaza, Santiago, [[Cenepa River|Cenepa]], [[Chinchipe River|Chinchipe]], Choros, Linlín, Artesamayo, Choropampa, Magdalena, Cortegana, Chipche, Mireles, Chusgón, San Sebastián, Casga, Mamara, Mayas, Actuy, Rupac, [[Yanamayo River|Yanamayo]], Puchca, Contan, [[Vizcarra River|Vizcarra]], [[Nupe River|Nupe]]
| custom_label       = 
| custom_data        = 
| extra              = 
}}
The '''Marañón River''' ({{langx|es|Río Marañón}}, {{IPA|es|ˈri.o maɾaˈɲon|IPA}}, {{langx|qu|Awriq mayu}}) is the principal or mainstem source of the Amazon River, arising about 160&nbsp;km (100 miles) to the northeast of [[Lima]], [[Peru]], and flowing northwest across plateaus 3,650 m (12,000 feet) high,<ref name=":0" /> it runs through a deeply eroded Andean valley, along the eastern base of the [[Cordillera]] of the [[Andes]], as far as 5° 36′ southern latitude; from where it makes a great bend to the northeast, and cuts through the jungle Ande in its midcourse, until at the [[Pongo de Manseriche]] it flows into the flat [[Amazon basin]].<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Amazon |volume=1 |pages=786–787 |first=George Earl |last=Church |author-link=George Earl Church}}</ref> Although historically, the term "Marañón River" often was applied to the river all the way to the [[Atlantic Ocean]], nowadays the Marañón River is generally thought to end at the confluence with the [[Ucayali River]], after which most cartographers label the ensuing waterway the [[Amazon River]].

As the Marañón passes through high jungle in its midcourse, it is marked by a series of unnavigable rapids and falls.

The Marañón was the subject of a landmark legal ruling related to the rights of nature. In March 2024, a Peruvian court ruled that the river itself has fundamental rights, including the right to ecological flows and to be free from pollution.<ref>{{Cite web| last1 = Armani| first1 = Isadora| last2 = Revollé| first2 = Alexis| title = Landmark ruling: The Peruvian Court of Nauta recognizes the rights of the Marañón River and the Indigenous communities as its guardians| work = International Rivers| format = Press Release| access-date = 2024-03-26| date = 2024-03-19| url = https://www.internationalrivers.org/news/landmark-ruling-the-peruvian-court-of-nauta-recognizes-the-rights-of-the-maranon-river-and-the-indigenous-communities-as-its-guardians/}}</ref>

==Geography==
The Marañón River is Peru's second-longest river, according to a 2005 statistical publication by the [[Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática]].<ref name="inei">{{cite book | url=https://www.inei.gob.pe/media/MenuRecursivo/publicaciones_digitales/Est/Lib0638/Libro.pdf | title=Perú: Compendio Estadístico 2005 | publisher=Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática (INEI)| author=Sistema Estadístico Nacional | year=2005 | page=997 | chapter=Teritorio 1.8 Longitud aproximada de los rios mas importantes}}</ref>{{rp|21, pdf 13}}

== Source of the Amazon ==
The Marañón River was considered the [[source of the Amazon River]] starting with the 1707 map published by Padre [[Samuel Fritz]],<ref name=":0">{{cite book | url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015008906953;view=1up;seq=74 | title=Journal of the travels and labours of Father Samuel Fritz in ... Fritz, Samuel, 1654-1724. | author=Samuel Fritz, George Edmundson | series=Works issued by the Hakluyt Society,2d ser., no. 51 | year=1922 | location=London, Printed for the Hakluyt Society}}</ref>{{rp|58}} who indicated the great river "has its source on the southern shore of a lake that is called [[Lake Lauricocha|Lauriocha]], near [[Huánuco]]." Fritz believed that the Marañón contributed the most water of all the Amazon's tributaries, making it the most important headstream.<ref>Loureiro Dias, Camila (July 2012), "Jesuit Maps and Political Discourse: The Amazon River of Father Samuel Fritz", ''The Americas'', Vol 69, No. 9, p. 2014. Downloaded from [[Project MUSE]].</ref><ref>Dasgupta, Shreya (2016), "Why the Source of the Amazon river remains a Mystery," BBC, [http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20160516-why-it-is-hard-to-find-the-source-of-rivers-like-the-amazon], accessed 6 Nov 2018</ref> 

[[File:Maranonrivermap.png|thumb|left|Location of the Marañón within the Amazon Basin]]

For most of the 18th–19th centuries and into the 20th century, the Marañón River was generally considered the source of the Amazon. Later explorations have proposed two headwaters rivers of the Marañón in the high [[Andes]] as sources of the Amazon: the [[Lauricocha River|Lauricocha]] and [[Nupe River]]s. The Lauricocha and Nupe unite near the village of [[Rondos District|Rondos]] to form from their confluence downstream the river that is called the Marañón.<ref name="Britannica">{{cite EB1911|wstitle= Amazon |volume= 01 | pages = 783&ndash;790 |last1= Church |first1= George Earl }}</ref>

Although the [[Apurimac River|Apurimac]] and [[Mantaro River|Mantaro]] rivers also have claims to being the source of the Amazon, the Marañón River continues to claim the title of the "mainstem source" or "hydrological source" of the Amazon due to its contribution of the highest annual discharge rates.<ref name = "Dias">{{Cite web |url=http://redebrasilis.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Camila-L.-Dias-Jesuit-Maps-and-Political-Discourse-muse.pdf |title=Camila Loureiro Dias, "Maps and Political Discourse: The Amazon River of Father Samuel Fritz," ''The Americas,'' Volume 69, Number 1, July 2012, pp. 95–116. |access-date=15 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001180423/http://redebrasilis.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Camila-L.-Dias-Jesuit-Maps-and-Political-Discourse-muse.pdf |archive-date=1 October 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>

== Description ==

The initial section of the Marañón contains a plethora of [[pongo (geography)|''pongos'']], which are gorges in the jungle areas often with difficult rapids.{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}
The [[Pongo de Manseriche]] is the final'' pongo'' on the Marañón located just before the river enters the flat Amazon basin. It is {{convert|5|km|mi|abbr=on}} long and located between the confluence with the [[Rio Santiago (Peru)|Rio Santiago]] and the village of Borja. According to Captain Carbajal, who attempted ascent through the Pongo de Manseriche in the little steamer ''Napo'', in 1868, it is a vast rent in the Andes about 600&nbsp;m (2000&nbsp;ft) deep, narrowing in places to a width of only 30&nbsp;m (100&nbsp;ft), the precipices "seeming to close in at the top." Through this canyon, the Marañón leaps along, at times, at the rate of 20&nbsp;km/h (12&nbsp;mi/h).<ref name=EB1911/> The ''pongo'' is known for wrecking many ships and many drownings.

Downstream of the Pongo de Manseriche, the river often has islands, and usually nothing is visible from its low banks, but an immense [[forest]]-covered plain<ref name=EB1911/> known as the ''selva baja'' (low jungle) or [[Peru]]vian Amazonia. It is home to [[indigenous peoples]] such as the [[Urarina]] of the [[Chambira Basin]] [http://www.upf.com/book.asp?id=DEANXS07], the [[Candoshi]], and the [[Cocama-Cocamilla]] peoples.

A 552-km (343-mi) section of the Marañón River between Puente Copuma (Puchka confluence) and Corral Quemado is a class IV raftable river that is similar in many ways to the [[Grand Canyon]] of the United States, and has been labeled the "Grand Canyon of the Amazon".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2015-04-13 |title=The Grand Canyon of the Amazon Under Attack |url=https://www.oars.com/blog/paddling-with-a-purpose-on-perus-rio-maranon/ |access-date=2023-01-28 |website=OARS |language=en-US}}</ref> Most of this section of the river is in a canyon that is up to 3000 m deep on both sides – over twice the depth of the [[Colorado River|Colorado]]'s Grand Canyon. It is in dry, desert-like terrain, much of which receives only 250–350&nbsp;mm/rain per year (10–14 in/yr) with parts such as from Balsas to Jaén known as the hottest ''infierno'' area of Peru. The Marañón Grand Canyon section flows by the village of Calemar, where Peruvian writer [[Ciro Alegría]] based one of his most important novels, ''La serpiente de oro'' (1935).

== Historical journeys ==
=== La Condamine, 1743 ===
One of the first popular descents of the Marañón River occurred in 1743, when Frenchman [[Charles Marie de La Condamine]] journeyed from the Chinchipe confluence all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. La Condamine did not descend the initial section of the Marañón by boat due to the ''pongos''.  From where he began his boating descent at the Chiriaco confluence, La Condamine still had to confront several ''pongos'', including the Pongo de [[Huaracayo]] (or Guaracayo) and the Pongo de Manseriche.

=== Flornoy, 1941-1942 ===
In 1936, [[Bertrand Flornoy]] was appointed chargé de mission at the [[National Museum of Natural History, France|National Museum of Natural History of France]], which sent him on study and exploration missions in Amazonia and the Andes. He specialised in the Peruvian Upper Amazon, and in 1941 and 1942 discovered the sources of the Río Marañón, one of the tributaries of the Amazon.

=== The Grand Canyon of the Amazon ===
[[File:Precipicio Rio Marañon alargado.jpg|thumb|upright|Marañón River as seen from Quchapata in Peru]]
The upper Marañón River has seen a number of descents. An attempt to paddle the river was made by Herbert Rittlinger in 1936.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Rittlinger|first=Herbert|title=Ganz Allein zum Amazonas|publisher=Büchergilde Gutenberg, Frankfurt am Main|year=1977|isbn=3-7653-0196-5|location=Germany}}</ref> [[Sebastian Snow]] was an adventurer who journeyed down most of the river by trekking to [[Chiriaco River]] starting at the source near [[Lake Niñacocha]].<ref>{{cite book|title=My Amazon Adventure|asin= B003Z01196|author=Sebastian Snow|date= January 1955|publisher= Readers Book Club|url=https://www.amazon.com/My-Amazon-Adventure-Sebastian-Snow/dp/B003Z01196|access-date=22 February 2013}}</ref>{{page needed|date=May 2016}}

In 1976 and/or 1977, Laszlo Berty descended the section from Chagual to the jungle in a raft.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sierrarios.org/Peru/LaszloBerty.html | title=Laszlo Berty: rafting pioneer in Peru | publisher=SierraRios | date=n.d. | access-date=22 February 2013}}</ref> In 1977, a group composed of Tom Fisher, Steve Gaskill, Ellen Toll, and John Wasson spent over a month descending the river from Rondos to Nazareth with kayaks and a raft.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sierrarios.org/Peru/Wasson.html | title=First Descent of Río Marañon: Fisher, Gaskill, Toll, and Wasson Expedition | publisher=SierraRios | access-date=22 February 2013}}</ref>  In 2004, Tim Biggs and companions kayaked the entire river from the Nupe River to [[Iquitos]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://www.amazon.com/Three-Rivers-Amazon-ebook/dp/B00507FRT2/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1332743366&sr=1-3 | title=Three Rivers of the Amazon | publisher=Amazon | asin= B00507FRT2|access-date=10 February 2013 | author=Tim Biggs| date=9 May 2011 }}</ref>  In 2012, Rocky Contos descended the entire river with various companions along the way.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sierrarios.org/Peru/AmazonFirstDescent.html | title=First Descent of the Amazon Expedition | publisher=Sierra Rios | access-date=22 February 2013}}</ref>

== Hydroelectric dams ==
The Marañón River may supply 20 hydroelectric mega-dams planned in the Andes, and most of the power is thought to be destined for export to Brazil, Chile, or Ecuador.<ref>{{cite news|title=Peru's Energy Ambitions|url= http://www.economist.com/node/18114659/ |newspaper=The Economist| access-date=22 February 2013 | date=12 February 2011}}</ref> Dam survey crews have drafted construction blueprints, and the [[environmental impact statement]]s have been available since November 2009 for the Veracruz dam,<ref name="se">{{cite web | url=http://www.sectorelectricidad.com/2805/peru-proyecto-central-hidroelectrica-veracruz-730-mw/ | title=Proyecto Central Hidroeléctrica Veracruz 730 MW | publisher=Sector Electricidad | date=23 August 2012 | access-date=22 February 2013|language =es}}</ref> and since November 2011, the Chadin2 dam.<ref name="mem">{{cite web | url=http://www.minem.gob.pe/minem/archivos/file/DGGAE/ARCHIVOS/estudios/EIAS%20-%20electricidad/EIA/EIA%20C.H.%20CHADIN%202/Resumen%20Ejecutivo%20Final.pdf |author=AC Energia S.A.| title=EIA Proyecto CH Chadín | publisher=Ministerio de Energía y Minas | date=November 2011 | access-date=5 May 2016 | page=59}}</ref><ref name="sr">{{cite web | url=http://www.sierrarios.org/Peru/Slideshows/Maranon_EIS1_Chadin2.html | title=EIS Chadin2 Dam | publisher=SierraRios | work=Estudio de Impacto Ambiental del Proyecto Hydroelectrica Chadin 2, AC Energia S.A. | date=November 2011 | access-date=22 February 2013 | page=30}}</ref> 
A 2011 law stated "national demand" for the hydroelectric energy, while in 2013, Peruvian President [[Ollanta Humala]] explicitly made a connection with mining; the energy is to supply mines in the [[Cajamarca Region]], [[La Libertad Region|La Libertad]], [[Ancash Region]], and [[Piura Region]].<ref name="g">{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2015/may/26/peru-amazon-main-source-dams-displacements | title=Peru planning to dam Amazon's main source and displace 1000s | newspaper=The Guardian | date=26 May 2015 | access-date=5 May 2016 | author=Mongabay.org's Special Reporting Initiatives}}</ref> Construction of the 406 MW dam in [[Chaglla District]] started in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.sectorelectricidad.com/2781/peru-se-inicio-obra-de-central-hidroelectrica-chaglla-de-406mw/ |title=Perú: Se inició obra de Central Hidroeléctrica Chaglla de 406MW - Sector Electricidad - Profesionales en Ingeniería Eléctrica|work=www.sectorelectricidad.com |date=21 August 2012|access-date=6 September 2017 |language=es}}</ref>

===Concerns===
Opposition arose because the dams are expected to disrupt the major source of the Amazon, alter normal silt deposition into the lower river, damage habitat and migration patterns for fish and other aquatic life, displace thousands of residents along the river, and damage a national treasure "at least as nice as the Grand Canyon in the USA". Residents have launched efforts to halt the dams along the river with conservation groups such as SierraRios<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sierrarios.org/Peru/SaveRioMaranon.html | title=Save Río Marañon | publisher=sierrarios.org | date=n.d. | access-date=22 February 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.psf.org.pe/institucional/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/infografia-chadin2.pdf | title=Graves impactos de la represa Chadín 2 | publisher=Forum Solidaridad Peru | work=Infographic | date=23 September 2013 | access-date=5 May 2016}}</ref> and [[International Rivers]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.internationalrivers.org/campaigns/marañon-river/ | title=Río Marañon | publisher=International Rivers | date=n.d. | access-date=22 February 2013}}</ref>

Potential ecological impacts of 151 new dams greater than 2 MW on five of the six major Andean tributaries of the Amazon over the next 20 years are estimated to be high, including the first major break in connectivity between Andean headwaters and lowland Amazon and deforestation due to infrastructure.<ref name="plos">{{cite journal | title=Proliferation of Hydroelectric Dams in the Andean Amazon and Implications for Andes-Amazon Connectivity. | author=Finer M, Jenkins CN | journal=PLOS ONE | year=2012 | volume=7 | issue=4 | pages=e35126 | doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0035126 | pmid=22529979 | pmc=3329437| bibcode=2012PLoSO...735126F | doi-access=free }}</ref>

==Water Pollution==

The Marañón River has been polluted by oil pipelines and mining activities in its watershed. Between 1970 and 2019, over 60 spills have been documented from the Norperuano oil pipeline. Mercury and other toxic chemicals have been released from illegal mining.<ref>{{Cite web| last1 = Armani| first1 = Isadora| last2 = Revollé| first2 = Alexis| title = Landmark ruling: The Peruvian Court of Nauta recognizes the rights of the Marañón River and the Indigenous communities as its guardians| work = International Rivers| format = Press Release| access-date = 2024-03-26| date = 2024-03-19| url = https://www.internationalrivers.org/news/landmark-ruling-the-peruvian-court-of-nauta-recognizes-the-rights-of-the-maranon-river-and-the-indigenous-communities-as-its-guardians/}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Extinct languages of the Marañón River basin]]
*[[List of rivers of Peru]]
* [[Loreto Region]]
* [[Maina Indians]]
*[[World Commission on Dams]]

== References ==
{{Commons category|Marañón River}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{Coord|7.967438|S|77.297745|W|source:dewiki_region:PE_type:river|format=dms|display=title}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maranon River}}
[[Category:Rivers of Peru]]
[[Category:Tributaries of the Amazon River]]
[[Category:Rivers of the Department of Loreto|Rivers]]
[[Category:Upper Amazon]]