Department of Ancash in the context of Department of Huánuco

The Regional Government of Ancash (Spanish: Gobierno Regional de Áncash; GORE Áncash) is the regional government that represents the Department of Ancash. It is the body with legal identity in public law and its own assets, which is in charge of the administration of provinces of the department in Peru. Its purpose is the social, cultural and economic development of its constituency. It is based in the city of Huaraz.

Huascarán National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Huascarán) is a Peruvian national park that protects most of the mountain range known as Cordillera Blanca (the world's highest tropical mountain range) which is part of the central Andes, in the region of Ancash. The park covers an area of 340,000 hectares (840,000 acres) and is managed by the Peruvian Network of Protected Natural Areas, or SERNANP (Servicio Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas). Designated as a World Heritage Site in 1985 by UNESCO, Huascaráan is also a well-known mountaineering spot, and harbors a unique biodiversity with plant species such as the Queen of the Andes, trees of the genera Polylepis and Buddleja, and animals such as spectacled bears, condors, vicunas, and tarucas.

The park is approximately 150 kilometers (93 mi) long from north to south and averages about 25 kilometers (16 mi) in width. The western slope of the Cordillera Blanca drains to the Pacific Ocean via the Santa River and the eastern slopes drain to the Marañón River and ultimately to the Amazon River and the Atlantic Ocean.