The Mantaro River (Spanish: Río Mantaro, Quechua: Hatunmayu) is a long river running through the central region of Peru. Its Quechua name means "great river". The word "Mantaro" may be a word originally from the Asháninka language, who live downstream along the Ene River. The Mantaro, along with the Apurímac River, are the sources of the Amazon River, depending on the criteria used for definition.
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👉 Mantaro River in the context of Amazon River
The Amazon River (US: /ˈæməzɒn/; Portuguese: rio Amazonas, Spanish: río Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the longest or second-longest river system in the world, a title which is disputed with the Nile.
The headwaters of the Apurímac River on Nevado Mismi had been considered, for nearly a century, the Amazon basin's most distant source until a 2014 study found it to be the headwaters of the Mantaro River on the Cordillera Rumi Cruz in Peru. The Mantaro and Apurímac rivers join, and with other tributaries form the Ucayali River, which in turn meets the Marañón River upstream of Iquitos, Peru, forming what countries other than Brazil consider to be the main stem of the Amazon. Brazilians call this section the Solimões River above its confluence with the Rio Negro forming what Brazilians call the Amazon at the Meeting of Waters (Portuguese: Encontro das Águas) at Manaus, the largest city on the river.
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Mantaro River in the context of Apurímac River
The Apurímac River (Quechua: Apurimaq mayu IPA: [ˈapʊ ˈɾɪmaχ ˈmajʊ]; Spanish: río Apurímac, IPA: [ˈri.o apuˈɾimak]; from Quechua apu 'chief' and rimaq 'the one who speaks, oracle', thus 'the chief oracle') rises from glacial meltwater of the ridge of the Mismi, a 5,597-metre-high (18,363 ft) mountain in the Arequipa Province in the south-western mountain ranges of Peru, 10 km (6.2 mi) from the village Caylloma, and less than 160 km (99 mi) from the Pacific coast. It flows generally northwest past Cusco in narrow gorges with depths of up to 3,000 m (9,800 ft), almost twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, its course interrupted by falls and rapids. Of the six attempts to travel the full length of the Apurímac so far, only two have been successful.
After 730 kilometres (450 mi), the Apurímac joins the Mantaro River and becomes the Ene River, 440 m (1,440 ft) above sea level; then after joining the Perené River at 330 m (1,080 ft) above sea level, it becomes the Tambo River; when it joins the Urubamba at 280 m (920 ft) above sea level the river becomes the Ucayali, which is the main headstream of the Amazon. Sometimes the complete river from its source to its junction with the Ucayali, including the rivers Ene and Tambo, is called "Apurímac", with a total length of 1,070 km (660 mi).
Mantaro River in the context of Tambo River (Peru)
The Tambo River (Spanish: Río Tambo) is a Peruvian river on the eastern slopes of the Andes. The name only refers to a relatively short section of the waterbody; about 159 km (99 mi) long. It starts at the confluence of the Ene and Perené Rivers at the town of Puerto Prado. From here the Tambo flows 70 km (43 mi) in an easterly direction and then turns north. When merging with the Urubamba River at the town of Atalaya, it becomes the Ucayali River.
The Tambo is part of the headwaters of the Amazon River whose origin is the Mantaro River at Cordilerra Ruminator Cruz.