PUTUMAYO

departamento, southern Colombia. It is bounded by the Caquet River on the northeast, Ecuador on the south, and Peru on the southeast. It consists of forested lowlands, except where it rises abruptly into the Andes on the west. The department is thought to have great petroleum reserves; oil is piped from Puerto Ass, along the Putumayo River, over the Andes westward to Tumaco, on the Pacific. In addition, lime is extracted in the department, and there are deposits of marble, coal, and other minerals. The cultivation of rice, sugarcane, beans, corn (maize), bananas, and cassava is steadily increasing. A highway descends from Pasto, in Nario department, to Puerto Ass, with a branch leading to the departmental capital of Mocoa. Other travel is by river or by air. Area 9,608 square miles (24,885 square km). Pop. (1993 est.) 229,798.