UCAYALI

departamento of eastern Peru (until 1980 part of Loreto department) spanning the upper and middle sections of the meandering Ucayali River, a principal tributary of the Amazon. Formerly a very isolated area of Peru, Ucayali department experienced rapid population growth (particularly at Pucallpa , the departmental capital) after 1945 with the completion of a road system from Lima. With an area of 38,931 square miles (100,831 square km), most of Ucayali is a humid, low-lying region with tropical rain forest, although in the far south it is more savanna-like as a result of a more distinct dry season. Frontier communities and villages, including Pucallpa, are located mostly along the sandy and eroded banks of the Ucayali River. Agricultural cooperatives adjacent to these settlements are tilled by mestizo colonists who raise bananas, cassava, corn (maize), and rice, as well as pigs and cattle; rosewood felled in the rain forest is trucked to Callao (the port of Lima) for export. The often-proselytized Shipibo Indians live in remote areas. Transportation in Ucayali is almost entirely riverine except for the road to Lima, the airport at Pucallpa, and occasional trails and landing strips. Minor ports along the Ucayali River are Puerto Oriente in the north and Atalaya, the terminus for navigation in the uppermost section of the river, in the south. Pop. (1990 est.) 230,000.