Huánuco

Huánuco, a city of central Peru, capital of a department, 170 m. N.N.E. of Lima in a beautiful valley on the left bank of the Huallaga river, nearly 6000 ft. above sea-level. Pop. (1906 estimate) about 6000. The town was founded in 1539 by Gomez Alvarado. Huánuco is celebrated for its fruits and sweetmeats, the “chirimoya” (Anona chirimolia) of this region being the largest and most delicious of its kind. Mining is one of the city’s industries. Huánuco was the scene of one of the bloodthirsty massacres of which the Chileans were guilty during their occupation of Peruvian territory in 1881-1883. The department of Huánuco lies immediately N. of Junin, with Ancachs on the W. and San Martin and Loreto on the N. and E. Pop. (1906 estimate) 108,980; area, 14,028 sq. m. It lies wholly in the Cordillera region, and is traversed from S. to N. by the Marañon and Huallaga rivers.

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