Marañón River

River, central Peru.

Rising in the Andes Mountains, it is part of the headwaters of the Amazon River. It flows northwest at elevations of about 12,000 ft (3,650 m) and descends through jungles in unnavigable rapids and falls; emerging from the most spectacular of these rapids, the Pongo de Manseriche, it is only 575 ft (175 m) above sea level. For the rest of its 879-mi (1,415-km) course, it meanders eastward, receiving the Huallaga River and then joining the Ucayali River to form the Amazon.

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▪ river, Peru

Spanish  Río Marañón,  

      headwater of the Amazon, rising in the snowcapped Andes above Lake Lauricocha in central Peru, about 100 miles (160 km) from the Pacific Ocean. It flows northwest across windswept plateaus 12,000 feet (3,650 m) high and carves a deep canyon between Andean ranges. As the Marañón passes through high jungle in its midcourse, it is marked by a series of unnavigable rapids and falls. Emerging from the most spectacular of these rapids, the Pongo de Manseriche, the river is only 575 feet (175 m) above sea level. For the rest of its 879-mile (1,415-km) course, it meanders eastward through hot, sparsely populated rain forest and receives the Huallaga River. It combines with the Ucayali River below Nauta to form the Amazon.

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