River · Peru
Ucayali River
The Ucayali is the longest river in Peru. It rolls northwards through the rainforest of the lowlands and meets the Marañón near the town of Nauta, where the two together become the Amazon.
Picture credit: Maurice Chédel (Public domain) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Ucayali River?
The river starts here: meeting of the Tambo and Urubamba rivers in eastern Peru.
It ends in the joins the Marañón near Nauta to form the Amazon.
Countries on the river: Peru.
The story behind it
The Ucayali begins where two mountain rivers, the Tambo and the Urubamba, come together. From there it loops through the green lowlands in huge bends that change shape after every flood. Old bends get cut off and stay behind as quiet lakes full of fish. Pink river dolphins hunt in the murky water, giant catfish live near the bottom, and turtles lay eggs on the sandbanks. Pucallpa, the biggest city on its banks, has no road to the coast for heavy freight, so goods travel by boat: bananas, timber, cooking oil and passengers in hammocks. When the rains come, the river climbs many metres and spreads into the forest, and families in stilt houses simply move upstairs. Near Nauta the Ucayali meets the Marañón, and the world's mightiest river, the Amazon, begins.
Questions children ask
How long is the Ucayali River?
Which countries does the Ucayali flow through?
Only through Peru. The river crosses the Amazon lowlands of the country from south to north and never leaves Peruvian territory.
Where does the Ucayali flow into?
It does not reach the sea by itself. Near the town of Nauta it joins the Marañón, and from that point the river is called the Amazon.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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