It is a bustling city with around 500,000 inhabitants, much of them dedicated to agriculture, fishing, small commerce of import/export of various items extracted from the rainforest and its rivers. Life begins early morning and it ends late in the evenings every day, people are very happy and friendly specially on the weekends and holidays. The blending of local and remanent architecture from the rubber boom is very clear as you walk around the main plaza, the main streets, the museum, the market places.

The city of Iquitos bears its name from the first IQUITO Indians that were settled here years before any missionary or stranger came, as the rubber barons developed economy and other customs, plus modern development Amaonica became important for the national interest, the Indians were gradually pushed away, today organized in a extended family unit on the upper Nanay river.

Iquitos is the largest city in the jungle of Peru. It is the capital of the Loreto Region and the Maynas Province. Located on the Amazon River, it is just 106 meters above sea level even though it is more than 3,000 kilometers from the mouth of the Amazon on the Atlantic Ocean. It is situated 125 km downstream of the confluence of Río Ucayali and Río Marañón, the two main headwaters of the Amazon River. Iquitos has long been a major port in the Amazon Basin. It is surrounded by three rivers: the Nanay, the Itaya, and the Amazon.

The city is generally considered the largest in the world that cannot be reached by road, only by airplane or boat - unless you're traveling from Nauta, a small town roughly 100km south. Most travel within the city itself is via bus, motorcycle or mototaxi (auto rickshaw). Transportation to nearby towns often requires a river trip via llevo-llevo, a small public boat.

The climate is hot and humid, with an average relative humidity of 85%. The wet season lasts from around November to May, with the river reaching its highest point in May. The river is at its lowest in October.

IQUITOS STORY

Iquitos is a city submerged in the Peruvian Amazon Region, which seen from the air, spreads out like a huge, green seemingly endless cloak. Liked to the world only by air and by the Amazon River, Iquitos is the capital of Loreto, the largest department of Peru. It is located 3,646 km from the Atlantic Ocean and 1,859 km from Lima, the capital of Peru. Seemingly far away, this city and its surroundings constitute one of the most important tourist attractions in the area.

The Jesuits founded Iquitos in 1757 under the name of San Pablo de los Napeanos. It was the first port on the Amazon River. As in the case of many other towns founded in the Region during the 18th Century, Iquitos was the point from which evangelists began preaching their religion to the native people of the area.

Until approximately 1870, the city's population was less than 2,000 inhabitants. However, in only 10 years, Iquitos exceeded 10,000 inhabitants. In 1880, hundreds of people migrated to this place, attracted by the rubber boom. At the beginning of the 20th century, the city and river port became well known in international markets, which fostered the incorporation of a large number of foreign companies, as well as the presence of Spaniards, Italians, Portuguese and Germans. The opulence of those days is still noticeable in some of the city's buildings.

In 1971, oil exploitation was begun together with several projects for the use of forest resources. Surrounded by the best preserved forests due to its geographic isolation, the Iquitos Region shows features inherent to the Amazon eco-system and native groups which, in contact with civilization, live mainly on the banks of the Amazon, Napo, Ucayali, Marañón and Nanay Rivers.

This part of the Peruvian Amazon Region is home to one of the largest hydrographic system in the world, the Amazon Basin, which begins in the Andes Mountain Range (Arequipa) where the Amazon River is born, the river with the largest volume of water in the world. It is formed by the confluence of the Ucayali and Marañón Rivers, close to the City of Nauta.