Department of Tumbes

The Tumbes Region is bordered by the Ecuadorian provinces of El Oro and Loja on the east; Peru's Piura Region on the south; and by the Pacific Ocean on the north and west.

Morphologically, four zones can be defined in the region: the delta of the Tumbes and Zarumilla rivers; an alluvial plain north of the Tumbes River, with dry, low-depth ravines; ancient terraces that have been strongly eroded in the Máncora area; and the Amotape mountain range in the east and south, ending at El Barco Mountain. The delta of the Tumbes river is shallow, and when the tide is low, little sandy keys show up, which get covered by mangrove vegetation. Despite its small area— it is the second-smallest region in Peru— Tumbes has a great variety of ecosystems: mangroves, Tumbes–Piura dry forests, the only coastal tropical forests in Peru, and a rich and warm sea. Around 50% of the region's territory is covered by three protected natural areas: the Manglares de Tumbes National Sanctuary (which is part of the Gulf of Guayaquil–Tumbes mangroves), the Cerros de Amotape National Park and the Tumbes Reserved Zone.

Basically composed of a large mestizo population rooted in a mixture between the pre-Incan Tumpis and Tallanes tribes, Spanish, creoles, the African peoples, including mulatos or zambos, and a small Chinese community of mostly Cantonese ancestry.

Political map of the Tumbes region

The region is divided into three provinces (Spanish: provincias, singular: provincia), which are composed of twelve districts (distritos, singular: distrito).

The provinces, with their capitals in parentheses, are:

• Contralmirante Villar (Zorritos)
• Tumbes (Tumbes)
• Zarumilla (Zarumilla)

Tumbes cathedral.

Tumbes was a populated region well before the Inca Empire. The first settlers were fishers and hunters. Most recent cultures that lived there have left evidence of the refinement in their ceramics, and huacas or ruins that still stand today.

Tumbes was integrated into the Inca Empire during the reign of Sapa Inca Pachacuti. He introduced a new way of organizing the empire, but the task of integration continued during Tupac Inca Yupanqui's and Huayna Capac's reigns.[1]^: 123 He made it a key departure point for his campaign to conquer the Cañaris.

The adventure of the Spanish Conquistadores had its beginning in Tumbes: at Puerto Pizarro Francisco Pizarro and his men landed in search of gold. The conquerors set off to the rest of the empire, founding cities and overpowering their people.[1]^: 123

During colonial times, Tumbes was no more than a crossing point where soldiers and adventurers stopped momentarily to restock themselves, and continue traveling. Tumbes, however, gained permanent importance after Peru's independence; with Ecuador's long-standing territorial claims over the Loreto Region of Peru, Tumbes's closeness to the border exposed it as a resistance point in some episodes of the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War.

As part of the decentralization process in Peru, a referendum was held on October 30, 2005, to decide whether the region would merge with the regions of Piura and Lambayeque to create the new Northern Region (Spanish: Región Norte). However, voters in the region voted against the merge.

• (in Spanish) Portal del Gobierno Regional de Tumbes – Tumbes Regional Government official portal
• Peru Information by Regions: Tumbes
• The Tumbesian Region, climate and endemism
• Endemic Birds of the Tumbesian Region