HUARAS, capital of the department of Ancachs, Peru, on the left bank of Huaras river, about 190 m. N.N.W. of Lima and 84 m. by mule from the port of Casma. Pop. (estimate, 192o) 14,000; altitude 9,80o ft. It is a picturesque Indian town in a fertile valley with magnificent views of snow-capped peaks. The climate is cool and bracing. The chief agricultural products are wheat, barley, maize, potatoes and fruit. Cattle are superior in quality. Silver, lead and copper mines in the vicinity are worked on a small scale ; mineral springs are locally famous. A railway up the Santa valley from the port of Chimbote is finished only as far as Huallanca (86 m.) but will eventually connect Huaras with the coast, a distance of 149 m. (see ANCACHS).