IQUITOS, a city and river port of Peru, and capital of the great department of Loreto, on the left bank of the upper Ama zon near the mouth of the Rio Nanay, 2,33o m. from the Atlantic, 25" W., 45' 23" S. During the height of the rubber boom (1906-1912) the population reached 15,00o, but has de clined to less than io,000. Iquitos is about 400 ft. above sea level, on the low wooded banks of the river. The climate is hot and damp. As a Peruvian, not Indian town, it dates from 1863 when the first government buildings were erected. The chief buildings are the prefecture, custom house, municipal palace, churches, schools, clubs and barracks; Iquitos is the centre of a military region. Houses are mostly adobe roofed with thatch or tile, streets wide, but with few exceptions badly paved.
The city has regular service from the Atlantic by the Amazon River Steamship Co., Ltd., controlled by the Booth line, and is the distributing point for all up-stream tributaries navigated from Iquitos by smaller craft. The city now has direct wireless corn
munication with Lima and other stations, and an air mail service to San Ramon (Junin) one day from Lima. Rubber has been until recently the basis of the city's prosperity (see LORETO). Exports include tobacco, cotton, wax, tortoise-oil, sarsaparilla, vanilla, gold and Panama hats. Tile and brick are manufactured, and there are a few other small industries. The city has electric lights, steam tram, cinemas and telephones which connect with the wireless station at Itaya, a suburb. Water and sewage systems are under construction. Iquitos dates officially from 1863, when it had a population of 431, though there had been a white settle ment there for more than half a century. The opening of the Amazon to navigation added immensely to the importance of the city and made it the commercial entrepOt of Eastern Peru.