Region
Cajamarca
Cajamarca Department of Peru shares a border with Ecuador to the north, and the Peruvian Departments of Amazonas to the east, La Libertad to the south, and Lambayeque and Piura to the west. The Andes mountains run through Cajamarca, and the fertile soil and mineral deposits make agriculture, dairy farming, and mining principal economies of the region.
In the 15th Century, the Incan empire expanded into what is today the Cajamarca department and established their regional capital in the city of Cajamarca, today the capital of the department. The city of Cajamarca is one of the oldest cities in South America.
Coffee farming in Cajamarca is centered around the city of Jaen, high in the mountains. The western reaches of the Amazon Rainforest extend to Jaen and its environs. Cajamarca has thirteen provinces, many of which are criss-crossed by rivers flowing from high in Andes down to fertile river basins.