Huanta province

Province in Ayacucho, Peru

Huanta
Province
FlagCoat of arms
Location of Huanta in the Ayacucho Region
Country	Peru
Region	Ayacucho
Capital	Huanta
Government
• Mayor	Renol Silbio Pichardo Ramos
Area
• Total	3,878.91 km (1,497.66 sq mi)
Elevation	2,628 m (8,622 ft)
Population
• Total	89,466
• Density	23/km (60/sq mi)
UBIGEO	0504
Website	www.munihuanta.gob.pe

Huanta Province is the northernmost of the eleven provinces in the Ayacucho region in Peru. The capital of the Huanta province is the city of Huanta.

History

In the colonial era, Huanta province was larger than it is currently, with traditional ties to the central sierra of Peru, and largely indigenous. The province's capital, also called Huanta, was the site of an ecclesiastical doctrina and the center of a civil administrative district, corregimiento. In a royal census of 1795, Huanta province had 27,337 inhabitants, of which 10,080 (36%) were mixed-race mestizos. Huanta was the site of a major rebellion (1825–28) against the newly-formed Peruvian state. The Huanta Rebellion, led by Antonio Abad Huachaca, is characterized as a monarchist rebellion. It brought together different ethnic and occupational groups in complex interactions. The peasants of Huanta, called Iquichanos, were monarchist rebels and were transformed into liberal guerrillas. They allied with Spanish officers and merchants, mestizo land owners, and priests to attack the Peruvian republic in the name of the Spanish king Ferdinand VII. It was led by Antonio Abad Huachaca, an illiterate arriero or muleteer, an occupation that brought him into contact with areas outside his home base, since mules were the primary means of hauling freight and trade goods in the colonial era. The Huanta rebellion was defeated militarily, but the local leaders did not suffer the severe repression that characterized earlier rebellions, most notably the Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II.

In the late twentieth century, the province the Maoist insurgency of Shining Path was active in the region. In the town of Uchuraccay eight journalists investigating the insurgency were murdered in 1983, apparently by comunero peasants. A presidential commission overseen by Mario Vargas Llosa sought to uncover the truth about the incident and produced a report.

Geography

There is a wide variety of Peruvian ecological zones in Huanta province, with narrow valleys and high mountains. Ecological zones include the quechua (2300-3500m), the suni (3200-3900m), and the selva alta ("high jungle"), and the punas. The Mantaro River (by west) and the Apurímac River (by northeast) delineate the boundaries of the province.

One of the highest peaks of the province is Rasuwillka at approximately 4,800 m (15,700 ft). Other mountains are listed below:

Allpa Chaka
Aqun
Asiruyuq
Aya Wayq'u
Chawpi Qichqa
Chawpi Urqu
Chiri P'unqu
Chiri Urqu
Chupasqa
Chuqi Wiska
Ch'aki Qucha
Ch'uru Q'asa
Hatun Qaqa
Ichhu Rumi
Ichhu Urqu
Ichhu Rutuna
Irqi Qaqa
Kisu Rumi
Kuntur Sinqa
Llant'a Pallana
Llaqta Punta
Millpu Q'asa
Muru Qucha
Pampa Q'asa
Parqu Pampa
Paru Pampa
Parya Punta
Payqu Pata Urqu
Pirwa Qaqa
Pisqu Willka
Puka Mach'ay
Puka Q'asa
Puka Yaku
Pukara
Punta Urqu
Punwina Q'asa
Puywan Muqu
Qarwa Qaqa
Qullpa
Q'illu Waytayuq
Raqraq Q'asa Punta
Rumi Runtu
Runa Tullu
Sankayuniyuq
Saywa Urqu
Sinwa Q'asa
Supay Urqu
T'uturayuq
Uchpa Q'asa
Ukumariyuq
Wachu P'itiq
Wachu Qaqa
Wachwa Q'asa
Waman Pata
Waylla Punta
Wiñas Rumi
Wiska Ranra
Wisk'achayuq
Yana Qucha
Yana Urqu
Yana Waqra
Yana Willka
Yawri
Yuraq Rumi

Political division

The province measures 3,878.91 square kilometres (1,497.66 sq mi) and is divided into twelve districts.

Ethnic groups

The people in the province are mainly indigenous citizens of Quechua descent. Quechua is the language which the majority of the population (67.17%) learned to speak in childhood, 32.45% of the residents started speaking using the Spanish language and 0.10% using Aymara (2007 Peru Census).

Authorities

Mayors

2019-2022: Renol Silbio Pichardo Ramos.
2015-2018: Percy Abel Bermudo Valladares, Alianza Regional Ayacucho.

Archaeology

Some of the most important archaeological sites of the province are Inka Raqay (or Allqu Willka), Kunturmarka, Marayniyuq, Mulinuyuq, Pusuquy Pata (or Ch'illiku Pampa) and Tinyaq.

Festivities

References

Cecilia Méndez, The Plebeian Republic: The Huanta Rebellion and the Making of the Peruvian State, 1820-1850. Durham: Duke University Press 2005, pp. 15-16.
Méndez, The Plebeian Republic, p. 18 citing Hipólito Unanue, Guía Polítical, Eclesiástica y Militar del Virreynato del Perú para el año de 1795 reprinted in Colección Documental de la Independencia del Perú, tomo 1. Los Ideólogos, comp. Jorge Arias Schreiber Petet, I:717-78.
Cecilia Méndez, The Plebeian Republic, p. 5.
Méndez, The Plebeian Republic, pp. 234-35.
Mario Vargas Llosa et al., Informe de la Comisión Investigadora de los Sucesos de Achuraccay. Lima: Editora Perú 1983.
Méndez, The Plebeian Republic, pp. 2-3.
Javier Pulgar Vidal, Las Ocho Regiones Naturales del Perú. Lima: Editorial Universo 1972.
Richard Burger, Chavín and the Origins of Andean Civilization. London: Thames and Hudson 1995.
Méndez, The Plebeian Republic, pp. 14-15.
escale.minedu.gob.pe/ UGEL map Huanta Province (Ayacucho Region)
inei.gob.pe Archived 2013-01-27 at the Wayback Machine INEI, Peru, Censos Nacionales 2007