**2. Study area**

The territory of Peru can be divided into three parts: the Pacific coast (11%); the Andes (29%), and the Amazon (60%). The area of the Pacific coast (slope) is home to 65% of the population, while only 5% reside in Amazonian Peru (roughly 1.6 million). The Peruvian Amazon can be divided into three main landscape wholes: (1) humid, weak drainage areas; (2) drainage areas; and (3) high altitude areas.


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**3. Settlement**

**Figure 2.**

**Figure 1.**

*Zoran Stiperski.*

Numerous archaeological papers describe how the prehistoric Amazon was sparsely settled by hunter-gatherers because of its poor soil, difficult landscape characteristics, and generally difficult living conditions, which limited population growth and the development of more advanced civilisations [1–5]. Past research of the settlement structure indicated how the permanent population was settled along the main rivers [6, 7] due the abundance of fish, which served as a source of animal protein [8]. An additional reason for the presence of population along the main

*The Ucayali River near Atalaya. Picture by the author Zoran Stiperski.*

*Tropical rainforest in a drainage area in the Peruvian Amazon along the Tambo River. Picture by the author* 

*Social Changes in the Peruvian Amazon Due to Foreign Influence*

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94772*

*Social Changes in the Peruvian Amazon Due to Foreign Influence DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94772*

#### **Figure 1.**

*Ecosystem and Biodiversity of Amazonia*

and spread their civilisation.

Amazon itself—a great loss for the entire world.

tribes such as the Shipibo.

Ucayali River (**Figure 2**).

the Ashaninka.

**2. Study area**

peoples are losing their territory and strong deforestation processes are underway. The world also regards the Amazon in ecological terms, referring to it as the "lungs of the world". Numerous politicians of Amazonian states look at the jungle in terms of what it could mean for economic development of their respective states. Many local politicians think that what is happening to the Amazon now is what European settlers did to both Europe and North America over the last several centuries: cut down the forests; developed agricultural land; opened new business opportunities;

In this chapter, our goal is to confirm the reasons for the arrival of settlers in the Amazon, and the significance of individual activities and how they transform nature and society. Special emphasis is placed on logging and the widespread process of deforestation, whereby we are interested in the consequences of cutting down the forest from various aspects: the effectiveness of agricultural activity; maintenance of biological diversity; and the influence of climate change on indigenous communities. Special attention is given to the adoption of the principle of market exchange, i.e. the exchange of money for goods/services, in indigenous communities, as well as key related sociological changes within indigenous societies themselves. Important landscape changes in the Amazon often happen due to deforestation, but in this chapter we explore other types of landscape change that are rarely mentioned in scientific and profession literature: the emergence and spread of networks of modern settlements that are planned in a completely different way than traditional indigenous settlements. In our analysis of modern plans of the Peruvian government, as well as similar projects of Peruvian and foreign companies, we touch on both the strategic and geopolitical dimensions of exploitation of the Amazon. Finally, we also cover the vanishing Amazon forests and indigenous way of life, and with them knowledge regarding the tropics and the

The territory of Peru can be divided into three parts: the Pacific coast (11%); the Andes (29%), and the Amazon (60%). The area of the Pacific coast (slope) is home to 65% of the population, while only 5% reside in Amazonian Peru (roughly 1.6 million). The Peruvian Amazon can be divided into three main landscape wholes: (1) humid, weak drainage areas; (2) drainage areas; and (3) high altitude areas.

1.Humid, weak drainage areas stretch from east of the Ucayali River and the eastern slopes of the Andes, upriver of Atalaya and into the northern Peruvian Amazon. Here the tropical rainforest (**Figure 1**) is dense and impenetrable, and the area is home to traditional agriculture-practicing

2.Drainage areas stretch from the eastern slopes of the Andes, at an altitude of 200–400 m a.s.l. to west of the upper and middle courses of the Ucayali River. The soil here is easier for hunters to walk on, and better for agriculture and general health. This area is inhabited by agricultural-practicing tribes such as

3.High altitude areas are Amazonian drainage areas of low hills, slopes of the Andes below 2000 m a.s.l. and plateaus such as El Gran Pajonal, which extends at 1000 m a.s.l. westwards from the point where the Tambo River flows into the

**196**

*Tropical rainforest in a drainage area in the Peruvian Amazon along the Tambo River. Picture by the author Zoran Stiperski.*

**Figure 2.** *The Ucayali River near Atalaya. Picture by the author Zoran Stiperski.*

#### **3. Settlement**

Numerous archaeological papers describe how the prehistoric Amazon was sparsely settled by hunter-gatherers because of its poor soil, difficult landscape characteristics, and generally difficult living conditions, which limited population growth and the development of more advanced civilisations [1–5]. Past research of the settlement structure indicated how the permanent population was settled along the main rivers [6, 7] due the abundance of fish, which served as a source of animal protein [8]. An additional reason for the presence of population along the main

rivers was fertile soil [9]. Archaeological data show that the contemporary population of the Amazon is smaller than that of the pre-Colombian era [10–15]. Certain researchers also claim that the population of the Amazon was ten times greater prior to the arrival of Europeans than it is today [16]. The pre-Colombian Amazon was the home of peoples who developed complex forms of social organisations and familial structures [17–40]. Currently, the notion among most archaeologists is that natural limitations preventing the development of agriculture are responsible for the lack of highly-developed civilisations [41], along with insufficient settlement.

The population of the Peruvian Amazon is a complex mix of different peoples and ethnicities: 64 indigenous nations speaking languages from 16 different language families [42], numbering roughly 333,000 according to data from 2007, i.e. roughly 21% of the population of the Peruvian Amazon. The most numerous indigenous tribes in the Peruvian Amazon have up to 90,000 members, while the smallest nations in remote parts of the forest have as few as 100. Even such small groups have the characteristics of a nation, as they speak their own language. Most such smaller tribes live deep in the forest, and are often nomadic. The two most important autochthonous Amazonian ethnic groups are the Ashaninka (88,700 members) (**Figures 3** and **4**), and the Aguaruna (55,400 members), followed by the Shipibo and the Chayahuita (both nations have more than 20,000 members), and the Quechuas and the Cocama (each nation has more than 10,000 members). The Peruvian Amazon is a massive area of new colonisation and numerous newcomers from the Peruvian Andes that have come to make a living. These newcomers are not indigenous Amazonian peoples, rather people from the Andes, Pacific coast, or other parts of the world. An important part of the colonisation is led by Peruvian and foreign companies and their respective enterprises. Highly-educated workers from these companies are newcomers to the area and are, as a rule, temporary residents of the Amazon. A smaller share of Peruvians have been sent by the state to work as teachers, doctors, and the like, and come from the Andes or Pacific coast. Missionaries also make up a share of the newcomers.

The main push factors on the Pacific coast and in the Andes are the lack of agricultural land, high poverty rates, and poor prospects for employment, while

**199**

**Figure 5.**

*The City of Atalaya. Picture by the author Zoran Stiperski.*

*Social Changes in the Peruvian Amazon Due to Foreign Influence*

the main pull factors in the Amazon are cheap and available land, ability to gain ownership of land, perception of economic "climbing", lack of workforce, support from credit programs and tax easements, spread of road infrastructure, and

*A stilt house in an indigenous settlement along the Tambo River. Picture by the author Zoran Stiperski.*

In this vast area, there is a strong process of urbanisation underway (**Figure 5**). In the Loreto Region and its capital Iquitos (380,000 residents), which is also the largest city in the Peruvian Amazon, a higher share of urban population in relation to rural was first documented in the early 1970s; this trend has continued and in 2017 there were 600,000 urban residents and 280,000 rural residents in the region. Iquitos is the largest city in the world that has no road connections to the outside,

*DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.94772*

general security [43].

**Figure 4.**

#### **Figure 4.**

*Ecosystem and Biodiversity of Amazonia*

rivers was fertile soil [9]. Archaeological data show that the contemporary population of the Amazon is smaller than that of the pre-Colombian era [10–15]. Certain researchers also claim that the population of the Amazon was ten times greater prior to the arrival of Europeans than it is today [16]. The pre-Colombian Amazon was the home of peoples who developed complex forms of social organisations and familial structures [17–40]. Currently, the notion among most archaeologists is that natural limitations preventing the development of agriculture are responsible for the lack of highly-developed civilisations [41], along with insufficient settlement. The population of the Peruvian Amazon is a complex mix of different peoples

and ethnicities: 64 indigenous nations speaking languages from 16 different language families [42], numbering roughly 333,000 according to data from 2007, i.e. roughly 21% of the population of the Peruvian Amazon. The most numerous indigenous tribes in the Peruvian Amazon have up to 90,000 members, while the smallest nations in remote parts of the forest have as few as 100. Even such small groups have the characteristics of a nation, as they speak their own language. Most such smaller tribes live deep in the forest, and are often nomadic. The two most important autochthonous Amazonian ethnic groups are the Ashaninka (88,700 members) (**Figures 3** and **4**), and the Aguaruna (55,400 members), followed by the Shipibo and the Chayahuita (both nations have more than 20,000 members), and the Quechuas and the Cocama (each nation has more than 10,000 members). The Peruvian Amazon is a massive area of new colonisation and numerous newcomers from the Peruvian Andes that have come to make a living. These newcomers are not indigenous Amazonian peoples, rather people from the Andes, Pacific coast, or other parts of the world. An important part of the colonisation is led by Peruvian and foreign companies and their respective enterprises. Highly-educated workers from these companies are newcomers to the area and are, as a rule, temporary residents of the Amazon. A smaller share of Peruvians have been sent by the state to work as teachers, doctors, and the like, and come from the Andes or Pacific coast.

The main push factors on the Pacific coast and in the Andes are the lack of agricultural land, high poverty rates, and poor prospects for employment, while

*The indigenous, traditional village Buenos Aires along the Tambo River. Picture by the author Zoran Stiperski.*

Missionaries also make up a share of the newcomers.

**198**

**Figure 3.**

*A stilt house in an indigenous settlement along the Tambo River. Picture by the author Zoran Stiperski.*

the main pull factors in the Amazon are cheap and available land, ability to gain ownership of land, perception of economic "climbing", lack of workforce, support from credit programs and tax easements, spread of road infrastructure, and general security [43].

In this vast area, there is a strong process of urbanisation underway (**Figure 5**). In the Loreto Region and its capital Iquitos (380,000 residents), which is also the largest city in the Peruvian Amazon, a higher share of urban population in relation to rural was first documented in the early 1970s; this trend has continued and in 2017 there were 600,000 urban residents and 280,000 rural residents in the region. Iquitos is the largest city in the world that has no road connections to the outside,

**Figure 5.** *The City of Atalaya. Picture by the author Zoran Stiperski.*

transit takes place rather by boat and airplane. Likewise, in the Ucayala Region there are 400,000 urban and 100,000 rural resudents (2017). A similar ratio of urbanrural population is also found in the Madre de Dios and San Martin regions [43]. Urbanisation is linked to the development of certain professions and markets, as well as with new settlers arriving in the Amazon.
