Tarapoto

Tarapoto is a commercial hub town in the San Martín Province of the Department of San Martín of northern Peru.[2] It is an hour by plane from Lima, in the high jungle plateau to the east of what is known as the selva baja (low jungle). Although Moyobamba is the capital of the region, Tarapoto is the region's largest city and is linked to the Upper Amazon and the historic city of Yurimaguas by a relatively well-maintained transandean highway, paved in 2008–9.[3] Tarapoto is approximately 356 metres (1,168 ft) above sea level on the high jungle plateau, also called the cloud forest.[4] It was founded in 1782 by Baltasar Jaime Martínez Compañón.[5] According to the 2017 census Tarapoto has a population of 180,073 within the city limits, and over 200,000 inhabitants including the outlying Morales and Banda de Shilcayo districts, which makes it the most populated city in the department and the third largest and most populated Amazonian city after Pucallpa and Iquitos, Tarapoto is older than these cities, in addition to having better services, paved roads, luxury hotels and comforts in the heart of the Amazon. Tarapoto is often used by tourists and local visitors as a base for excursions into the vast Amazon Rainforest. The region's main activities are tourism, commerce, agriculture, and an illicit "shadow economy" that includes production of coca leaves, lately in decline, extraction of lumber, and trading in land concessions.