Department of Madre de Dios

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Department of Madre de Dios" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2011) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Madre de Dios Departamento de Madre de Dios (Spanish)
Department
Manu National Park
Flag Seal
Location of the department of Madre de Dios in Peru
Coordinates: 11°59′S 70°35′W / 11.99°S 70.59°W / -11.99; -70.59
Country	Peru
Subdivisions	3 provinces and 11 districts
Capital	Puerto Maldonado
Government
• Governor	Luis Hidalgo Okimura (2019–2022)
Area
• Total	85,300.54 km2 (32,934.72 sq mi)
Highest elevation	3,932 m (12,900 ft)
Lowest elevation	183 m (600 ft)
Population  (2017)
• Total	141,070
• Density	1.7/km2 (4.3/sq mi)
UBIGEO	17
Dialing code	082
ISO 3166 code	PE-MDD
Principal resources	Cotton, coffee, sugar cane, cacao beans, Brazil nuts, palm oil, gold, rice, coconut, wood.
Poverty rate	36.7%
Percentage of Peru's GDP	0.37%
Website	www.regionmadrededios.gob.pe

Madre de Dios (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmaðɾe ðe ˈðjos] ^ⓘ, English: Mother of God) is a department and region in southeastern Peru, bordering Brazil, Bolivia and the Peruvian departments of Puno, Cusco and Ucayali, in the Amazon Basin. Its capital is the city of Puerto Maldonado. It is also the third largest department in Peru, after Ucayali and Loreto. However, it is also the least densely populated department in Peru, as well as its least populous department. It has one of the lowest poverty rates in Peru.

The name of the department is derived from the Madre de Dios River, ultimately a tributary of the Amazon, and named by ethnic Spanish colonists. It is a very common Spanish language designation for the Virgin Mary, literally meaning Mother of God.