Piura

Department (formed 1861) of northern Peru, consisting of coastal desert, particularly in the west and south, and low, forested Andean mountains in the east. It is drained by the Chira River in the north and the Piura River in the south. The irrigated valleys of these two rivers are used chiefly for the production of cotton. Upstream on the Piura River, sugarcane, rice, tobacco,