RÃmac River
Puente de Piedra over the Río Rímac in Lima
Template: Infobox River / Obsolete
The Río Rímac ( Quechua: Rimaq ) is a river in Peru (South America ), which irrigates the desert coast to the capital Lima. Furthermore, the glacier water basis for the drinking water supply of the capital Lima. In several hydroelectric electricity is obtained, which supply Lima with a large part of the required current.
The river has a length of about 170 km, it originates in the Western Cordillera ( Cordillera Occidental ) of the Andean high mountains and flows from thence in a southwesterly direction, where it flows into the Pacific Ocean at Callao.
Its name comes from the Quechua language where rimaq "speaker" or " oracle " means: In the thunder of the river the Indians of the region saw a pronouncement of divine wisdom.
In 1535, Francisco Pizarro founded on the banks of the Rímac the Peruvian capital " Ciudad de los Reyes " (Spanish: City of Kings ), today's Lima. Its current name comes from the Peruvian capital a different pronunciation of " Rimac " ( Limaq ): Thus, in Huanca Quechua today the [r ] of the other Quechua variants such as [ l] spoken.
The river is fed by the glacial melt waters of the western Andes chains. In winter its water supply is low, but in the summer it swells - just like its tributaries - a torrent of.