HUANUCO  , a

city of central Peru, capital of a department, 170 M . N.N.E. of Lima in a beautiful valley on the left bank of the Huallaga river, nearly 6000 ft. above sea-level . Pop . (1906 estimate) about 6000 . The town was founded in 1539 by Gomez Alvarado . Huanuco is celebrated for its fruits and sweetmeats, the " chirimoya " (Anona chirimolia) of this region being the largest and most delicious of its kind . Mining is one of the city's industries . Huanuco was the scene of one of the bloodthirsty massacres of which the Chileans were guilty during their occupation of Peruvian territory in 1881–1883 . The department of lluanuco lies immediately N. of Junin, with Ancachs on the W. and San Martin and Loreto on the N. and E . Pop . (1906 estimate) 108,980; area, 14,028 sq. in . It lies wholly in the Cordillera region, and is traversed from S. to N. by the Maranon and Huallaga rivers .