🏘️ Borja, Peru

Borja is a settlement in the Datem del Marañón Province of the Loreto Region of Peru. The hamlet is located on the banks of the Marañón River at an elevation of 165 m (541 ft). In 2017 the population was 329. Established in 1619, Borja was one of the first settlements of Spanish colonists in the Amazon lowlands of Peru. Borja became a Roman Catholic mission of the Jesuit Order in 1638. Because of European diseases and enslavement of the indigenous Maina and other ethnic groups, the population of Borja and its vicinity declined from about 3,000 in 1638 to a few hundred by the late 18th century.