Mira River (South America)

Mira River
Chota Valley and Mira River
Country	Ecuador and Colombia

The Mira River originates in the Andes of Ecuador and flows to the Pacific Ocean in Colombia. For a few kilometers it forms the border between the two countries. The upper course of the Mira is called the Chota River and is notable for its Afro-Ecuadorian inhabitants, its bomba music, and the large number of internationally-prominent soccer players it has produced.

High Andes. The most distant source of the Mira River may be Puruanta Lake, located at an elevation of 3,473 metres (11,394 ft) in the Cayambe Coca Ecological Reserve of northern Ecuador. The cities of Ibarra and Otavalo are in the upper drainage basin of the river which includes most of Imbabura and Carchi provinces. The borders of the two provinces run roughly along the course of the Mira.

Chota River and Chota Valley. Several tributaries unite to form the Chota River north of the town of Pimampiro at an elevation of 1,700 metres (5,600 ft). The Chota valley, deep, but wide and fertile in places, extends along the river for about 35 kilometres (22 mi) to the village of Concepcion at an elevation of 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) Below the junction of the Chota and Piguchuela rivers, the river is called the Mira. The climate is semi-arid with precipitation on the valley floor as low as 500 millimetres (20 in) per year. Irrigation is necessary for agriculture. The relatively low elevation (for the Andes) of the Chota Valley has resulted since prehistoric times in the valley being used to grow warm-climate and semi-tropical crops: coca, cotton, chile peppers, maize, and fruits. A class of traders called mindaeles, exchanged the semi-tropical crops of the valley with the people of the Pais Caraqui chiefdoms of the surrounding higher and cooler elevations. Beginning in the 16th century, the Spanish introduced additional crops, especially sugar cane, olives. and grapes.