Nauta is a town in the northeastern part of Loreto Province in the Peruvian Amazon, roughly 100 km south Iquitos, the provincial capital. Nauta is located on the north bank of the Marañón River, a major tributary of the Upper Amazon, a few miles from the confluence of the Río Ucayali.
Established by Manuel Pacaya–Samiria, a leader of the Cocama peoples, following the 1830 uprising at the Jesuit mission of Lagunas, Nauta soon became the primary commercial hub of the Peruvian selva baja (known also as Omagua, or the Amazonian lowlands). In 1853, a Brazilian owned paddle steamer made it all the way to Nauta.
Nauta is the primary destination of the only major road leading out of Iquitos, and is a staging area for several ecotourism lodges and ships on the Marañòn River. Boats take passengers from Nauta to the Pacaya-Samiria National Reserve.
In 2013, residents of Nauta created a children's rap video in the Kukama-Kukamiria dialect, in collaboration with Radio Ucamara. The local radio station has been involved in conserving the language for "a few years," and "started managing a school called Ikuar, with the goal of teaching the language through songs and traditional story telling."
Coordinates: 4°30′30″S 73°35′00″W / 4.50833°S 73.58333°W