Madre de Dios (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈmaðɾe ðe ˈðjos] ⓘ, English: Mother of God) is a department and region in southeastern Peru, bordering Brazil, Bolivia and the Peruvian departments of Puno, Cusco and Ucayali, in the Amazon Basin.

It is a very common Spanish language designation for the Virgin Mary, literally meaning Mother of God.

[1] The only important highway is between the Peruvian cities of Puerto Maldonado and Cusco, 510 kilometres (320 mi) away in the Cuzco Department.

It is part of the newly built Interoceanic Road between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, passing by the border town Iñapari on the Acre river.

From Puerto Maldonado a road about 55 kilometres (34 mi) long leads to the mining town Laberinto ("Labyrinth").

Madre de Dios depends heavily on natural products and raw materials for its economy.

Mercury bioaccumulates throughout the food chain to become concentrated in top predators, such as large river fish and carnivorous birds.

The local people may be harmed by direct contact with the element, as well as by ingesting dangerous levels of mercury when they eat the fish.

The provinces, with their capitals in parentheses, are: According to the national 2007 Peru Census, the language learnt first by most of the residents of the region was Spanish (80.00%), followed by Quechua (16.53%).

The following table shows the breakdown by province of first languages:[5] The region is the location of many ancient Inca ruins.