Name Republic of Peru
Location and Geography Peru is located in the western central coast of South America. It shares borders with Ecuador (N), Colombia (NE), Brazil (E), Bolivia (SE) and Chile (S). The West side, shared with the Pacific Ocean, is the main border that has a length of 3,079.5 km. There are four major natural regions: the 200 miles Peruvian Sea, a narrow coastal strip, the high Andes mountains and the vast and plain Amazon basin.
The Peruvian Sea area is called to that 200 miles (370km) of territorial sea that runs parallel to the coast. Here, the Pacific Ocean spreads a wealth of marine life, produced specially by the effect of the Humboldt Current cold water that encounters with the warm water of the El Niño Current. This phenomenon allows the presence of plancton, a microorganism (food for fishes) that has made this sea the richest of the world.
In the Coast, la Costa, is settled the biggest part of the population and the major cities. It is mainly a desert area that is crossed by valleys of more than 40 rivers that run down from the western Andes. This makes the coast an important region for advanced agriculture. It was the stage of the main pre-inca cultures. With the years it became the commercial centre of the country and an important input place for inland areas. The main products are cotton, rice, sugar, fruits, wine and metallic minerals.
The Andes or Sierra is the high region that goes from 2,000 metres to 6,768 metres above sea level (Huascarán mountain). It is divided in two main ranges: the Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Oriental. The Andean area has an average altitude of 3,000 metres and is full of plateaus, mountains, glaciers, valleys, canyons and rivers. The mountains give shape to an incredibly rugged surface. The Andes is a hard place, but offers one of the best sceneries in the world. The main products are potatoes, cereals and vegetables, and activities like cattle-raising, mining and weaving.
The Amazon Basin or Selva comes down from the eastern slopes of the Andes (2,000 to 84 metres) and covers more than 60% of the country´s area with rainforest. It is a tropical and almost uninhabited zone (no more than 5% of pop.) with the most biodiverse jungle and full-flowing rivers in the world. In the dense forest there is an explosion of life conformed by thousands of species of flora and fauna, most of them, unknown until today. The Amazonía is drained by the three biggest rivers: Marañon, Huallaga and Ucayali that together give birth to the Amazonas river, some kilometres before Iquitos city. Wood is the principal product, as well as rubber, rice, fruits, coffee, tea, petroleum and natural gas.
Area Peru is the third largest country in South America with an area of 1’285,216 km2. Comparing with some european countries, Peru is twice the area of France, five times the size of the UK, more than 30 times Netherlands or Switzerland and the size of Norway, Sweden and Finland together.
Population and People With a population of nearly 25 million, Peru has a wide ethnic mixture composed mainly by a 54% Indian, 32% Mestizo, 12% White and Spanish descent, 2% Black and Asian minority. The minorities, who live basically in the city of Lima and the coast, are immigrants who came from Asia (China, Japan), Africa (western coast), Europe (Spain, Italy, England, Germany, France, Switzerland, Israel, Polland, Belgium and Yugoslavia), North America (United States) and Middle East (Arabia).
Capital City Lima, located in the central coast of Peru. Has a population of over 11 million inhabitants.
Languages Spanish and Quechua (Inka´s language) are the two official languages in Peru. Although Spanish is the main one, Quechua is widely spoken in the Andes as well as Aymara in the southern Andes in the area of Lake Titicaca. In the Amazon there are more than 70 natives languages, belonging each one to a ethnic group. Some of the Andean people are bilingual (Quechua or Aymara and Spanish). English is spoken in the main touristic destinations and places.
Government Peru is ruled by democracy. A constitutional President, the chief of Executive Power, is elected every five years and can be re-elected one term more. The Legislative Power is based on a Congress of 120 members. The Judicial Power is composed by two Courts. Voting is compulsory for every citizen between 18 and 60 years old (militaries and police not allowed). The country is divided in 24 departments and a Constitutional Province, Callao.
Time GMT – 5. Five hours less than Greenwich Mean Time.
Electricity 220 volts AC, 60 Hz.
