Ayacucho () is a

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

and region of

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = Seal (emblem), National seal , national_motto = "Fi ...

, located in the south-central

Andes The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range is long, wide (widest between 18°S – 20°S ...

of the country. Its capital is the city of

Ayacucho Ayacucho (, qu, Ayak'uchu) is the capital city of Ayacucho Region and of Huamanga Province, Ayacucho Region, Peru. During the Inca Empire and Viceroyalty of Peru periods the city was known by the name of Huamanga (Quechua: Wamanga), and it c ...

. The region was one of the hardest hit in the 1980s during the

guerrilla war Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactic ...

waged by

Shining Path The Shining Path ( es, Sendero Luminoso), officially the Communist Party of Peru (, abbr. PCP), is a communist Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla group in Peru following Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and Gonzalo Thought. Academics often refer to the gro ...

known as the

internal conflict in Peru The internal conflict in Peru is an ongoing armed conflict between the Government of Peru and the Marxism–Leninism–Maoism, Maoist guerilla group Shining Path. The conflict began on 17 May 1980, and from 1982 to 1997 the Túpac Amaru Revolu ...

. A

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

was held on 30 October 2005, in order to decide whether the department would merge with the departments of Ica and

Huancavelica Huancavelica () or Wankawillka in Quechua is a city in Peru. It is the capital of the department of Huancavelica and according to the 2017 census had a population of 49,570 people. The city was established on August 5, 1572 by the Viceroy ...

to form the new Ica-Ayacucho-Huancavelica Region, as part of the

decentralization process in Peru Decentralization in Peru has long been a major issue in the government agenda. A referendum was held on October 30, 2005 to decide whether fifteen of the current Subdivisions of Peru, twenty-five regions will merge to form five new, larger regio ...

. The proposal failed and no merger was carried out.

Political division

The department is divided into 11 provinces ( es, provincias, singular: ''provincia''), which are composed of 111 districts (''distritos'', singular: ''distrito'').

Provinces

The provinces, with their capitals in parenthesis, are: #

Cangallo Cangallo is a town in southern Peru, capital of the province Cangallo in the region Ayacucho. Instituto Nacional de Estadística e InformáticaBanco de Información Digital, retrieved 9 January 2008 In the region of Cangallo live the Morochuco ...

(

) #

Huamanga Ayacucho (, qu, Ayak'uchu) is the capital city of Ayacucho Region and of Huamanga Province, Ayacucho Region, Peru. During the Inca Empire and Viceroyalty of Peru periods the city was known by the name of Huamanga (Quechua: Wamanga), and it c ...

(

) #

Huanca Sancos Huanca Sancos is a town in southern Peru, capital of the province Huanca Sancos Province, Huanca Sancos in the region Ayacucho Region, Ayacucho. References Populated places in the Ayacucho Region {{Ayacucho-geo-stub ...

(

) #

Huanta Huanta is a town in Central Peru, capital of the province Huanta in the region Ayacucho. History In the era of the Spanish American wars of independence, Huanta remained loyal to the Spanish mo ...

(

) #

La Mar La Mar, also known by its Maya name Rabbit Stone, is the modern name for a ruined city of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization located in the state of Chiapas in Mexico. During the 8th century AD, it was an ally of the nearby center Piedras Negras ...

( San Miguel) # Lucanas (

Puquio Puquio (from Quechua: ''Pukyu'', meaning "spring of water") is a town in Central Peru, South America. It is the capital of the province Lucanas in the region Ayacucho Ayacucho (, qu, Ayak'uchu) is the capital city of Ayacucho Region and of ...

) # Parinacochas (

Coracora Coracora or Qura Qura is a town in central Peru, and it is the capital of the Parinacochas Province in the Ayacucho Region. It has a population of approximately 13,000. Etymology Coracora or Qura Qura comes from the Quechuan ''qura'' meaning h ...

) # Paucar del Sara Sara (

Pausa In linguistics, pausa (Latin for 'break', from Greek παῦσις, ''pausis'' 'stopping, ceasing') is the hiatus between prosodic declination units. The concept is somewhat broad, as it is primarily used to refer to allophones that occur in cer ...

) #

Sucre Sucre () is the Capital city, capital of Bolivia, the capital of the Chuquisaca Department and the List of cities in Bolivia, 6th most populated city in Bolivia. Located in the south-central part of the country, Sucre lies at an elevation of . T ...

( Querobamba) # Víctor Fajardo ( Huancapi) # Vilcas Huamán ( Vilcas Huamán)

Demographics

Languages

According to the

2007 Peru Census The 2007 Peru Census was a detailed enumeration of the Peruvian population. It was conducted by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática on Sunday, October 21, 2007. Its full name in Spanish is XI Censo de Población y VI de Viviend ...

, the language learnt first by most of the residents was

Quechua Quechua may refer to: *Quechua people, several indigenous ethnic groups in South America, especially in Peru *Quechuan languages, a Native South American language family spoken primarily in the Andes, derived from a common ancestral language **So ...

(63.05%) followed by

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

(36.57%). The Quechua variety spoken in Ayacucho is

Chanka Quechua Ayacucho (also called Chanca or Chanka after the local Chanca people, Chanka ethnicity that dominated the area before the Inca Empire, Inca conquest) is a variety of Southern Quechua spoken in the Ayacucho Region, Peru, as well as by immigrants f ...

. The following table shows the results concerning the language learnt first in the department by province:inei.gob.pe
INEI, Peru, Censos Nacionales 2007

Gallery

Image:Peru - Altiplano1.jpg, The

go across the Ayacucho Region Image:Obelisk Battle of Ayacucho and Sucre MC.jpg, Statue of

Antonio José de Sucre Antonio José de Sucre y Alcalá (; 3 February 1795 – 4 June 1830), known as the "Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho" ( en, "Grand Marshal of Ayacucho"), was a Venezuelan independence leader who served as the president of Peru and as the second pr ...

and obelisk near Kinwa, commemorating the Battle of Ayacucho. Image:Peru - HotSprings.jpg, Hot springs in the region of Ayacucho. Image:Obelisk Battle of Ayacucho1 MC.jpg, Obelisk near Kinwa, commemorating the Battle of Ayacucho. Image:Ayacucho church by night.jpg, Church of Ayacucho

References

External links

Ayacucho Regional Government official website

{{Ayacucho-geo-stub