Espinar Province is one of thirteen

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outsi ...

in the

Cusco Region Cusco, also spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu suyu ), is a department and region in Peru and is the fourth largest department in the country, after Madre de Dios, Ucayali, and Loreto. It borders the departments of Ucayali on the north; Madre de D ...

in the southern highlands 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 ...

Geography

Some of the highest mountains of the province are listed below:escale.minedu.gob.pe - UGEL map of the Espinar Province (Cusco Region)

Political division

The province is divided into eight

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

( es, distritos, singular: ), each of which is headed by a mayor (''alcalde''). The districts, with their capitals in parenthesis, are: * Alto Pichigua ( Accocunca) * Condoroma ( Condoroma) * Coporaque ( Coporaque) * Espinar ( Yauri) * Ocoruro ( Ocoruro) * Pallpata ( Hector Tejada) * Pichigua ( Pichigua) * Suykutambo ( Suykutambo)

History

On 21 May 2012, agricultural leadership in Espinar Province announced a strike against the planned expansion of Tintaya mine, a

copper mine Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, loca ...

owned by the Swiss corporation

Xstrata Xstrata plc was an Anglo-Swiss multinational mining company headquartered in Zug, Switzerland and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It was a major producer of coal (and the world's largest exporter of thermal coal), copper, ...

. The leaders' demands included higher environmental standards, more money for area development, and independent oversight of the mine. Strikers occupied the roads to the mine over the following week, blocking all access. In response, President

Ollanta Humala Lieutenant colonel Ollanta Moisés Humala Tasso (; born 27 June 1962) is a Peruvian politician and former military officer who served as President of Peru from 2011 to 2016. Originally a socialist and left-wing nationalist, he is considered t ...

declared a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...

in the province, suspending constitutional rights, and deployed police commandos against the strikers. Two civilians were killed in the resulting clashes, and seventy police officers were injured. On 30 May, provincial mayor Oscar Mollohuanca was arrested by the national government and accused of inciting protests against an expansion of a copper mine owned by

. He was conditionally released on 13 July.

Ethnic groups

The people in the province are mainly

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

citizens of

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 ...

descent.

is the language which the majority of the population (68.90%) learnt to speak in childhood, 30.75% of the residents started speaking in

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 ...

(

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 ...

).inei.gob.pe
INEI, Peru, Censos Nacionales 2007

References

Provinces of the Cusco Region {{Cusco-geo-stub

Geography

Political division

History

Ethnic groups

See also

References