France–Peru relations ''(French: Relations France-Pérou; Spanish: Relaciones Francia y Perú)'' are foreign relations and diplomatic ties between the

French Republic France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the

Republic of Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. Both nations are members of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, the

Latin Union The Latin Union is an international organization of nations that use Romance languages, whose activities have been suspended since 2012. Headquartered in Paris, France, it aims to protect, project, and promote the common cultural heritage of Lat ...

and the

World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...

History

French sailors began visiting Peru on trade missions to

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

and would stop in Peru beginning in the 18th century. After Peru declared its independence from the

Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy (political entity), Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered ...

in 1821, French migrants began immigrating to Peru. By 1825, there existed a small French community of 300 people which resided in Peru.Los franceses en el Perú en el siglo XIX: retrato de una emigración discreta (in Spanish)
/ref> In 1826, France and Peru established diplomatic relations. By 1876, 2,658 French nationals resided in Peru. Many of the French migrants in Peru were artisans, traders and laborers; many originating from

Southern France Southern France, also known as the south of France or colloquially in French as , is a geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', Atlas e ...

, near the

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Peru remained neutral for most of the war. Peru broke diplomatic relations with

Vichy France Vichy France (; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was a French rump state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II, established as a result of the French capitulation after the Battle of France, ...

in January 1943 after

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

and the Peruvian government maintained diplomatic relations with the

Free France Free France () was a resistance government claiming to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third French Republic, Third Republic during World War II. Led by General , Free France was established as a gover ...

government-in-exile of General

Charles de Gaulle Charles André Joseph Marie de Gaulle (22 November 18909 November 1970) was a French general and statesman who led the Free France, Free French Forces against Nazi Germany in World War II and chaired the Provisional Government of the French Re ...

. After the war, both nations normalized diplomatic relations. In February 1960, Peruvian President

Manuel Prado Ugarteche Manuel Carlos Prado y Ugarteche (21 April 1889 – 15 August 1967) was a Peruvian politician and banker who served twice as president of Peru. Son of former President Mariano Ignacio Prado, he was born in Lima and served as the nation's 43rd ...

paid a three-day official visit to France. In 1964, French President Charles de Gaulle paid an official visit to Peru.Visitas bilaterales (in Spanish)
/ref> In 1973, Peru severed diplomatic relations with France in protest of

French nuclear testing ''Gerboise Bleue'' (; ) was the codename of the first French nuclear test. It was conducted by the Nuclear Experiments Operational Group (GOEN), a unit of the Joint Special Weapons Command on 13 February 1960, at the Saharan Military Experiment ...

in the

South Pacific Ocean South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

. The rupture lasted until 1975. Since the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between both nations; there have been several high-level visits between leaders of both nations. Peruvian of French descent make up the third largest community of European origin in Peru. At the same time, there is a sizable number of Peruvian citizens residing in France.

High-level visits

Presidential visits from France to Peru * President

(1964) * President

François Mitterrand François Maurice Adrien Marie Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was a French politician and statesman who served as President of France from 1981 to 1995, the longest holder of that position in the history of France. As a former First ...

(1987) * President

François Hollande François Gérard Georges Nicolas Hollande (; born 12 August 1954) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2012 to 2017. Before his presidency, he was First Secretary of the Socialist Party (France), First Secretary of th ...

(2016) Presidential visits from Peru to France * President

(1960) * President

Alberto Fujimori Alberto Kenji Fujimori Fujimori (26 July 1938 – 11 September 2024) was a Peruvian politician, professor, and engineer who served as the 54th president of Peru from 1990 to 2000.* * * * * * * Born in Lima, Fujimori was the country's fir ...

(1991) * President

Alejandro Toledo Alejandro Celestino Toledo Manrique (; born 28 March 1946) is a Peruvian former politician who served as President of Peru, from 2001 to 2006. He gained international prominence after leading the opposition against president Alberto Fujimori, w ...

(2001, 2003) * President

Ollanta Humala 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 to have shifted towar ...

(2012, 2013, 2014, 2015) * President

Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Godard (; born 3 October 1938), also known simply as PPK (), is a Peruvian economist, public administrator, and former politician who served as the 59th President of Peru from 2016 to 2018. He served as Prime Minister of ...

(2017)

Bilateral relations

Both nations have signed several bilateral agreements, such as an Agreement in Cultural, Scientific and Technical Cooperation (1972); Agreement in Financial Cooperation (1975); Agreement on Judicial Assistance in Criminal Matters (2012); Agreement on Transportation Cooperation (2013); Extradition Treaty (2013); Agreement in Defense Cooperation (2013); Agreement for the Acquisition by the Peruvian Government for an Optical Satellite System for the Observation of Earth's Symmetrical Resolution (2014); Agreement on Educational Cooperation (2013) and an Agreement on a

Working holiday visa A working holiday visa is a residence permit that allows travellers to undertake employment (and sometimes study) in the country issuing the visa to supplement their travel funds. For many young people, holding a working holiday visa enables the ...

(2018).

Transportation

There are direct flights between Lima and Paris with

Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...

Trade

In 2012, Peru (along with

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

) signed a

free trade agreement A free trade agreement (FTA) or treaty is an agreement according to international law to form a free-trade area between the cooperating state (polity), states. There are two types of trade agreements: Bilateralism, bilateral and Multilateralism, m ...

with the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(which includes France). In 2017, trade between France and Peru totaled €699 million Euros.Francia y Perú (in Spanish)
/ref> France's main exports to Peru include: mechanical equipment, electrical, electronic and IT equipment and other industrial products. Peru's main exports to France include: agricultural products, logging, fishing and aquaculture products, and natural gas. Peru is France's 93 largest trading partner globally and 8th largest trading partner in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

Resident diplomatic missions

* France has an embassy in

Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...

. * Peru has an embassy and a consulate general in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

.Embassy of Peru in Paris
/ref> File:Ambaixada de França al Perú a San Isidro, Lima02.jpg, Embassy of France in Lima File:Ambassade du Pérou en France, 50 avenue Kléber, Paris 16e 1.jpg, Embassy of Peru in Paris File:Consulat général du Pérou, 25 rue de l'Arcade, Paris 8e.jpg, Consulate-General of Peru in Paris

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:France-Peru

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...