, image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg
, image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg
, other_symbol =
Great Seal of the State
, other_symbol_type =
National seal
, national_motto =
"Firm and Happy for the Union"
, national_anthem =
"National Anthem of Peru"
, march =
"March of Flags"
, image_map = PER orthographic.svg
, map_caption =
, image_map2 =
, capital =
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...
, coordinates =
, largest_city = capital
, official_languages =
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, Can ...
, languages_type = Co-official languages
, languages =
, ethnic_groups =
, ethnic_groups_year = 2017
, demonym =
Peruvian
Peruvians ( es, peruanos) are the citizens of Peru. There were Andean and coastal ancient civilizations like Caral, which inhabited what is now Peruvian territory for several millennia before the Spanish conquest of Peru, Spanish conquest in th ...
, government_type =
Unitary
Unitary may refer to:
Mathematics
* Unitary divisor
* Unitary element
* Unitary group
* Unitary matrix
* Unitary morphism
* Unitary operator
* Unitary transformation
* Unitary representation In mathematics, a unitary representation of a grou ...
semi-presidential
A semi-presidential republic, is a republic in which a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter two being responsible to the legislature of the state. It differs from a parliamentary republic in that it has a ...
republic
A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...
, leader_title1 =
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
, leader_name1 =
Dina Boluarte
Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra ( (); born 31 May 1962) is a Peruvian politician, civil servant, and lawyer currently serving as the President of Peru since 7 December 2022. She had served as the first vice president and minister at the Minist ...
, leader_title2 =
First Vice President
, leader_name2 = Vacant
, leader_title3 =
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...
, leader_name3 =
Alberto Otárola
Luis Alberto Otárola Peñaranda (born 12 February 1967) is a Peruvian attorney and politician who currently serves as Prime Minister of Peru. He previously served as Minister of Defense twice, under Ollanta Humala and Dina Boluarte.
Politica ...
, leader_title4 =
President of Congress
, leader_name4 =
José Williams
, legislature =
Congress of the Republic
, sovereignty_type =
Independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the stat ...
, sovereignty_note = from
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
, established_event1 =
Declared
, established_date1 = 28 July 1821
, established_event2 =
Consolidated
, established_date2 = 9 December 1824
, established_event3 = Recognized
, established_date3 = 14 August 1879
, area_km2 = 1,285,216
, area_rank = 19th
, area_sq_mi = 496,225
, percent_water = 0.41
, population_estimate = 32,275,736
, population_estimate_year = 2022
, population_estimate_rank = 45th
, population_density_km2 = 23
, population_density_sq_mi = 57
, population_density_rank = 198th
, GDP_PPP = $513.715 billion
, GDP_PPP_year = 2022
, GDP_PPP_rank = 47th
, GDP_PPP_per_capita = $15,035
, GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 96th
, GDP_nominal = $240.346 billion
, GDP_nominal_year = 2022
, GDP_nominal_rank = 52nd
, GDP_nominal_per_capita = $7,034
, GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 94th
, Gini = 41.5
, Gini_year = 2019
, Gini_change = decrease
, Gini_ref =
, Gini_rank =
, HDI = 0.762
, HDI_year = 2021
, HDI_change = decrease
, HDI_ref =
, HDI_rank = 84th
, currency =
Peruvian sol
, currency_code = PEN
, time_zone =
PET
A pet, or companion animal, is an animal kept primarily for a person's company or entertainment rather than as a working animal, livestock, or a laboratory animal. Popular pets are often considered to have attractive appearances, intelligence ...
, utc_offset = −5
, date_format = dd/mm/yyyy (
CE)
, drives_on = right
, calling_code =
+51
, iso3166code = PE
, cctld =
.pe
, religion =
, religion_ref =
, religion_year = 2017
, today =
Peru (; es, link=no, Perú ;
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 ...
: ''Piruw'' ; ay, Piruw ), officially the Republic of Peru (), is a country in western
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sou ...
. It is bordered in the north by
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...
and
Colombia
Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...
, in the east by
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, in the southeast by
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
, in the south by
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the eas ...
, and in the south and west by the Pacific Ocean. Peru is a
megadiverse country with habitats ranging from the arid plains of the Pacific coastal region in the west to the peaks of the
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 ...
mountains extending from the north to the southeast of the country to the tropical
Amazon basin
The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Boli ...
rainforest in the east with the
Amazon River
The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile.
The headwaters of t ...
. Peru has a
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction usi ...
of 32 million, and its capital and largest city is
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...
. At 1.28 million km
2 (0.5 million mi
2), Peru is the
19th largest country in the world, and the
third largest in South America.
Peruvian territory was home to
several cultures during the ancient and medieval periods, and has one of the longest histories of civilization of any country, tracing its heritage back to the 10th millennium BCE. Notable pre-colonial cultures and civilizations include the
Caral-Supe civilization
Caral-Supe (also known as Caral and Norte Chico) was a complex pre-Columbian-era society that included as many as thirty major population centers in what is now the Caral region of north-central coastal Peru. The civilization flourished betwee ...
(the earliest civilization in the Americas and considered one of the
cradles of civilization
A cradle of civilization is a location and a culture where civilization was created by mankind independent of other civilizations in other locations. The formation of urban settlements (cities) is the primary characteristic of a society that c ...
,) the
Nazca culture, the
Wari and
Tiwanaku
Tiwanaku ( es, Tiahuanaco or ) is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia near Lake Titicaca, about 70 kilometers from La Paz, and it is one of the largest sites in South America. Surface remains currently cover around 4 square kilo ...
empires, the
Kingdom of Cusco
The Kingdom of Cusco (sometimes spelled ''Cuzco'' and in Quechua ''Qosqo'' or ''Qusqu'') was a small kingdom based in the city of Cusco, on the Andean mountain ranges that began as a small city-state founded by the Incas around the start of 1 ...
, and the
Inca Empire
The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, ( Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The adm ...
, the largest known state in the
pre-Columbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, ...
Americas.
The
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
conquered the region in the 16th century and
established a viceroyalty that encompassed most of its South American territories, with its capital in
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...
. Higher education started in the Americas with the official establishment of the
National University of San Marcos
The National University of San Marcos ( es, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, link=no, UNMSM) is a public research university located in Lima, the capital of Peru. It is considered the most important, recognized and representative educ ...
in Lima in 1551. Peru formally proclaimed independence in 1821, and following the foreign military campaigns of
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (25 February 177817 August 1850), known simply as José de San Martín () or '' the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru'', was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and centr ...
and
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...
, and the decisive
battle of Ayacucho
The Battle of Ayacucho ( es, Batalla de Ayacucho, ) was a decisive military encounter during the Peruvian War of Independence. This battle secured the independence of Peru and ensured independence for the rest of South America. In Peru it is co ...
, Peru
completed its independence in 1824. In the ensuing years, the country first suffered from political instability until a period of relative
economic and political stability began due to the exploitation of
guano
Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...
. Later, the
War of the Pacific
The War of the Pacific ( es, link=no, Guerra del Pacífico), also known as the Saltpeter War ( es, link=no, Guerra del salitre) and by multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought ...
(1879–1884) with Chile brought Peru to a state of crisis, from which the oligarchy seized power through the
Civilista Party
The Civilista Party ( es, Partido Civil, PC) was a political party in Peru.
History
Founded as a countermeasure against the growing power of the military in Peru during the first half of the Republic, the party's sole purpose was to establish a ...
. In the 20th century, the country endured coups, social unrest, and
internal conflicts, as well as periods of stability and economic upswing. In the 1990s, the country implemented a
neoliberal economic model which is still in use to this day. As the
2000s commodities boom
The 2000s commodities boom or the commodities super cycle was the rise of many physical commodity prices (such as those of food, oil, metals, chemicals and fuels) during the early 21st century (2000–2014), following the Great Commodities Depress ...
took place, Peru experienced a period of constant economic growth and a decrease in
poverty
Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse .
The
sovereign state
A sovereign state or sovereign country, is a political entity represented by one central government that has supreme legitimate authority over territory. International law defines sovereign states as having a permanent population, defined ter ...
of Peru is a
representative democratic
Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represe ...
republic divided into
25 regions. Peru has a high level of
human development Human development may refer to:
* Development of the human body
* Developmental psychology
* Human development (economics)
* Human Development Index, an index used to rank countries by level of human development
* Human evolution
Human evoluti ...
with an upper middle income level
ranking 82nd on the
Human Development Index
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, w ...
. It is one of the region's most prosperous economies with an average growth rate of 5.9% (in 2017)
and it has one of the world's fastest industrial growth rates at an average of 9.6% (as of 2018). Its main economic activities include
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...
,
manufacturing
Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to ...
, agriculture and fishing, along with other growing sectors such as
telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...
and
biotechnology
Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used ...
. The country forms part of
The Pacific Pumas
The Pacific Pumas are a political and economic grouping of countries along Latin America’s Pacific coast that includes Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru. The term references the four larger Pacific Latin American emerging markets that share co ...
, a political and economic grouping of countries along Latin America's Pacific coast that share common trends of positive growth, stable macroeconomic foundations, improved governance and an openness to global integration. Peru ranks high in
social freedom
Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom.
In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society f ...
; it is an active member of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economy, economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. , the
Pacific Alliance
The Pacific Alliance ( es, link=no, Alianza del Pacífico) is a Latin American trade bloc, formed by Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, which all border the Pacific Ocean. The alliance was formed with the express purpose of improving regional in ...
, the
and the
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation
in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and ...
; and is considered as a
middle power
In international relations, a middle power is a sovereign state that is not a great power nor a superpower, but still has large or moderate influence and international recognition.
The concept of the "middle power" dates back to the origin ...
.
Peru has a population that includes
Mestizo
(; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed European and Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturally European even though thei ...
s,
Amerindians
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples.
Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...
,
Europeans
Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common genetic ancestry, common language, or both. Pan and Pfeil (20 ...
,
Africans and
Asians. The main spoken language is
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, Can ...
, although a significant number of Peruvians speak
Quechuan languages,
Aymara
Aymara may refer to:
Languages and people
* Aymaran languages, the second most widespread Andean language
** Aymara language, the main language within that family
** Central Aymara, the other surviving branch of the Aymara(n) family, which today ...
, or other
Indigenous languages
An indigenous language, or autochthonous language, is a language that is native to a region and spoken by indigenous peoples. This language is from a linguistically distinct community that originated in the area. Indigenous languages are not neces ...
. This mixture of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide diversity of expressions in fields such as
art
Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas.
There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
,
cuisine,
literature
Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
, and
music
Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...
.
Etymology
The name of the country may be derived from ''Birú'', the name of a local ruler who lived near the
Bay of San Miguel
The Bay of San Miguel () is a bay of the Gulf of Panama, located on the Pacific coast of Darién Province in eastern Panama.
The bay is located at .
It is fed by the Tuira River. At its southern end is Cape Garachiné
A cape is a clothing ...
, Panama City, in the early 16th century. Spanish
conquistador
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...
s, who arrived in 1522, believed this was the southernmost part of the
New World
The term ''New World'' is often used to mean the majority of Earth's Western Hemisphere, specifically the Americas."America." ''The Oxford Companion to the English Language'' (). McArthur, Tom, ed., 1992. New York: Oxford University Press, p. ...
. When
Francisco Pizarro
Francisco Pizarro González, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of Peru.
Born in Trujillo, Spain to a poor family, Pizarro chose ...
invaded the regions farther south, they came to be designated ''Birú'' or ''Perú''.
An alternative history is provided by the contemporary writer
Inca Garcilaso de la Vega
Inca Garcilaso de la Vega (12 April 1539 – 23 April 1616), born Gómez Suárez de Figueroa and known as El Inca, was a chronicler and writer born in the Viceroyalty of Peru. Sailing to Spain at 21, he was educated informally there, where he ...
, son of an Inca princess and a conquistador. He said the name ''Birú'' was that of a common Amerindian who was happened upon by the crew of a ship on an exploratory mission for governor
Pedro Arias Dávila
Pedro Arias de Ávila (1440 – March 6, 1531) (often Pedrarias Dávila) was a Spanish soldier and colonial administrator. He led the first great Spanish expedition to the mainland of the New World. There he served as governor of Panama (1514 ...
and went on to relate more instances of misunderstandings due to the lack of a common language.
The
Spanish Crown gave the name legal status with the 1529 ''
Capitulación de Toledo'', which designated the newly encountered
Inca Empire
The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, ( Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The adm ...
as the province of Peru. In 1561, the rebel
Lope de Aguirre
Lope de Aguirre (; 8 November 1510 – 27 October 1561) was a Basque Spanish conquistador who was active in South America. Nicknamed ''El Loco'' ("the Madman"), he styled himself "Wrath of God, Prince of Freedom." Aguirre is best known for his ...
declared himself the "Prince" of an independent Peru, which was cut short by his arrest and execution. Under Spanish rule, the country adopted the denomination ''
Viceroyalty of Peru
The Viceroyalty of Peru ( es, Virreinato del Perú, links=no) was a Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in South America, governed fro ...
'', which became the ''Peruvian Republic'' after its
independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
until
1979, adopting its current name of ''Republic of Peru''.
History
Prehistory and Pre-Columbian Peru
The earliest evidences of human presence in Peruvian territory have been dated to approximately 12,500
BCE
Common Era (CE) and Before the Common Era (BCE) are year notations for the Gregorian calendar (and its predecessor, the Julian calendar), the world's most widely used calendar era. Common Era and Before the Common Era are alternatives to the or ...
in the
Huaca Prieta
Huaca Prieta is the site of a prehistoric settlement beside the Pacific Ocean in the Chicama Valley, just north of Trujillo, La Libertad Province, Peru. It is a part of the El Brujo Archaeological Complex, which also includes Moche (culture) si ...
settlement. Andean societies were based on agriculture, using techniques such as
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...
and
terracing;
camelid
Camelids are members of the biological family Camelidae, the only currently living family in the suborder Tylopoda. The seven extant members of this group are: dromedary camels, Bactrian camels, wild Bactrian camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, ...
husbandry and fishing were also important. Organization relied on
reciprocity and
redistribution because these societies had no notion of market or money.
The oldest known complex society in Peru, the
Caral/Norte Chico civilization, flourished along the coast of the Pacific Ocean between 3,000 and 1,800 BCE.
These early developments were followed by archaeological cultures that developed mostly around the coastal and Andean regions throughout Peru. The
Cupisnique culture which flourished from around 1000 to 200 BCE along what is now Peru's
Pacific coast was an example of early pre-
Inca culture.
The
Chavín culture that developed from 1500 to 300 BCE was probably more of a religious than a political phenomenon, with their religious center in
Chavín de Huantar. After the decline of the Chavin culture around the beginning of the 1st century CE, a series of localized and specialized cultures rose and fell, both on the coast and in the highlands, during the next thousand years. On the coast, these included the civilizations of the
Paracas,
Nazca
Nazca (; sometimes spelled Nasca; qu, Naska) is a city and system of valleys on the southern coast of Peru. It is also the name of the largest existing town in the Nazca Province. The name is derived from the Nazca culture, which flourished in ...
,
Wari, and the more outstanding
Chimu
Chimor (also Kingdom of Chimor or Chimú Empire) was the political grouping of the Chimú culture. The culture arose about 900 AD, succeeding the Moche culture, and was later conquered by the Inca emperor Topa Inca Yupanqui around 1470, fifty y ...
and
Moche.
The Moche, who reached their apogee in the first millennium CE, were renowned for their irrigation system which fertilized their arid terrain, their sophisticated ceramic pottery, their lofty buildings, and clever metalwork. The Chimu were the great city builders of pre-Inca civilization; as a loose confederation of walled cities scattered along the coast of northern Peru, the Chimu flourished from about 1140 to 1450.
Their capital was at
Chan Chan
Chan Chan was the largest city of the pre-Columbian era in South America. It is now an archaeological site in La Libertad Region west of Trujillo, Peru.
Chan Chan is located in the mouth of the Moche Valley and was the capital of the historic ...
outside of modern-day
Trujillo.
In the highlands, both the
Tiahuanaco
Tiwanaku ( es, Tiahuanaco or ) is a Pre-Columbian archaeological site in western Bolivia near Lake Titicaca, about 70 kilometers from La Paz, and it is one of the largest sites in South America. Surface remains currently cover around 4 square kilo ...
culture, near
Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area, i ...
in both Peru and Bolivia,
and the Wari culture, near the present-day 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 ...
, developed large urban settlements and wide-ranging state systems between 500 and 1000 CE.
In the 15th century, the
Incas
The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, ( Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The adm ...
emerged as a powerful state which, in the span of a century, formed the
largest empire
Several empires in human history have been contenders for the largest of all time, depending on definition and mode of measurement. Possible ways of measuring size include area, population, economy, and power. Of these, area is the most commonly ...
in the
pre-Columbian Americas
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...
with their capital in
Cusco
Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the list of cities in Peru, seventh m ...
.
The Incas of Cusco originally represented one of the small and relatively minor ethnic groups, the
Quechuas
Quechua people (, ; ) or Quichua people, may refer to any of the aboriginal people of South America who speak the Quechua languages, which originated among the Indigenous people of Peru. Although most Quechua speakers are native to Peru, there ...
. Gradually, as early as the thirteenth century, they began to expand and incorporate their neighbors. Inca expansion was slow until about the middle of the fifteenth century, when the pace of conquest began to accelerate, particularly under the rule of the emperor
Pachacuti.
Under his rule and that of his son,
Topa Inca Yupanqui
Topa Inca Yupanqui or Túpac Inca Yupanqui ( qu, 'Tupaq Inka Yupanki'), translated as "noble Inca accountant," (c. 1441–c. 1493) was the tenth Sapa Inca (1471–93) of the Inca Empire, fifth of the Hanan dynasty. His father was Pachacuti, and h ...
, the Incas came to control most of the Andean region, with a population of 9 to 16 million inhabitants under their rule. Pachacuti also promulgated a comprehensive code of laws to govern his far-flung empire, while consolidating his absolute temporal and spiritual authority as the God of the Sun who ruled from a magnificently rebuilt Cusco. From 1438 to 1533, the Incas used a variety of methods, from conquest to peaceful assimilation, to incorporate a large portion of western South America, centered on the
Andean
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 l ...
mountain ranges, from southern Colombia to northern Chile, between the Pacific Ocean in the west and the Amazon rainforest in the east. The official language of the empire 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 ...
, although hundreds of local languages and dialects were spoken. The Inca referred to their empire as ''Tawantinsuyu'' which can be translated as "The Four Regions" or "The Four United Provinces." Many local forms of worship persisted in the empire, most of them concerning local sacred ''
Huaca
In the Quechuan languages of South America, a huaca or wak'a is an object that represents something revered, typically a monument of some kind. The term ''huaca'' can refer to natural locations, such as immense rocks. Some huacas have been ass ...
s'', but the Inca leadership encouraged the worship of
Inti
INTI International University & Colleges are private university colleges located in Malaysia. The main campus was initially known as INTI University College until 31 May 2010 when the Higher Education Ministry announced its upgrade to universi ...
, the sun god and imposed its sovereignty above other cults such as that of
Pachamama
Pachamama is a goddess revered by the indigenous peoples of the Andes. In Inca mythology she is an "Earth Mother" type goddess, Dransart, Penny. (1992) "Pachamama: The Inka Earth Mother of the Long Sweeping Garment." ''Dress and Gender: Making ...
. The Incas considered their King, the
Sapa Inca, to be the "
child of the sun
Child of the Sun is a collection of buildings designed by Frank Lloyd Wright on the campus of the Florida Southern College in Lakeland, Florida. The twelve original buildings were constructed between 1941 and 1958. Another of Wright's designs, a ...
."
Conquest and colonial period
Atahualpa (also Atahuallpa), the last
Sapa Inca, became emperor when he defeated and executed his older half-brother
Huáscar
Huáscar Inca (; Quechua: ''Waskar Inka''; 1503–1532) also Guazcar was Sapa Inca of the Inca Empire from 1527 to 1532. He succeeded his father, Huayna Capac and his brother Ninan Cuyochi, both of whom died of smallpox while campaigning near Q ...
in a civil war sparked by the death of their father, Inca Huayna Capac. In December 1532, a party of ''
conquistador
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, O ...
s'' (supported by the
Chanka
The Chanka people (or Chanca) are a Quechua people ethnic group living in the regions of Apurimac Region, Apurimac, Ayacucho Region, Ayacucho and Lamas, Peru, Lamas of Peru. They were enemies of the Incas, and they were centered primarily in And ...
s,
Huancas,
Cañari
The Cañari (in Kichwa: Kañari) are an indigenous ethnic group traditionally inhabiting the territory of the modern provinces of Azuay and Cañar in Ecuador. They are descended from the independent pre-Columbian tribal confederation of the s ...
s and
Chachapoyas as
Indian auxiliaries
Indian auxiliaries were those indigenous peoples of the Americas who allied with Spain and fought alongside the conquistadors during the Spanish colonization of the Americas. These auxiliaries acted as guides, translators and porters, and in the ...
) led by
Francisco Pizarro
Francisco Pizarro González, Marquess of the Atabillos (; ; – 26 June 1541) was a Spanish conquistador, best known for his expeditions that led to the Spanish conquest of Peru.
Born in Trujillo, Spain to a poor family, Pizarro chose ...
defeated and captured the Inca Emperor Atahualpa in the
Battle of Cajamarca
The Battle of Cajamarca also spelled Cajamalca (though many contemporary scholars prefer to call it Massacre of Cajamarca) was the ambush and seizure of the Inca ruler Atahualpa by a small Spanish force led by Francisco Pizarro, on November 16, ...
. The Spanish conquest of Peru was one of the most important campaigns in the
Spanish colonization of the Americas. After years of preliminary exploration and military conflicts, it was the first step in a long campaign that took decades of fighting but ended in Spanish victory and colonization of the region known as the
Viceroyalty of Peru
The Viceroyalty of Peru ( es, Virreinato del Perú, links=no) was a Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in South America, governed fro ...
with its capital at
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...
, which was then known as "La Ciudad de los Reyes" (The City of Kings). The conquest of Peru led to spin-off campaigns throughout the viceroyalty as well as expeditions towards the Amazon Basin as in the case of Spanish efforts to quell Amerindian resistance. The last Inca resistance was suppressed when the Spaniards annihilated the
Neo-Inca State
The Neo-Inca State, also known as the Neo-Inca state of Vilcabamba, was the Inca state established in 1537 at Vilcabamba by Manco Inca Yupanqui (the son of Inca emperor Huayna Capac). It is considered a rump state of the Inca Empire (1438–15 ...
in
Vilcabamba in 1572.
The Indigenous population dramatically collapsed overwhelmingly due to epidemic diseases introduced by the Spanish as well as exploitation and socio-economic change. Viceroy
Francisco de Toledo
Francisco Álvarez de Toledo ( Oropesa, 10 July 1515 – Escalona, 21 April 1582), also known as ''The Viceroyal Solon'', was an aristocrat and soldier of the Kingdom of Spain and the fifth Viceroy of Peru. Often regarded as the "best of P ...
reorganized the country in the 1570s with gold and silver mining as its main economic activity and Amerindian
forced labor
Forced labour, or unfree labour, is any work relation, especially in modern or early modern history, in which people are employed against their will with the threat of destitution, detention, violence including death, or other forms of ex ...
as its primary workforce.
With the discovery of the great silver and gold lodes at
Potosí (present-day Bolivia) 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 ...
, the viceroyalty flourished as an important provider of mineral resources. Peruvian
bullion provided revenue for the Spanish Crown and fueled a complex trade network that extended as far as Europe and the Philippines.
The commercial and population exchanges between Latin America and Asia undergone via the
Manila Galleon
fil, Galyon ng Maynila
, english_name = Manila Galleon
, duration = From 1565 to 1815 (250 years)
, venue = Between Manila and Acapulco
, location = New Spain (Spanish Empire ...
s transiting through Acapulco, had Callao at Peru as the furthest endpoint of the trade route in the Americas. In relation to this, Don Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera, governor of Panama was also responsible for settling Zamboanga City in the Philippines, which now speak a Chavacano, Spanish Creole by employing Peruvian soldiers and colonists. Because of lack of available workforce, History of slavery#America, African slaves were added to the labor population. The expansion of a colonial administrative apparatus and bureaucracy paralleled the economic reorganization. With the conquest started the spread of Christianity in South America; most people were forcefully converted to Catholic Church, Catholicism, with Spanish clerics believing like Puritan divines of English colonies later that the Native Peoples "had been corrupted by the Devil, who was working "through them to frustrate" their foundations. It only took a generation to convert the population. They built churches in every city and replaced some of the Inca temples with churches, such as the Coricancha in the city of Cusco. The church employed the Inquisition, making use of torture to ensure that newly converted Catholics did not stray to other religions or beliefs, and monastery schools, educating girls, especially of the Inca nobility and upper class, "until they were old enough either to profess [to become a nun] or to leave the monastery and assume the role ('estado') in the Christian society that their fathers planned to erect" in Peru. Peruvian Catholicism follows the syncretism found in many Latin American countries, in which religious native rituals have been integrated with Christian celebrations.
[Conquest and Colony of Peru.] In this endeavor, the church came to play an important role in the acculturation of the Natives, drawing them into the cultural orbit of the Spanish settlers.
By the 18th century, declining silver production and economic diversification greatly diminished royal income.
In response, the Crown enacted the Bourbon Reforms, a series of edicts that increased taxes and partitioned the Viceroyalty.
The new laws provoked Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II, Túpac Amaru II's rebellion and other revolts, all of which were suppressed.
As a result of these and other changes, the Spaniards and their Creole peoples, creole successors came to monopolize control over the land, seizing many of the best lands abandoned by the massive native depopulation. However, the Spanish did not resist the Portuguese colonization of the Americas, Portuguese expansion of Brazil across the meridian. The Treaty of Tordesillas was rendered meaningless between 1580 and 1640 while Iberian Union, Spain controlled Portugal. The need to ease communication and trade with Spain led to the split of the viceroyalty and the creation of new viceroyalties of Viceroyalty of New Granada, New Granada and Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, Rio de la Plata at the expense of the territories that formed the
Viceroyalty of Peru
The Viceroyalty of Peru ( es, Virreinato del Perú, links=no) was a Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in South America, governed fro ...
; this reduced the power, prominence and importance of Lima as the viceroyal capital and shifted the lucrative
Andean
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 l ...
trade to Buenos Aires and Bogotá, while the fall of the mining and textile production accelerated the progressive decay of the Viceroyalty of Peru.
Eventually, the viceroyalty would dissolve, as with much of the Spanish empire, when challenged by national independence movements at the beginning of the nineteenth century. These movements led to the formation of the majority of modern-day countries of South America in the territories that at one point or another had constituted the Viceroyalty of Peru. The conquest and colony brought a mix of cultures and ethnicities that did not exist before the Spanish conquered the Peruvian territory. Even though many of the Inca traditions were lost or diluted, new customs, traditions and knowledge were added, creating a rich mixed Peruvian culture.
Two of the most important Indigenous rebellions against the Spanish were that of Juan Santos Atahualpa in 1742, and Rebellion of Túpac Amaru II in 1780 around the highlands near Cuzco.
Independence
In the early 19th century, while most South American nations were swept by Decolonization of the Americas, wars of independence, Peru remained a Royalist (Spanish American Revolution), royalist stronghold. As the elite vacillated between emancipation and loyalty to the Spanish Monarchy, independence of Peru, independence was achieved only after the occupation by military campaigns of
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (25 February 177817 August 1850), known simply as José de San Martín () or '' the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru'', was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and centr ...
and
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...
.
The economic crises, the loss of power of Spain in Europe, the American Revolutionary War, war of independence in North America, and Native uprisings all contributed to a favorable climate to the development of emancipation ideas among the Criollo people, C''riollo'' population in South America. However, the Criollo oligarchy in Peru enjoyed privileges and remained loyal to the Spanish Crown. The liberation movement started in Argentina where autonomous juntas were created as a result of the loss of authority of the Spanish government over its colonies.
After fighting for the independence of the Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata,
José de San Martín
José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (25 February 177817 August 1850), known simply as José de San Martín () or '' the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru'', was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and centr ...
created the Army of the Andes and Crossing of the Andes, crossed the Andes in 21 days. Once in Chile, he joined forces with Chilean army General Bernardo O'Higgins and liberated the country in the battles of Battle of Chacabuco, Chacabuco and Battle of Maipú, Maipú in 1818. On 7 September 1820, a fleet of eight warships arrived in the port of Paracas (municipality), Paracas under the command of General José de San Martin and Thomas Cochrane, 10th Earl of Dundonald, Thomas Cochrane, who was serving in the Chilean Navy. Immediately on 26 October, they took control of the town of Pisco, Peru, Pisco. San Martin settled in Huacho on 12 November, where he established his headquarters while Cochrane sailed north and blockaded the port of Callao in Lima. At the same time in the north, Guayaquil was occupied by rebel forces under the command of Gregorio Escobedo. Because Peru was the stronghold of the Spanish government in South America, San Martin's strategy to liberate Peru was to use diplomacy. He sent representatives to Lima urging the Viceroy that Peru be granted independence, however, all negotiations proved unsuccessful.
The Viceroy of Peru, Joaquín de la Pezuela, 1st Marquess of Viluma, Joaquín de la Pazuela named José de la Serna, 1st Count of the Andes, José de la Serna commander-in-chief of the loyalist army to protect Lima from the threatened invasion by San Martin. On 29 January, de la Serna organized a Coup d'état, coup against de la Pazuela, which was recognized by Spain and he was named Viceroy of Peru. This internal power struggle contributed to the success of the liberating army. To avoid a military confrontation, San Martin met the newly appointed viceroy, José de la Serna, and proposed to create a constitutional monarchy, a proposal that was turned down. De la Serna abandoned the city, and on 12 July 1821, San Martin occupied Lima and declared Peruvian independence on 28 July 1821. He created the first Peruvian flag. Upper Peru (Bolivia) remained as a Spanish stronghold until the army of
Simón Bolívar
Simón José Antonio de la Santísima Trinidad Bolívar y Palacios (24 July 1783 – 17 December 1830) was a Venezuelan military and political leader who led what are currently the countries of Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Panama and B ...
liberated it three years later. José de San Martin was declared Protector of Peru. Peruvian national identity was forged during this period, as Bolivarian projects for a Congress of Panama, Latin American Confederation floundered and a Peru–Bolivian Confederation, union with Bolivia proved ephemeral.
Simon Bolivar launched his campaign from the north, liberating the Viceroyalty of New Granada in the Battles of Battle of Carabobo, Carabobo in 1821 and Battle of Pichincha, Pichincha a year later. In July 1822, Bolivar and San Martin gathered in the Guayaquil Conference. Bolivar was left in charge of fully liberating Peru while San Martin retired from politics after the first parliament was assembled. The newly founded Congress of the Republic of Peru, Peruvian Congress named Bolivar dictator of Peru, giving him the power to organize the military.
With the help of Antonio José de Sucre, they defeated the larger Spanish army in the Battle of Junín on 6 August 1824 and the decisive Battle of Ayacucho on 9 December of the same year, consolidating the independence of Peru and Alto Peru. Alto Peru was later established as Bolivia. During the early years of the Republic, endemic struggles for power between military leaders caused political instability.
19th century
From the 1840s to the 1860s, Peru enjoyed Guano Era, a period of stability under the presidency of Ramón Castilla, through increased state revenues from
guano
Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...
exports. However, by the 1870s, these resources had been depleted, the country was heavily indebted, and political in-fighting was again on the rise. Peru embarked on a railroad-building program that helped but also bankrupted the country.
In 1879, Peru entered the
War of the Pacific
The War of the Pacific ( es, link=no, Guerra del Pacífico), also known as the Saltpeter War ( es, link=no, Guerra del salitre) and by multiple other names, was a war between Chile and a Bolivian–Peruvian alliance from 1879 to 1884. Fought ...
which lasted until 1884.
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
invoked its alliance with Peru against Chile. The Politics of Peru, Peruvian Government tried to mediate the dispute by sending a diplomatic team to negotiate with the Chilean government, but the committee concluded that war was inevitable. Chile declared war on 5 April 1879. Almost five years of war ended with the loss of the Tarapacá Department (Peru), department of Tarapacá and the provinces of Tacna Province, Tacna and Arica Province (Peru), Arica, in the Atacama region. Two outstanding military leaders throughout the war were Francisco Bolognesi and Miguel Grau Seminario, Miguel Grau. Originally Chile committed to a referendum for the cities of Arica and Tacna to be held years later, to self determine their national affiliation. However, Chile refused to apply the Treaty, and neither of the countries could determine the statutory framework. After the War of the Pacific, an extraordinary effort of rebuilding began. The government started to initiate a number of social and economic reforms to recover from the damage of the war. Political stability was achieved only in the early 1900s.
20th century
Internal struggles after the war were followed by a period of stability under the
Civilista Party
The Civilista Party ( es, Partido Civil, PC) was a political party in Peru.
History
Founded as a countermeasure against the growing power of the military in Peru during the first half of the Republic, the party's sole purpose was to establish a ...
, which lasted until the onset of the authoritarian regime of Augusto B. Leguía. The Great Depression caused the downfall of Leguía, renewed political turmoil, and the emergence of the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA). The rivalry between this organization and a coalition of the elite and the military defined Peruvian politics for the following three decades. A final peace treaty in 1929, signed between Peru and Chile called the Treaty of Lima (1929), Treaty of Lima, returned Tacna to Peru. Between 1932 and 1933, Peru was engulfed in a Leticia Incident, year-long war with Colombia over a territorial dispute involving the Amazonas Department and its capital Leticia, Amazonas, Leticia.
Later, in 1941, Peru and Ecuador fought the Ecuadorian–Peruvian War, after which the Rio Protocol sought to formalize the boundary between those two countries. In a military coup on 29 October 1948, General Manuel A. Odría became president. Odría's presidency was known as the ''Ochenio''. He came down hard on APRA, momentarily pleasing the oligarchy and all others on the right, but followed a Populism, populist course that won him great favor with the poor and lower classes. A thriving economy allowed him to indulge in expensive but crowd-pleasing social policies. At the same time, however, Civil and political rights, civil rights were severely restricted and corruption was rampant throughout his regime. Odría was succeeded by Manuel Prado Ugarteche. However, widespread allegations of fraud prompted the Peruvian military to depose Prado and install a military junta, via a 1962 Peruvian coup d'état, coup d'état led by Ricardo Pérez Godoy. Godoy ran a short transitional government and held new elections in 1963, which were won by Fernando Belaúnde Terry who assumed presidency until 1968. Belaúnde was recognized for his commitment to the democratic process.
On October 3, 1968, another 1968 Peruvian coup d'état, coup d'état led by a group of officers led by General Juan Velasco Alvarado brought the army to power with the aim of applying a doctrine of "social progress and integral development", nationalist and reformist, influenced by the CEPAL theses on dependence and underdevelopment. Six days after the golpe, Velasco proceeded to nationalize the ''International Petroleum Corporation'' (IPC), the North American company that exploited Peruvian oil, and then launched a reform of the state apparatus, an agrarian reform. It was the biggest agrarian reform ever undertaken in Latin America: it abolished the Latifundium, latifunda system and modernized agriculture through a more equitable redistribution of land (90% of the peasants formed cooperatives or agricultural societies of social interest). Land was to be owned by those who cultivated it, and large landowners were expropriated. The only large properties allowed were cooperatives. Between 1969 and 1976, 325,000 families received land from the state with an average size of 73.6 acres. The "revolutionary government" also planned massive investments in education, elevated the
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 ...
language – spoken by nearly half the population but hitherto despised by the authorities – to a status equivalent to that of Spanish and established equal rights for natural children. Peru wished to free itself from any dependence and carried out a third-world foreign policy. The United States responded with commercial, economic and diplomatic pressure. In 1973, Peru seemed to triumph over the financial blockade imposed by Washington by negotiating a loan from the International Development Bank to finance its agricultural and mining development policy. The relations with Chile became very tense after the coup d'état of the general Pinochet. General Edgardo Mercado Jarrín, Edgardo Mercado Jarrin (Prime Minister and Commander-in-Chief of the Army) and Admiral Guillermo Faura Gaig (Minister of the Navy) both escaped assassination attempts within weeks of each other. In 1975, General Francisco Morales Bermúdez Cerruti seized power and broke with the policies of his predecessor. His regime occasionally participated in Operation Condor in collaboration with other American military dictatorships.
Peru engaged in a two week long conflict with Ecuador during the Paquisha War in early 1981 as a result of territorial dispute between the two countries. The economic policy
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
Alan García distanced Peru from international markets further, resulting in lower foreign investment in the country.
After the country experienced chronic inflation, the Peruvian currency, the Peruvian sol (1863–1985), sol, was replaced by the ''Peruvian inti, Inti'' in mid-1985, which itself was later replaced by the Peruvian sol, nuevo sol in July 1991, at which time the new sol had a cumulative value of one billion old soles. The per capita annual income of Peruvians fell to $720 (below the level of 1960) and Peru's GDP dropped 20% at which national reserves were a negative $900 million. The economic turbulence of the time acerbated social tensions in Peru and partly contributed to the rise of violent rebel rural insurgent movements, like Shining Path, Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) and Túpac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, MRTA, which caused Internal conflict in Peru, great havoc throughout the country.
The Shining Path had appeared in the universities in the 1970s. These students, many of them from peasant backgrounds, then returned to their communities and organized local party committees. The abandonment by the state of certain rural regions favored the establishment of the party. In June 1979, demonstrations for free education were severely repressed by the army: 18 people were killed according to the official report, but non-governmental estimates put the death toll at several dozen. This event led to a radicalization of political protests in the countryside and eventually to the outbreak of armed struggle. After the beginning of the armed struggle, the new recruits of the Shining Path were generally peasants with little political background, rather than truly political militants.
The Peruvian armed forces grew frustrated with the inability of the García administration to handle the nation's crises and drafted Plan Verde – which involved the genocide of impoverished and indigenous Peruvians, the control or censorship of the media in Peru and the establishment of a neoliberal economy controlled by a military junta in Peru – as an effort to overthrow his government.
Alberto Fujimori assumed the presidency in 1990 and according to Rospigliosi, the head of the National Intelligence Service (Peru), National Intelligence Service (SIN) General Edwin “Cucharita” Díaz and Vladimiro Montesinos played a key role with making President Fujimori abide by the military's demands while "an understanding was established between Fujimori, Montesinos and some of the military officers" involved in Plan Verde prior to Fujimori's inauguration.
Fujimori would go on to adopt many of the policies outlined in Plan Verde.
Fujimori's policies, prescribed by Hernando de Soto (economist), Hernando de Soto, led to the immediate suffering of poor Peruvians who saw unregulated prices increase rapidly, with those living in poverty seeing prices increase so much that they could no longer afford food.
De Soto advocated for the collapse of Peru's society, with the economist saying that a civil crisis was necessary to support the policies of Fujimori.
These drastic measures caused inflation to drop from 7,650% in 1990 to 139% in 1991 and 57% in 1992.
Due to his controversial governance, Fujimori faced opposition to his reform efforts and utilized coup proposals from Plan Verde, dissolving Congress, suspending the judiciary, arresting several opposition leaders and assuming full powers in the ''Self-coup, auto-golpe'' ("self-coup") of 5 April 1992.
He then revised the constitution; called new congressional elections; and implemented substantial economic reform, including privatization of numerous state-owned companies, creation of an investment-friendly climate, and sound management of the economy. Fujimori's administration was dogged by Insurgency, insurgent groups, most notably the Sendero Luminoso (also called the Shining Path), who carried out terrorist campaigns across the country throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Fujimori cracked down on the insurgents and was successful in largely quelling them by the late 1990s, but the fight was marred by atrocities committed by both the Peruvian security forces and the insurgents: the Barrios Altos massacre and La Cantuta massacre by Government paramilitary groups, and the bombings of Tarata bombing, Tarata and Frecuencia Latina bombing, Frecuencia Latina by Sendero Luminoso. Those incidents subsequently came to symbolize the Human rights in Peru, human rights violations committed in the last years of violence. His Programa Nacional de Población – an implementation of one of Plan Verde's proposals for the "total extermination" of impoverished Peruvians that would possibly be sympathetic to insurgent groups – also resulted with the forced sterilization of at least 300,000 poor and indigenous women.
In early 1995, once again Peru and Ecuador clashed in the Cenepa War, but in 1998 the governments of both nations signed a peace treaty that clearly demarcated the international boundary between them. In November 2000, Fujimori resigned from office and went into a self-imposed exile, initially avoiding prosecution for human rights violations and corruption charges by the new Peruvian authorities.
21st century
Since the end of the Fujimori regime, Peru has tried to fight corruption while sustaining economic growth.
In spite of human rights progress since the time of insurgency, many problems are still visible and show the continued marginalization of those who suffered through the violence of the Peruvian conflict. A caretaker government presided over by Valentín Paniagua took on the responsibility of conducting new presidential and congressional elections. Afterwards Alejandro Toledo became president in 2001 to 2006.
On 28 July 2006, former president Alan García became President of Peru after winning the 2006 Peruvian general election, 2006 elections. In May 2008, Peru became a member of the Union of South American Nations. In April 2009, former president Alberto Fujimori was convicted of human rights violations and Alberto Fujimori's arrest and trial, sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in killings and kidnappings by the Grupo Colina death squad during his government's battle against leftist guerrillas in the 1990s. On 5 June 2011, Ollanta Humala was elected president. During his presidency, Prime Minister Ana Jara and her cabinet were Motion of no confidence, successfully censured, which was the first time in 50 years that a cabinet had been forced to resign from the Peruvian legislature. In 2016, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski was elected, though his government was short-lived as he Pedro Pablo Kuczynski#Resignation, resigned in 2018 amid various controversies surrounding his administration. Vice president Martín Vizcarra then assumed office in March 2018 with generally favorable approval ratings. Alan García was involved in the Operation Car Wash scandal and as police tried to arrest him, he committed suicide on 17 April 2019. Later that year, in July, police arrested Alejandro Toledo in California. Amid the crisis, on 30 September 2019, President Vizcarra dissolved the congress, and 2020 Peruvian parliamentary election, elections were held on 26 January 2020. The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed on 6 March 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic in Peru, most Peruvians were under a stay-at-home order by President Martin Vizcarra. However, an economic crisis triggered by the pandemic led to Removal of Martín Vizcarra, his removal from the presidency, seen by many as a coup by Congress of Peru, congress, and the far-right government of Manuel Merino, the new president, received a lot of backlash. 2020 Peruvian protests, Protests sprang across the country, and after five days, Merino resigned. He was replaced by Francisco Sagasti. Sagasti led a provisional, centrist government, and enforced many of Vizcarra's former policies. 2021 Peruvian general election, Elections were held on 11 April 2021, and Pedro Castillo of the Free Peru party won the first round, followed closely by Keiko Fujimori.
On 28 July 2021, Pedro Castillo was sworn in as the new president of Peru after a narrow win in a tightly contested run-off election. The new Peruvian president Castillo appointed Guido Bellido, a member of Free Peru Party, as prime minister. That same year, Peru celebrated the Bicentennial of the Independence of Peru, bicentenary of independence on its 200th anniversary.
In March and April 2022, March–April 2022 Peruvian protests, protests and demonstrations against the government of President Castillo were widely spread in the country. The demonstrators demanded the removal of President Pedro Castillo, because of difficult economic conditions and the allegations of corruption. Castillo faced multiple impeachment votes during his presidency from the opposition controlled Congress. On December 7, just hours before Congress was set to begin a third impeachment effort, Castillo tried to prevent this by attempting to 2022 Peruvian self-coup d'état attempt, dissolve the opposition-controlled legislature and create an "exceptional emergency government." In response, Congress quickly held an emergency session on the same day, during which it voted 101-6 (with 10 abstentions) to remove Castillo from office and replace him with Vice President of Peru, Vice President
Dina Boluarte
Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra ( (); born 31 May 1962) is a Peruvian politician, civil servant, and lawyer currently serving as the President of Peru since 7 December 2022. She had served as the first vice president and minister at the Minist ...
. She became the country’s first female president. Castillo was arrested after trying to flee to the Mexico, Mexican embassy and was charged with the crime of rebellion.
Government and politics
Peru is a Unitary state, unitary
semi-presidential
A semi-presidential republic, is a republic in which a president exists alongside a prime minister and a cabinet, with the latter two being responsible to the legislature of the state. It differs from a parliamentary republic in that it has a ...
republic
A republic () is a " state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th ...
with a multi-party system.
The country has maintained a Liberal democracy, liberal democratic system under its 1993 Peruvian constitutional referendum, 1993 Constitution, which replaced a Constitution of Peru, constitution that leaned the government to a federation to authorize more power to the president. It is also a Unitary state, unitary republic, in which the central government holds the most power and can create administrative divisions. The Peruvian system of government combines elements derived from the political systems of the United States (a Constitution, written constitution, an autonomous Supreme court, and a presidential system) and the Government of China, People's Republic of China (a Unicameralism, unicameral congress, a premier and Minister (government), ministry system).
The Peruvian government is Separation of powers, separated into three branches:
* Legislature: the unicameral Congress of the Republic of Peru, Congress of Peru, consisting of 130 members of Congress (on a basis of population), the Congress of the Republic of Peru, president of Congress, and the Permanent Commission;
* Executive: the president, the Cabinet of Peru, Council of Ministers, which in practice controls Legislation, domestic legislation and serve as a Cabinet to the president, consisting of the President of the Council of Ministers of Peru, prime minister and 18 ministers of the state;
* Judiciary: the Supreme Court of Peru, also known as the Real Audiencia of Lima, Royal Audencia of Lima, composed of 18 Judge, justices including a supreme justice, along with 28 Superior Courts of Justice of Peru, superior courts, 195 trial courts, and 1,838 district courts.
Under its constitution, the president of Peru is both head of state and head of government, government and is elected to a five-year term without immediate reelection. The president appoints Council of Ministers of Peru, ministers who oversee the 18 Cabinet of Peru, ministries of the state, including the Prime Minister of Peru, prime minister, into the Cabinet of Peru, Cabinet. The constitution designates minimal authority to the prime minister, who presides over Cabinet (government), cabinet meetings in which ministers advise the president and acts as a spokesperson on behalf of the Executive (government), executive branch. The president is also able to pose Motion of confidence, questions of confidence to the Congress of Peru, and consequently order the Dissolution of parliament, dissolution of congress, done in 1992 Peruvian constitutional crisis, 1992 by Alberto Fujimori and in 2019–20 Peruvian constitutional crisis, 2019 by Martín Vizcarra.
In the Congress of Peru, there are 130 Members of Congress from 25 administrative divisions, determined by respective population, elected to five-year terms. Bills are proposed by the executive and Legislature, legislative powers and become law through a Plurality voting, plurality vote in Congress. The judiciary is nominally independent, though political intervention into judicial matters has been common throughout history. The Congress of Peru can also pass a motion of no confidence, censure ministers, as well as initiate impeachments and convict executives. Due to broadly interpreted impeachment wording in the Constitution of Peru, 1993 Constitution of Peru, the legislative branch can impeach the president without cause, effectively making the executive branch subject to Congress.
In recent times, the legislative body has passed semi-successful impeachment and one successful impeachment; Alberto Fujimori resigned prior to removal in 2000, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski Resignation of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, resigned in 2018 and Martín Vizcarra was Removal of Martín Vizcarra, removed from office in 2020.
Peru's electoral system uses compulsory voting for citizens from the age of 18 to 70, including Multiple citizenship, dual-citizens and Peruvians abroad. Members of Congress are directly elected by constituents in respective districts through Proportional representation, proportional voting. The president is elected in a general election, along with the Vice President of Peru, vice president, through a majority in a two-round system. Elections are observed and organized by the National Jury of Elections, National Office of Electoral Processes, and the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status.
Peru uses a multi-party system for congressional and general elections. Major groups that have formed governments, both on a federal and legislative level, are parties that have historically adopted economic liberalism, progressivism, right-wing populism (specifically Fujimorism), nationalism, and reformism.
The 2021 Peruvian general election, most recent general election was held on 11 April 2021 and resulted in Free Peru winning the most seats in Congress, although it fell well short of a majority. A presidential runoff between Pedro Castillo and Keiko Fujimori took place on 5 June 2021 and resulted in the victory of Castillo.
Allegations of corruption in politics
Exceptionally many presidents of Peru have been ousted from office or imprisoned on allegations of corruption over the past three decades. Alberto Fujimori is serving a 25-year sentence in prison for commanding death squads that killed civilians in a counterinsurgency campaign during his tenure (1990–2000). He was later also found guilty of corruption. Former president Alan García (1985–1990 and 2006–2011) committed suicide in April 2019 when Peruvian police arrived to arrest him over allegations he participated in Odebrecht Case, Odebrecht bribery scheme. Former president Alejandro Toledo is accused of allegedly receiving bribe from Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht during his government (2001–2006). Former president Ollanta Humala (2011–2016) is also under investigation for allegedly receiving bribe from Odebrecht during his presidential election campaign. Humala's successor Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (2016–2018) remains under house arrest while prosecutors investigate him for favoring contracts with Odebrecht. Former president Martín Vizcarra (2018–2020) was ousted by Congress after media reports alleged he had received bribes while he was a regional governor years earlier.
Regions and territories
Peru is divided into 26 units: Regions of Peru#History, 24 departments, the Constitutional Province of Callao and the Lima Province, Province of Lima (LIM) – which is independent of any region and serves as the Capital city, country's capital. Under the constitution, the 24 departments plus Callao Province have an elected "regional" government composed of the regional governor and the Regions of Peru, regional council.
The governor constitutes the Executive (government), executive body, proposes budgets, and creates decrees, resolutions, and regional programs. The Regional Council, the region's Legislature, legislative body, debates and votes on budgets, supervises regional officials, and can vote to remove the governor, deputy governor, or any member of the council from office. The regional governor and the Regional Council serve a term of four years, without immediate reelection. These governments plan regional development, execute public investment projects, promote economic activities, and manage public property.
Provinces, such as the province of
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...
, are administered by a municipal council, headed by a mayor. The goal of devolving power to regional and municipal governments was among others to improve popular participation. NGOs played an important role in the decentralization process and still influence local politics.
Some areas of Peru are defined as List of metropolitan areas of Peru, metropolitan areas which overlap district areas. The largest of them, the Lima metropolitan area, is the seventh-List of metropolitan areas in the Americas, largest metropolis in the Americas.
Foreign relations
Over recent decades, Foreign relations of Peru, Peru's foreign relations has historically been dominated by close ties with the United States and Asia, particularly through the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation
The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC ) is an inter-governmental forum for 21 member economy, economies in the Pacific Rim that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region. (APEC), the
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation
in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and ...
, the
Pacific Alliance
The Pacific Alliance ( es, link=no, Alianza del Pacífico) is a Latin American trade bloc, formed by Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, which all border the Pacific Ocean. The alliance was formed with the express purpose of improving regional in ...
, Mercosur, and the Organization of American States (OAS).
Peru is an active member of several Trade bloc, regional trade blocs and is one of the founding members of the Andean Community of Nations. It is also a member of international organizations such as the Organization of American States, OAS and the United Nations. Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, a celebrated Peruvian diplomat, served as Secretary-General of the United Nations, United Nations Secretary General from 1981 to 1991.
Peru has planned to be fully integrated into the OECD, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) by 2021, attributing its economic success and efforts to strengthen institutions as meeting factors to be a part of the OECD. Peru is a member of the
World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation
in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and ...
, and has pursued multiple major free trade agreements, most recently the United States - Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, Peru–United States Free Trade Agreement, the China–Peru Free Trade Agreement, the European Union free trade agreements, European Union Free Trade Agreement, free trade agreements with Japan, and many others.
Peru maintains an integrated relationship with other South American nations, and is a member of various South American intergovernmental agreements, more recently the Organization of American States, Mercosur, the Andean Community of Nations, the
Pacific Alliance
The Pacific Alliance ( es, link=no, Alianza del Pacífico) is a Latin American trade bloc, formed by Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru, which all border the Pacific Ocean. The alliance was formed with the express purpose of improving regional in ...
, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, APEC. Peru has historically experienced Chile–Peru relations, stressed relations with Chile, including the Peru v Chile international court resolution and the Chilean–Peruvian maritime dispute, Chilean-Peruvian maritime dispute, but the two countries have agreed to work in improving relations.
Additionally, Peru has participated in taking a leading role in addressing the crisis in Venezuela through the establishment of the Lima Group.
Military and law enforcement
Peru has the fourth largest military in Latin America. Peru's armed forcesthe Peruvian Armed Forces, Armed Forces of Perucomprise the Peruvian Navy (MGP), the Peruvian Army (EP), and the Peruvian Air Force (FAP), in total numbering 392,660 personnel (including 120,660 regulars and 272,000 reservists) as of 2020. Their primary mission is to safeguard the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country.
Their functions are separated by branch:
* The Peruvian Army is made up of the Chief of Staff, two Control Bodies, two Support Bodies, five Military Regions and six Command Rooms.
* The Peruvian Air Force was officially created on 20 May 1929, with the name of Peruvian Aviation Corps. Its main function is to serve as the country's air defense. It also participates in Peace movement, social support campaigns for hard-to-reach populations, organizes air bridges during disasters, and participates in Peacekeeping, international peace missions. Its four major air bases are located in the cities of Piura, Callao, Arequipa and Iquitos.
*The Peruvian Navy is in charge of the country's maritime, river, and lake defense. It is made up of 26,000 sailors. Personnel are divided into three levels: superior personnel, junior personnel and seafarers.
The military is governed by both the President of Peru, commander in chief, Ministry of Defense (Peru), Ministry of Defense, and Joint Command of the Armed Forces of Peru, Joint Command of the Armed Forces (CCFFAA). The CCFFAA has subordinates to the Operational Commands and Special Commands, with which it carries out the military operations that are required for the defense and the fulfillment of the tasks that the executive power provides. Conscription was abolished in 1999 and replaced by voluntary military service. The National Police of Peru is often classified as a part of the armed forces. Although in fact it has a different organization and a wholly civil mission, its training and activities over more than two decades as an anti-terrorist force have produced markedly military characteristics, giving it the appearance of a virtual fourth military service with significant land, sea and air capabilities and approximately 140,000 personnel. The Peruvian armed forces report through the Ministry of Defense, while the National Police of Peru reports through the Ministry of Interior.
Since the end of the Internal conflict in Peru, crisis in Peru in 2000, the federal government has significantly reduced annual spending in defense. In the 2016–2017 budget, defense spending has constituted 1.1% of GDP ($2.3 billion), the second lowest spending relative to GDP in South America following Argentina. More recently, the Armed Forces of Peru have been used in civil defense. In 2020, Peru used its military personnel and even reservists to enforce the strict quarantine measures placed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Geography
Peru is located on the central western coast of South America facing the Pacific Ocean. It lies wholly in the Southern Hemisphere, its northernmost extreme reaching to 1.8 minutes of latitude or about south of the equator, covers of western South America. It borders Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil to the east, Bolivia to the southeast, Chile to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The
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 ...
mountains run parallel to the Pacific Ocean; they define the three regions traditionally used to describe the country geographically.
The ''costa'' (coast), to the west, is a narrow, largely arid plain except for valleys created by seasonal rivers. The ''sierra'' (highlands) is the region of the Andes; it includes the ''Altiplano'' plateau as well as the highest peak of the country, the Huascarán. The third region is the ''selva'' (jungle), a wide expanse of flat terrain covered by the Amazon rainforest that extends east. Almost 60 percent of the country's area is located within this region. The country has fifty-four hydrographic basins, fifty-two of which are small coastal basins that discharge their waters into the Pacific Ocean. The final two are the Endorheic basin, endorheic basin of
Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area, i ...
, and the Amazon basin, which empties into the Atlantic Ocean. Both are delimited by the Andes mountain range. The Amazon basin is particularly noteworthy as it is the source of the Amazon River, which at 6872 km, is the longest river in the world, and covers 75% of Peruvian territory. Peru contains 4% of the planet's freshwater.
Most Peruvian rivers originate in the peaks of the Andes and drain into one of three drainage basin, basins. Those that drain toward the Pacific Ocean are steep and short, flowing only intermittently. Tributaries of the
Amazon River
The Amazon River (, ; es, Río Amazonas, pt, Rio Amazonas) in South America is the largest river by discharge volume of water in the world, and the disputed longest river system in the world in comparison to the Nile.
The headwaters of t ...
have a much larger flow, and are longer and less steep once they exit the ''sierra''. Rivers that drain into Lake Titicaca are generally short and have a large flow. Peru's longest rivers are the Ucayali, the Marañón River (Peru), Marañón, the Içá, Putumayo, the Yavarí River, Yavarí, the Huallaga River, Huallaga, the Urubamba River, Urubamba, the Mantaro River, Mantaro, and the Amazon.
The largest List of lakes of Peru, lake in Peru, Lake Titicaca between Peru and Bolivia high in the Andes, is also the largest of South America.
The largest Water resources management in Peru, reservoirs, all in the coastal region of Peru, are the Poechos Reservoir, Poechos, Tinajones, San Lorenzo, and El Fraile reservoirs.
Climate
The combination of tropical latitude, mountain ranges, topography variations, and two ocean currents (Humboldt Current, Humboldt and El Niño Southern Oscillation, El Niño) gives Peru a large diversity of climates. The coastal region has moderate temperatures, low precipitation, and high humidity, except for its warmer, wetter northern reaches. In the mountain region, rain is frequent in summer, and temperature and humidity diminish with altitude up to the frozen peaks of the Andes. The Peruvian Amazon is characterized by heavy rainfall and high temperatures, except for its southernmost part, which has cold winters and seasonal rainfall.
Wildlife
Because of its varied geography and climate, Peru has a high biodiversity with 21,462 species of plants and animals reported as of 2003, 5,855 of them endemism, endemic, and is one of the megadiverse countries.
Peru has over 1,800 species of birds (120 Endemism, endemic), over 500 species of mammals, over 300 species of reptiles, and over 1,000 species of freshwater fishes. The hundreds of mammals include rare species like the Puma (genus), puma, jaguar and spectacled bear. The Birds of Peru produce large amounts of
guano
Guano (Spanish from qu, wanu) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. As a manure, guano is a highly effective fertilizer due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. G ...
, an economically important export. The Pacific holds large quantities of bass (fish), sea bass, flounder, anchovies, tuna, crustaceans, and shellfish, and is home to many sharks, sperm whales, and whales.
The invertebrate fauna is far less inventoried; at least beetles (Coleoptera) have been surveyed in the "Beetles of Peru" project, led by Caroline S. Chaboo, University of Nebraska, USA and this revealved more 12,000 documented and many new species for Peru.
Peru also has an equally diverse Flora of Peru, flora. The coastal deserts produce little more than cacti, apart from hilly lomas, fog oases and river valleys that contain unique plant life.
The Highlands above the tree-line known as Puna grassland, puna is home to bushes, cactus, drought-resistant plants such as Jarava ichu, ichu, and the largest species of bromeliad – the spectacular Puya raimondii.
The cloud-forest slopes of the Andes sustain moss, orchids, and bromeliads, and the Amazon rainforest is known for its variety of trees and canopy plants.
Peru had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 8.86/10, ranking it 14th globally out of 172 countries.
Economy
The economy of Peru is the 48th largest in the world (ranked by Purchasing power parity),
[Peru](_blank)
. CIA, The World Factbook and the income level is classified as ''upper middle'' by the World Bank.
[The World Bank]
''Data by country: Peru''
. Retrieved on 1 October 2011. Peru is, , one of the world's fastest-growing economies owing to an economic boom experienced during the 2000s. It has an above-average
Human Development Index
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistic composite index of life expectancy, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income indicators, w ...
of 0.77 which has seen steady improvement over
Historically, the country's economic performance has been tied to exports, which provide hard currency to finance imports and external debt payments. Although they have provided substantial revenue, self-sustained growth and a more egalitarian distribution of income have proven elusive. According to 2015 data, 19.3% of its total population is poor, including 9% that lives in extreme poverty. Inflation in 2012 was the lowest in Latin America at only 1.8%, but increased in 2013 as oil and commodity prices rose; it stands at 2.5%. The unemployment rate has fallen steadily and stands at 3.6%.
Peruvian economic policy has varied widely over The 1968–1975 government of Juan Velasco Alvarado introduced radical reforms, which included Peruvian Agrarian Reform, agrarian reform, the expropriation of foreign companies, the introduction of an economic interventionism, economic planning system, and the creation of a large state-owned sector. These measures failed to achieve their objectives of income redistribution and the end of dependency theory, economic dependence on developed nations.
Despite these results, most reforms were not reversed until the 1990s, when the liberalization, liberalizing government of Alberto Fujimori ended price controls, protectionism, restrictions on foreign direct investment, and most state ownership of companies.
Tertiary sector of industry, Services account for 53% of Peruvian gross domestic product, followed by manufacturing (22.3%), extractive industries (15%), and taxes (9.7%). Recent economic growth had been fueled by Macroeconomics, macroeconomic stability, improved terms of trade, and rising investment and consumption. Trade was expected to increase further after the implementation of a United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, free trade agreement with the United States signed on 12 April 2006. Peru's main exports were copper, gold, zinc, textiles, and fish meal; its major trade partners were the United States, China, Brazil, and Chile. Peru was ranked 70th in the Global Innovation Index in 2021.
Mining
The country is heavily dependent on mining for the export of raw materials, which represent 60% of exports: in 2019, the country was the second world producer of copper, silver and zinc, eighth world producer of gold, third world producer of lead, the world's fourth largest producer of tin, the fifth world's largest producer of boron and the world's fourth largest producer of molybdenum. – not to mention gas and of oil. Little industrialized, Peru suffers from the international variation of commodity prices.
Agriculture
Peru is the world's largest producer of quinoa, one of the 5 largest producers of avocado, blueberry, artichoke and asparagus, one of the 10 largest producers in the world of coffee and Cocoa bean, cocoa, and one of the 15 largest producers in the world of potato and pineapple, also having a considerable production of grape, sugarcane, rice, banana, maize and cassava; its agriculture is considerably diversified. In livestock, Peru is one of the 20 largest producers of chicken meat in the world.
Industry
The World Bank lists the top producing countries each year, based on the total value of production. By the 2019 list, Peru has the 50th most valuable industry in the world ($28.7 billion).
In 2016 Peru was the world's largest supplier of fishmeal.
Infrastructure
Transport
Peru's road network in 2021 consisted of of highways, with paved. Some highways in the country that stand out are the Pan American Highway and Interoceanic Highway. In 2016, the country had of Dual carriageway, duplicated highways, and was investing in more duplications: the plan was to have in 2026. The country's rail network is small: in 2018, the country only had of railways.
Peru has important international airports such as Jorge Chávez International Airport, Lima, Alejandro Velasco Astete International Airport, Cuzco and Rodríguez Ballón International Airport, Arequipa. The 10 busiest airports in South America in 2017 were: São Paulo-Guarulhos (Brazil), Bogotá (Colombia), São Paulo-Congonhas (Brazil), Santiago (Chile), Lima (Peru), Brasília (Brazil), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Buenos Aires-Aeroparque (Argentina), Buenos Aires-Ezeiza (Argentina) and Minas Gerais (Brazil).
Peru has important ports in Callao, Ilo, Peru, Ilo and Matarani. The 15 most active ports in South America in 2018 were: Port of Santos (Brazil), Port of Bahia de Cartagena (Colombia), Callao (Peru), Guayaquil (Ecuador), Buenos Aires (Argentina), San Antonio (Chile), Buenaventura (Colombia), Itajaí (Brazil), Valparaíso (Chile), Montevideo (Uruguay), Paranaguá (Brazil), Rio Grande (Brazil), São Francisco do Sul (Brazil), Manaus (Brazil) and Coronel (Chile).
Energy
Peruvian electricity production totaled 49.3 million GWh in November 2021. Of these, 52% came from hydroelectric plants, 38.3% from thermoelectric plants (which use oil, gas and coal) and 9.7% of renewable energy plants like: wind, solar, and others.
In 2021, Peru had, in terms of installed renewable electricity, 5,490 MW in hydropower (34th largest in the world), 409 MW in wind power (49th largest in the world), 336 MW in solar power (62nd largest in the world), and 185 MW in biomass.
Demographics
With about 31.2 million inhabitants in 2017, Peru is the List of South American countries by population, fourth most populous country in South America.
The demographic growth rate of Peru declined from 2.6% to 1.6% between 1950 and 2000; with the population being expected to reach approximately 42 million in 2050. According to the 1940 Peruvian census, Peru had a population at the time of seven million residents.
, 79.3% lived in urban areas and 20.7% in rural areas. Major cities include the Lima metropolitan area (home to over 9.8 million people), Arequipa,
Trujillo, Chiclayo, Piura, Iquitos,
Cusco
Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the list of cities in Peru, seventh m ...
, Chimbote, and Huancayo; all reported more than 250,000 inhabitants in the 2007 Peru Census, 2007 census. There are 15 Uncontacted peoples, uncontacted Amerindian tribes in Peru. Peru has a life expectancy of 75.0 years (72.4 for males and 77.7 for females) according to the latest data for the year 2016 from the World Bank.
Ethnic groups
Peru is a multiethnic society, multiethnic nation formed by successive waves of different peoples over five centuries. Indigenous Peoples in Peru, Amerindians inhabited Peruvian territory for several millennia before the Spanish conquest of Peru, Spanish conquest in the 16th century; according to historian Noble David Cook, their population decreased from nearly 5–9 million in the 1520s to around 600,000 in 1620 mainly because of infectious diseases.
The 2017 census for the first time included a question on ethnic self-identification. According to the results, 60.2% of the people identified themselves as mestizo, 22.3% identified themselves as Quechua people, Quechua, 5.9% identified themselves as White Peruvians, white, 3.6% identified themselves as Afro-Peruvians, black, 2.4% identified themselves as Aymara people, Aymara, 2.3% identified themselves as other ethnic groups, and 3.3% didn't declare their ethnicity.
Spaniards and Africans arrived in large numbers under colonial rule, mixing widely with each other and with Indigenous peoples. After independence, there was gradual immigration from England, France, Germany, and Italy. Peru freed its black slaves in 1854. Chinese and Japanese arrived in the 1850s as laborers following the end of slavery, and have since become a major influence in Peruvian society.
Language
According to the Peruvian Constitution of 1993, Peru's official languages are Spanish and, in areas where they predominate,
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 ...
and other Indigenous languages. Spanish is spoken natively by 82.6% of the population, Quechua by 13.9%, and Aymara by 1.7%, while other languages are spoken by the remaining 1.8%.
Spanish language is used by the government and is the mainstream language of the country, which is used by the media and in educational systems and commerce. Amerindians who live in the Andean highlands speak Quechua and Aymara and are ethnically distinct from the diverse Indigenous groups who live on the eastern side of the Andes and in the tropical lowlands adjacent to the
Amazon basin
The Amazon basin is the part of South America drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The Amazon drainage basin covers an area of about , or about 35.5 percent of the South American continent. It is located in the countries of Boli ...
.
Peru's distinct geographical regions are mirrored in a language divide between the coast where Spanish is more predominant over the Amerindian languages, and the more diverse traditional Andean cultures of the mountains and highlands. The Indigenous populations east of the Andes speak various languages and dialects. Some of these groups still adhere to traditional Indigenous languages, while others have been almost completely assimilated into the Spanish language. There has been an increasing and organized effort to teach Quechua in public schools in the areas where Quechua is spoken. In the Peruvian Amazon, numerous Indigenous languages are spoken, including Asháninka language, Asháninka, Bora language, Bora, and Aguaruna language, Aguaruna.
[Resonancias.org]
– Aboriginal languages of Peru
Religion
Roman Catholicism has been the predominant faith in Peru for centuries, albeit religious practices have a high degree of syncretism with Indigenous traditions. Two of its universities, Pontifical Catholic University of Peru and Universidad Cattolica San Pablo, are among the 5 top universities of the country. As of the 2017 census, 76% of the population over 12 years old described themselves as Catholic Church, Catholic, 14.1% as Evangelical Protestant, Evangelical, 4.8% as Protestant, Jewish, Latter-day Saints, and Jehovah's Witnesses, and 5.1% as nonreligious.
Amerindian religious traditions continue to play a major role in the beliefs of Peruvians. Catholic festivities like Corpus Christi (feast), Corpus Christi, Holy Week and Christmas sometimes blend with Amerindian traditions. Amerindian festivities from pre-Columbian remain widespread; Inti Raymi, an ancient Inca festival, is still celebrated, especially in rural communities.
The majority of towns, cities, and villages have their own official church or cathedral and patron saint.
Education
Peru's literacy rate is estimated at 92.9% as of 2007; this rate is lower in rural areas (80.3%) than in urban areas (96.3%). Primary and secondary education are compulsory education, compulsory and free in public schools.
Peru is home to one of the oldest institutions of higher learning in the New World. The
National University of San Marcos
The National University of San Marcos ( es, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, link=no, UNMSM) is a public research university located in Lima, the capital of Peru. It is considered the most important, recognized and representative educ ...
, founded on 12 May 1551, during the
Viceroyalty of Peru
The Viceroyalty of Peru ( es, Virreinato del Perú, links=no) was a Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in South America, governed fro ...
, is the first officially established and the oldest continuously functioning university in the Americas.
Toponyms
Many of the Peruvian toponyms have Indigenous language, Indigenous sources. In the Andes communities of Áncash Region, Ancash, Cusco Region, Cusco and Puno Region, Puno, Quechua or Aymara names are overwhelmingly predominant. Their Spanish-based orthography, however, is in conflict with the normalized alphabets of these languages. According to Article 20 of ''Decreto Supremo No 004-2016-MC'' (Supreme Decree) which approves the Regulations to Law 29735, published in the official newspaper El Peruano on 22 July 2016, adequate spellings of the toponyms in the normalized alphabets of the Indigenous languages must progressively be proposed with the aim of standardizing the naming used by the National Geographic Institute ''(Instituto Geográfico Nacional, IGN)''. The National Geographic Institute realizes the necessary changes in the official maps of Peru.
Culture
Peruvian culture is primarily rooted in Andean and Iberian traditions,
though it has also been influenced by various Asian and African ethnic groups. Peruvian arts, Peruvian artistic traditions date back to the elaborate pottery, textiles, jewelry, and sculpture of Pre-Inca cultures. The Incas maintained these crafts and made Architecture of Peru, architectural achievements including the construction of Machu Picchu. Baroque dominated colonial art, though modified by Native traditions.
During this period, most art focused on religious subjects; the numerous churches of the era and the paintings of the Cusco School are representative. Arts stagnated after independence until the emergence of ''Indigenismo'' in the early 20th century.
Since the 1950s, Peruvian art has been Eclecticism in art, eclectic and shaped by both foreign and local art currents.
Visual Arts
Peruvian art has its origin in the Peruvian Ancient Cultures, Andean civilizations. These civilizations arose in the territory of modern Peru before the Spanish colonization of the Americas, arrival of the Spanish. Peruvian art incorporated European elements after the Spanish conquest and continued to evolve throughout the centuries up to the modern day.
Pre-Columbian art
Peru's earliest artwork came from the
Cupisnique culture, which was concentrated on the Pacific coast, and the Chavín culture, which was largely north of
Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of ...
between the Andean mountain ranges of the Cordillera Negra and the Cordillera Blanca. Decorative work from this era, approximately the 9th century BCE, was symbolic and religious in nature. The artists worked with gold, silver, and Ceramics (art), ceramics to create a variety of sculptures and relief carvings. These civilizations were also known for their architecture and wood sculptures.
Between the 9th century BCE and the 2nd century CE, the
Paracas Cavernas and Paracas Necropolis cultures developed on the south coast of Peru. Paracas Cavernas produced complex polychrome and monochrome ceramics with religious representations. Burials from the Paracas Necropolis also yielded complex textiles, many produced with sophisticated geometric patterns.
The 3rd century BCE saw the flowering of the urban culture, Moche (culture), Moche, in the Lambayeque (Department of Peru), Lambayeque region. The Moche culture produced impressive architectural works, such as the Huaca del Sol, Huacas del Sol y de la Luna and the Huaca Rajada of Sipán. They were experts at Terrace (agriculture), cultivation in terraces and hydraulic engineering and produced original ceramics, textiles, pictorial and sculptural works.
Another urban culture, the Huari Culture, Wari civilization, flourished between the 8th and 12th centuries in Ayacucho (Department of Peru), Ayacucho. Their centralized town planning was extended to other areas, such as Pachacamac, Cajamarquilla and Wari Willka.
Between the 9th and 13th centuries CE, the military urban Tiwanaku empire rose by the borders of
Lake Titicaca
Lake Titicaca (; es, Lago Titicaca ; qu, Titiqaqa Qucha) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. By volume of water and by surface area, i ...
. Centered around a city of the same name in modern-day Bolivia, the Tiwanaku introduced stone architecture and sculpture of a monumental type. These works of architecture and art were made possible by the Tiwanaku's developing bronze, which enabled them to make the necessary tools.
Urban architecture reached a new height between the 14th and 15th centuries in the Chimú Culture. The Chimú built the city of
Chan Chan
Chan Chan was the largest city of the pre-Columbian era in South America. It is now an archaeological site in La Libertad Region west of Trujillo, Peru.
Chan Chan is located in the mouth of the Moche Valley and was the capital of the historic ...
in the valley of the Moche River, in La Libertad (Department of Peru), La Libertad. The Chimú were skilled goldsmiths and created remarkable works of hydraulic engineering.
The Inca Empire, Inca Civilization, which united Peru under its hegemony in the centuries immediately preceding the Spanish conquest, incorporated into their own works a great part of the cultural legacy of the civilizations which preceded it. Important relics of their artwork and architecture can be seen in cities like Cusco (Department of Peru), Cusco, architectural remains like Sacsayhuamán, Sacsahuamán and Machu Picchu and stone pavements that united Cusco with the rest of the Inca Empire.
Colonial art
Peruvian sculpture and painting began to define themselves from the Studio, ateliers founded by monks, who were strongly influenced by the Sevillian Baroque School. In this context, the stalls of the Lima Cathedral, Cathedral choir, the fountain of the Main Square of Lima both by Pedro de Noguera, and a great part of the colonial production were registered. The first center of art established by the Spanish was the Cuzco School that taught Quechua languages, Quechua artists European painting styles. Diego Quispe Tito (1611–1681) was one of the first members of the Cuzco school and Marcos Zapata (1710–1773) was one of the last.
Painting of this time reflected a synthesis of European and Indigenous influences, as is evident in the portrait of prisoner Atahualpa, by D. de Mora or in the canvases of the Italians Mateo Pérez de Alesio and Angelino Medoro, the Spaniards Francisco Bejarano and J. de Illescas and the Creole J. Rodriguez.
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Baroque Style also dominated the field of plastic arts.
Literature
The term Peruvian literature not only refers to literature produced in the independent Republic of Peru, but also to literature produced in the
Viceroyalty of Peru
The Viceroyalty of Peru ( es, Virreinato del Perú, links=no) was a Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in South America, governed fro ...
during the country's colonial period, and to Oral tradition, oral artistic forms created by diverse ethnic groups that existed in the area during the Prehispanic#South America, pre-Columbian period, such as the Quechua people, Quechua, the Aymara people, Aymara and the
Chanka
The Chanka people (or Chanca) are a Quechua people ethnic group living in the regions of Apurimac Region, Apurimac, Ayacucho Region, Ayacucho and Lamas, Peru, Lamas of Peru. They were enemies of the Incas, and they were centered primarily in And ...
people.
Peruvian literature is rooted in the oral traditions of pre-Columbian civilizations. Spaniards introduced writing in the 16th century; colonial literary expression included chronicles and Christian literature, religious literature. After independence, Costumbrism and Romanticism became the most common literary genres, as exemplified in the works of Ricardo Palma. The early 20th century's ''Indigenismo'' movement was led by such writers as Ciro Alegría and José María Arguedas. César Vallejo wrote modernist and often politically engaged verse. Modern Peruvian literature is recognized thanks to authors such as List of Nobel laureates in Literature, Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa, a leading member of the Latin American Boom.
Cuisine
Because of the Spanish expedition and discovery of America, explorers started the Columbian exchange which included unknown food in the Old World, including potatoes, tomatoes, and maize. Modern Indigenous Peruvian food often includes corn, potatoes, and Chili pepper, chilies. There are now more than 3,000 kinds of potatoes grown on Peruvian terrain, according to Peru's Instituto Peruano de la Papa.
Modern Peruvian cuisine blends Native American cuisine#Native American cuisine of South America, Amerindian and Spanish food with strong influences from Chinese, African, Arab, Italian, and Japanese cooking. Common dishes include ''anticuchos'', ''ceviche'', and ''pachamanca''. Peru's varied climate allows the growth of diverse plants and animals good for cooking.
Peruvian cuisine reflects local practices and ingredientsincluding influences from the Indigenous population including the Quechua people, Inca and cuisines brought in with colonizers and immigrants. Without the familiar ingredients from their home countries, immigrants modified their traditional cuisines by using ingredients available in Peru. The four traditional staples of Peruvian cuisine are Maize, corn, potatoes and other tubers, Amaranthaceaes (quinoa, kañiwa and kiwicha) and legumes (beans and lupins). Staples brought by the Spanish include rice, wheat, and meats (beef, pork, and chicken). Many traditional foodssuch as quinoa, kiwicha, chili peppers, and several roots and tubers have increased in popularity in recent decades, reflecting a revival of interest in Native Peruvian foods and culinary techniques. It is also common to see traditional cuisines being served with a modern flair in towns like
Cusco
Cusco, often spelled Cuzco (; qu, Qusqu ()), is a city in Southeastern Peru near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region and of the Cusco Province. The city is the list of cities in Peru, seventh m ...
, where tourists come to visit. Chef Gaston Acurio has become well known for raising awareness of local ingredients.
Music
Peruvian music has Andean music, Andean, Music of Spain, Spanish, and African Music, African roots. In pre-Columbian times, musical expressions varied widely in each region; the ''quena'' and the ''tinya'' were two common instruments.
Spaniards introduced new instruments, such as the guitar and the harp, which led to the development of crossbred instruments like the ''charango''.
African contributions to Peruvian music include its rhythms and the ''Cajon, cajón'', a percussion instrument. Peruvian folk dances include marinera, tondero, zamacueca, diablada and huayno.
[Romero, Raúl (1985). "La música tradicional y popular". In: Patronato Popular y Porvenir, ''La música en el Perú''. Lima: Industrial Gráfica, pp. pp. 243–245, 261–265.]
Peruvian music is dominated by the national Musical instrument, instrument, the charango. The charango is a member of the lute family of instruments and was invented during Viceroyalty of Peru, colonial times by musicians imitating the Spanish vihuela. In the Canas and Titicaca regions, the charango is used in courtship rituals, symbolically invoking mermaids with the instrument to lure the woman to the male performers. Until the 1960s, the charango was denigrated as an instrument of the rural poor. After the revolution in 1959, which built the Indigenismo movement (1910–1940), the charango was popularized among other performers. Variants include the walaycho, chillador, chinlili, and the larger and lower-tuned charangon.
While the Spanish guitar is widely played, so too is the Spanish-in-origin bandurria. Unlike the guitar, it has been transformed by Peruvian players over the years, changing from a 12-string, 6-course instrument to one having 12 to 16 strings in a mere four courses. Violins and harps, also of European origin, are also played.
Cinema
While the Peruvian film industry has not been nearly as prolific as that of some other Latin American countries, some Peruvian movies produced enjoyed regional success. Historically, the cinema of Peru Cinema of Iquitos, began in Iquitos in 1932 by Antonio Wong Rengifo (with a momentous, initial Movie theater, film billboard from 1900) because of the rubber boom and the intense arrival of foreigners with technology to the city, and thus continued an extensive, unique filmography, with a different style than the films made in the capital, Lima.
Peru also produced the first animated 3-D film in Latin America, ''Piratas en el Callao''. This film is set in the historical port city of Callao, which during colonial times had to defend itself against attacks by Dutch and British privateers seeking to undercut Spain's trade with its colonies. The film was produced by the
Peruvian
Peruvians ( es, peruanos) are the citizens of Peru. There were Andean and coastal ancient civilizations like Caral, which inhabited what is now Peruvian territory for several millennia before the Spanish conquest of Peru, Spanish conquest in th ...
company Alpamayo Entertainment, which made a second 3-D film one year later: ''Dragones: Destino de Fuego''.
In February 2006, the film ''Madeinusa'', produced as a joint venture between Peru and Spain and directed by Claudia Llosa, was set in an imaginary Andean village and describes the stagnating life of Madeinusa performed by Magaly Solier and the traumas of post-civil war Peru.
Llosa, who shared elements of Gabriel García Márquez's magic realism, won an award at the Rotterdam Film Festival. Llosa's second feature, The Milk of Sorrow ("La Teta Asustada"), was nominated for the 82nd Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Picture, the first Peruvian film in the academy's history to be nominated. The Milk of Sorrow ("La Teta Asustada"), won the Golden Bear award at the 2009 Berlinale.
See also
*Outline of Peru
Notes and references
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
* Bailey, Gauvin Alexander. ''Art of colonial Latin America''. London: Phaidon, 2005, .
''Constitución Política del Perú'' 29 December 1993.
* Custer, Tony. ''The Art of Peruvian Cuisine''. Lima: Ediciones Ganesha, 2003, .
* Gonzalo Garland, Garland, Gonzalo. "Perú Siglo XXI", series of 11 working papers describing sectorial long-term forecasts, Grade, Lima, Peru, 1986–1987.
* Garland, Gonzalo. Peru in the 21st Century: Challenges and Possibilities in ''Futures: the Journal of Forecasting, Planning, and Policy'', Volume 22, No. 4, Butterworth-Heinemann, London, England, May 1990.
* Gootenberg, Paul. (1991) ''Between silver and guano: commercial policy and the state in postindependence Peru''. Princeton: Princeton University Press .
* Gootenberg, Paul. (1993) ''Imagining development: economic ideas in Peru's "fictitious prosperity" of Guano, 1840–1880''. Berkeley: University of California Press, .
* Higgins, James (editor). ''The Emancipation of Peru: British Eyewitness Accounts'', 2014. Online a
jhemanperu
* Instituto de Estudios Histórico–Marítimos del Perú. ''El Perú y sus recursos: Atlas geográfico y económico''. Lima: Auge, 1996.
* Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. . Lima: INEI, 2005.
* Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. ''Perfil sociodemográfico del Perú''. Lima: INEI, 2008.
* Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. ''Perú: Estimaciones y Proyecciones de Población, 1950–2050''. Lima: INEI, 2001.
* . 28 September 1999.
* Ley N° 27867
''Ley Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales'' 16 November 2002.
* Martin, Gerald. "Literature, music and the visual arts, c. 1820–1870". In: Leslie Bethell (ed.), ''A cultural history of Latin America''. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1998, pp. 3–45.
* Martin, Gerald. "Narrative since c. 1920". In: Leslie Bethell (ed.), ''A cultural history of Latin America''. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1998, pp. 133–225.
* Porras Barrenechea, Raúl. ''El nombre del Perú''. Lima: Talleres Gráficos P.L. Villanueva, 1968.
*
* Thorp, Rosemary, and Geoffrey Bertram. ''Peru 1890–1977: growth and policy in an open economy''. New York: Columbia University Press, 1978,
Further reading
;Economy
* Banco Central de Reserva
.
* Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. ''Perú: Perfil de la pobreza por departamentos, 2004–2008''. Lima: INEI, 2009.
* Concha, Jaime. "Poetry, c. 1920–1950". In: Leslie Bethell (ed.), ''A cultural history of Latin America''. Cambridge: University of Cambridge, 1998, pp. 227–260.
External links
Country Profilefrom BBC News
Peru ''The World Factbook''. Central Intelligence Agency.
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Google searchWorld Bank Summary Trade Statistics PeruPeruLinks web directory
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Web portalof the Peruvian Government
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