Heir to ancient cultures and a rich colonial tradition, Peru is a magical spot which involves one of the richest biodiversities of Earth, and is a melting pot of different cultures that together are forging the promise of a better future.
 Surface Area
With an area of 1,285,215 square km, Peru is the third-largest country in South America after Brazil and Argentina, ranking it amongst the world's 20 largest nations.
Peru also holds sway over the sea up to 200 miles from the Peruvian coast and has territorial rights to an area of 60 million hectares in the Antarctic. Peru is divided into 24 departments. Lima is the capital of Peru
 Population
- Urban: 72,3 %
- Rural: 27,7 %
Peru is a nation of mixed ethnic origins. Throughout its history, Peru has been the meeting ground for different nations and cultures. The indigenous population was joined 500 years ago by the Spaniards.
As a result of this encounter, and later enriched by the migration of African blacks, Asians and Europeans, Peruvian man emerged as the representative of a nation whose rich ethnic mix is one of its leading characteristics.
 Language
- Spanish: 80,3%
- Quechua: 16,2%
- Other languages: 3,0%
- Foreign languages: 0,2%
As part of its rich cultural tradition, Peru features many different languages. Although Spanish is commonly spoken across the country, Quechua is a major legacy of the Inca empire, and is still spoken with regional dialects in many parts of Peru.
In addition, other languages are spoken such as Aymara (in Puno) and a startling variety of dialects in the Amazon jungle, which are divided up into 15 linguistic families and 43 different languages.
 Currency
The official currency in Peru is the Nuevo Sol (S/.), which is divided into 100 centimos. The currency includes coins for 5, 10, 20 and 50 centimos and 1, 2 and 5 sol coins. There are bills in the denomination of 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 Nuevos Soles
 Government
Peru is a democratic republic. The president and members of Congress are elected every five years by universal suffrage. The current constitutional president of Peru is Alan Garcia Perez (2006-2011).
 Religion
- Roman Catholic: 89,03%
- Evangelical: 6,73%
- Other religions: 2,56%
- Any Religion: 1.65%
Peru is a naturally religious country: a diversity of beliefs and freedom of worship can be seen from the wide range of festivals and rituals that feature both Catholic fervor and the mysticism of age-old pre-Hispanic cultures
Accessibility by air and land
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17 airlines operating international flights.
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7 airline companies offering domestic flights.
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More than 78,000 kilometers of highways, 8,084.26 of which are asphalted.
Peru: World Heritage
 The city of Cuzco, declared a World Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 1983.Cuzco, which in the ancient Quechua language means "navel of the world", was an important hub in Inca times that connected all of South America, from Colombia to the north of Argentina. Today, centuries later,
Cuzco continues to be the centre of attention, not only for our neighbouring countries but for the whole world. In its streets, historical centres, churches, pubs and cafes you can hear not only Quechua and Spanish spoken, but such diverse languages as English, French, Japanese and Hebrew. All of them, united by the same experience, found in the charming and fascinating "belly button" of the world.
 Machu Picchu, was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site also in 1983.I could say a great deal about this archaeological site, which was hidden for centuries until it came to light in the early 1900s, but it is difficult to describe in words what one feels when the citadel suddenly appears, like a challenge to the imagination and to engineering,
between the mountains that mark the beginning and the end of the Andes and the Amazon Basin
 The temple or fortress of Chavin de Huantar, declared a World Cultural Heritage in 1985.
I could tell you of the gusts of air that brush your face almost like a sigh when you walk through its sophisticated underground galleries. Known as the "castle", Chavin and its intricate passageways is believed to be one of the oldest constructions in the Americas.
The Huascaran National Park, inscribed as a World Natural Heritage in 1985.
Here I can tell you about the turquoise colour of its lakes that contrast with the snow-capped peaks of the highest tropical mountain range in the world. The Huascaran National Park is a paradise and a challenge to nature and adventure sports lovers alike. It has over 600 glaciers, close to 300 lakes, and 27 snow-capped peaks that reach heights of over 6,000 metres, such as the Huascaran which rises to 6,768 meters above sea level.
 Chan Chan is another of the 10 sites inscribed as World Cultural Heritages by UNESCO, this in 1986.
Known as the largest city of clay in pre-Columbian America, Chan Chan is texture, it is form, it is desert sand made into art. The birds that decorate the walls of Chan Chan seem almost to fly in the strong breeze that blows through this ancient Chimu site
 The Manu National Park, inscribed as a World Natural Heritage in 1987. Manu is the feast of life and diversity, with more than 1,000 species of birds, 1,200 types of butterflies, over 20,000 varieties of plants and an unknown quantity of reptiles, insects and amphibians
 Lima's Historical Centre, declared a World Cultural Heritage in 1991.
Lima is a sum of colours, textures and sounds. It is a cosmopolitan capital par excellence where the taste is acquired from the flavour offered by its street-side cooks frying anticuchos or soft picarones in syrup against a backdrop of colonial balconies, old houses,and churches with secret tunnels.
 The Rio Abiseo National Park, inscribed as a World Natural Heritage in 1990.
Because geographical location and the fragility of the archaeological sites within the park, Rio Abiseo remains closed to tourism since 1996. Today Peruvian and foreign scientists travel through the park to continue studying the flora and fauna and the remains of pre-Inca cultures.
 The Nazca Lines and the Pampas de Juma were declared a World Heritage site in 1994.
Close to the other natural jewel that is the Paracas National Reserve, these lines and figures of different animals, drawn on the Peruvian desert and seen properly only from the sky, were considered a mystery for decades because it was not known if they were a calendar or a form of communication with outer space.
 Arequipa's Historical Centre, declared a World Cultural Heritage in 2000.
The city of Arequipa is, precisely, an example of how culture in Peru has changed from pre-Colonial times. It is known as the White City because of the volcanic rock, or "sillar", with which its churches and homes are built. Arequipa is the land of passions and contrasts, of the hot rocoto pepper and the magnificent condor which can only be seen flying over the Colca Canyon, one of the deepest in the world.
 Nature and Landscapes
As home to 84 of the 104 life zones that exist on our plant makes Peru a privileged destination for nature lovers.
Close to 20% of the worlds birds and 10% of the world's reptiles live here.
Peru has converted 13% of its territory into Protected Natural Areas.
 Festivities and Traditions
Peru is a country that sings and dances in joy and sadness with color and a great deal of paraphernalia. Peruvians celebrate some 3,000 festivals all over the country.
 Incomparable cuisine
Over 40,000 restaurants across the country reflect the diversity of a nation that has mixed its native traditions with the cuisines of Europe, Arabia, China, Africa and Japan. The result: unique flavours that make Peruvian cuisine one of the best and most varied in the world.
 Telephone
Peru features a far-reaching telephone network that provides services for national and international long-distance calls from private telephone lines and public cabins. There are also currently 1.3 million clients who have cellular phones, and satellite communications are currently being developed.
 Internet / Email
A number of service providers across the country has given the public access to Internet. Known in Peru as Cabinas Internet, the average cost of an hour's connection is S/.3,50 (US$1).
 Airports
14 airports equipped to receive commercial flights and 10 ready for international flights: Lima, Arequipa, Chiclayo, Pisco, Pucallpa, Iquitos, Cusco, Trujillo, Tacna and Juliaca. 17 airlines operating international flights and 7 airline companies offering domestic flights.
 Ports
Peru's largest port is Callao, outside Lima. Other major ports include Paita, Salaverry, Chimbote, Callao, Pisco, Ilo and Matarani.
 Roads
Peru is criss-crossed by more than 78,000 km of roads, of which 16,705,79 km are national highways. Of these roads, 8,711.02 km. run from north to south and 7,994.77 km from east to west.
The main roads running down the length of the country are the Pan-American Highway (North and South), which links up the towns along Peru's coast, and the Marginal Jungle Highway which links up the towns in the northern jungle with the south, near the Bolivian border. Cutting inland is the Central Highway, which starts out in Lima and runs up to the central highlands, climbing through the high mountain pass of Ticlio (Kilometer 132), which at 4,818 meters above sea level is also the world's highest railway pass. From here, the road descends to the towns of La Oroya and Tarma, continuing down to the Chanchamayo jungle valley in the department of Jun à n. The government plans to build another 1,819.2 km of roads in the next few years .
Geography
Peru is divided into three regions: coastal, highlands, and jungle. Although this simple division is a fair portrait of Peru's geography, the reality is much richer and far more complex: in Peru, nature appears to have taken on particular characteristics which have turned its mountains, plains, jungles and valleys into unique habitats.
An extraordinary variety of eco-systems shelters a wide diversity of animals and plants.
 The Coast
Which features deserts, beautiful beaches and fertile valleys...
The Peruvian coastline is formed by a long snaking desert hemmed in between the sea and the mountains. The Andes to the east and the cold Humboldt sea current that runs along the coast are what make this area so arid. From the Sechura desert to the Nazca plains and the Atacama desert, the dry coastal terrain is occasionally split by valleys covered by a thick layer of cloud and drizzle in the winter.
Humidity in these areas produces a sensation of cold, although temperatures rarely dip below 12°C. During the summer, meanwhile, the sun beats down and temperatures often top 30°C. The central and southern sections of the coast feature two well-defined seasons: winter from April to October, and summer from November to March. The north coast, meanwhile, is not touched by the effects of the cold current, which means it enjoys 300 days of sunshine a year and warm temperatures all year-long (as much as 35°C in the summer). The rain season runs from November to March.
 The Highlands
A mountainous area dominated by the Andes, where Mount Huascaran soars to 6,768 meters.
In the Peruvian highlands, there are two well-defined seasons: the dry season (from April to October), marked by sunny days, cold nights and the lack of rain (the ideal time for visiting); and the rainy season (November to March), when there are frequent rain showers (generally more than 1000 mm). A characteristic of the mountain region is the drop in temperature during the day: temperatures commonly range around 24°C at midday before plunging to -3°C at night.
during the day: temperatures commonly range around 24°C at midday before plunging to -3°C at night.
The steep slopes of the Andes means temperatures gradually drop in the highest region, known as the Puna, the highland plain.
The dry and pleasant climate in the highlands makes it possible to grow a wide variety of crops there.
 The Jungle
A vast region of tropical vegetation in the Amazon River Basin, home to Peru's largest natural reserves.
The vast Peruvian jungle, which surrounds the wide and winding Amazon river, is divided into two differentiated areas: the cloud forest (above 700 masl), which features a subtropical, balmy climate, with heavy rain showers (around 3000 mm a year) between November and March, and sunny days from April to October; and the lowland jungle (below 700 masl), jungle (below 700 masl), where the dry season runs from April to October and is ideal for tourism, with sunshine and high temperatures often topping 35°C jungle (below 700 masl), where the dry season runs from April to October and is ideal for tourism, with sunshine and high temperatures often topping 35°C.
During this season, the river levels dip and roads are easy to drive. The rainy season, meanwhile, which runs from November to March, features frequent rain showers (at least once a day) which can damage roads in the area.
The jungle features high humidity all year long. In the southern jungle, there are sometimes cold spells known locally as friajes or surazos, cold fronts which drift up from the far south of the continent between May and August, where temperatures can drop to 8-12°C
Note: To calculate Fahrenheit temperatures: 9/5 (ºC) + 32
History
The Pre-Incas Cultures
 Over the course of 1400 years, pre-Inca cultures settled along the Peruvian coast and highlands. The power and influence of some civilizations was to hold sway over large swaths of territory, which during their decline, gave way to minor regional centers. Many of them stood out for their ritual pottery, their ability to adapt and superb management of their natural resources; a vast knowledge from which later the Inca empire was to draw.
The first Peruvian civilization settled in Huantar (Ancash) in around (1200 - 1000 BC). The power of the civilization, based on a theocracy, was centered in the Chavin de Huantar, temple, whose walls and galleries were filled with sculptures of ferocious deities with feline features.
 The Paracas culture (200 AD - 600 BC) rose to power along the south coast, and was to craft superb skills in textile weaving.
 The north coast was dominated by the Moche civilization (200 AD - 600 BC). The culture was led by military authorities in the coastal valleys, such as the Lord of Sipan. The Moche pots which featured portraits, and their iconography in general were surprisingly detailed and showed great skill in design.
 The Nasca culture (300 AD - 900 BC) were able to tame the coastal desert by bringing water through underground aqueducts. They carved out vast geometric and animal figures on the desert floor, a series of symbols believed to form part of an agricultural calendar which even today baffles researchers
 The Wari culture (600 AD) introduced urban settlements in the Ayacucho area and expanded its influence across the Andes.
 The refined Chimu culture (1100 - 1500) crafted gold and other metals into relics and built the mud-brick citadel of Chan Chan, near the northern coastal city of Trujillo.
The Chachapoyas culture (800 AD) made the best possible use of arable land and built their constructions on top of the highest mountains in the northern cloud forest. The vast Kuelap fortress is a fine example of how they adapted to their environment.
The Incas
The Inca empire (1200 - 1500 BC) was possibly the most organized civilization in South America. Their economic system, distribution of wealth, artistic manifestations and architecture impressed the first of the Spanish chroniclers.
 The Incas worshipped the earth goddess Pachamama and the sun god, the Inti. The Inca sovereign, lord of the Tahuantinsuyo, the Inca empire, was held to be sacred and to be the descendant of the sun god. Thus, the legend of the origin of the Incas tells how the sun god sent his children Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo (and in another version the four Ayar brothers and their wives) to found Cuzco, the sacred city and capital of the Inca empire.
 The rapid expansion of the Inca empire stemmed from their extraordinary organizational skills. Communities were grouped, both as families and territorially, around the ayllu, their corner of the empire, and even if villagers had to move away for work reasons, they did not lose their bond to the ayllu. The Inca moved around large populations, either as a reward or punishment, and thus consolidated the expansion while drawing heavily from the knowledge of the cultures that had flourished prior to the Incas.
The Inca's clan was the panaca, made up of relatives and descendants, except for the one who was the Inca's successor, who would then form his own panaca. Sixteenth-century Spanish chroniclers recorded a dynasty of 13 rulers, running from the legendary Manco Capac down to the controversial Atahualpa, who was to suffer death at the hands of the Spanish conquerors.
The Tahuantinsuyo expanded to cover part of what is modern-day Colombia to the north, Chile and Argentina to the south and all of Ecuador and Bolivia.
The members of the panaca clans were Inca nobles, headed by the Inca sovereign. The power of the clans and the Inca was tangible in every corner of the empire, but the might of the Incas reached its peak in the architecture of Cuzco: the Koricancha or Temple of the Sun, the fortresses of Ollantaytambo and Sacsayhuaman, and above all the citadel of Machu Picchu.
Peru Today
 The early part of the twentieth century was marked by a drawn-out civilian dictatorship headed by President Augusto B. Leguia. The project to modernize the country, creating works for a New Fatherland left the State heavily in debt and unable to deal with the 1929 crash. It was also a time of intellectual creativity, symbolized by the founder of the APRA party, Victor Raul Haya de la Torre and Jose Carlos Mariategui, the father of Socialist beliefs in Peru and the center of intellectual and artistic thinking in the country during his short life.
After the fall of Leguia, military regimes once again rose to the forefront, despite apparently having run their course with the presidencies of Prado in 1939 and Bustamante y Rivero in 1945; but in 1948 a new military government was formed by Manuel A. Odria. Over the next eight years, major public works were built amidst severe political repression.
Peru, which has made major efforts to forge friendly relations with neighboring countries, has managed to overcome long-running border conflicts. Navigation conditions along the Amazon River led to agreements with Brazil, until in 1909 the frontier between the two nations was finally established. After lengthy debate, the border treaty with Colombia was approved by Congress in 1927, and Colombians were granted an access route to the Amazon River. In 1929, after border disputes with Chile resulting from armed conflict, the will to improve relations led both nations to sign a treaty whereby the city of Tacna was returned to Peru.
 The border with Bolivia was marked by mutual accord in 1932. Finally, after several armed conflicts and diplomatic controversies with Ecuador, Peru in 1999 managed to get the 1942 Rio Protocol to prevail, closing the final chapter of the dispute over the territory within the Cordillera del Condor mountain range, shoring up Peru's relations with Ecuador.
 In 1968, the armed forces staged a coup d'etat and overthrew then-President Fernando Belaunde. The first few years of the military regime stood out from other dictatorships in Latin America in that Peru's military had socialist sympathies. Led by General Juan Velasco, the military regime expanded the role of the State in a bid to solve the problems that had impoverished the country. Thus the State nationalized the oil industry, the media and carried out an agrarian reform. nationalized the oil industry, Velasco was replaced by General Francisco Morales-Bermudez, who bowed to public pressure and called for a Constituent Assembly.
Belaunde was re-elected in 1980, but the deep-lying poverty spurred the birth of two insurgencies which unleashed a wave of violence for over a decade. After the government of Alan Garcia (1985-1990), Alberto Fujimori was elected president in 1990, but shut down Congress in 1992 and decreed an emergency government. He was re-elected in 1995 and 2000, but public discontent forced him to call fresh elections for 2001. Valentin Paniagua was then chosen to head a caretaker government. In July 2001, Dr. Alejandro Toledo Manrique took office as the Constitutional President of the Republic of Peru. The current constitutional president of Peru is Alan Garcia Pérez (2006-2011).
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