Country Information on Peru 

Terrain

Peru is divided naturally into three regions: the coastline (11% of the total area), the Andean mountains (26%), and the rain forest (63%). The coastline consists of a long strip of land, which extends along the whole coast from north to south. Some of Peru's most important towns and cities are located in this lowland area. To the east, the sierra runs parallel to the coastal plain. The Sierra is part of the Andes which consists of three main mountain ranges. The Huascarán (6,768 m) is Peru's highest mountain. In the south-east of the country there is an extensive highland plateau (altiplano), which is where Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake, is located. The only river that flows out of Lake Titicaca is the River Desaguadero, which flows into Lago Poopó in Bolivia.

Climate

Peru is located in the inner tropics; however the coastal areas are strongly influenced by the cold Humboldt current. Other than at the central coastal areas, the country has dry and rainy seasons. Peru's climate varies according to geographical region and altitude, ranging from the tropical climate in the rainforest to the Arctic climate in the mountainous regions of the Andes.

Fauna/Flora

Peruvian plant-life is extremely varied. Whereas there is mainly desert vegetation (shrubs, grasses, and tuber plants) in the dry, sandy coastal plain, the rainforests has incredible numbers of trees, climbers, and grasses, such as mahogany trees, cedars, rubber trees, cinchona trees, sarsaparilla and vanilla plants and a large number of other tropical plants. Peru's animal life is also very diverse. The coastal plain and offshore islands are home to pelicans, seagulls, terns, sea lions, lizards, insects, tarantulas, and scorpion. Shellfish, anchovies, sardines, haddock, sole, mackerel, croakers, lobsters and shrimps are found in the Peruvian coastal waters. The Sierra is home to llamas, alpacas, chinchillas, and guanacos. There are jaguars, pumas, armadillos, peccaries, anteaters, several dozen species of monkey, caimans, turtles, parrots and a variety of snakes and insects in the tropical rainforest.

Climate

History/Politics

Around the 12th century, the Inca settled in Cuzco and established the Tawantinsuyu empire which subsumed the other older civilisations. In 1531 Francisco Pizarro landed in Peru with a small army and took advantage of the war of succession raging between Huascar and Atahualpa to conquer the Inca's empire. Despite a series of uprisings during the final years of colonial rule, Peru was one of the last countries in South America to become independent. Argentinian hero José de San Martín proclaimed its independence in 1821, which was secured in 1824 with Simón Bolívar's military power. The country's first decades of republican rule were characterized by internal warfare. The so-called War of the Pacific broke out against Chile in 1879 It ended in 1883 when Peru was defeated which led to significant territory losses and the exhaustion of domestic economic resources. Civil governments ruled from 1895 onwards, interrupted when Augusto Leguía's came to power in 1919.

Leguía's economic policies (based on loans) and the world economic crisis of 1929 lead to Leguía being overthrown in 1930 and Luis Sánchez Cerro took over. A new constitution was ratified in 1933, though the president was assassinated shortly afterwards. A cross-border conflict with Ecuador erupted in 1941, which was not settled until the 1990s. José Luis Bustamante y Rivero, candidate of the APRA (American Popular Revolutionary Alliance), came to power in 1945, but was overthrown in a military coup three years later. Over the following decades there was a succession of military dictatorships and civilian governments. After 12 years of military dictatorship, a democratic government was re-established in 1980. Alberto Fujimori was elected president in 1990. He annulled parts of the constitution in April 1992 and took complete control of the government alleging that congress and the judiciary were blocking his efforts to fight the drug trade.

In September 1992, several key Sendero Luminoso guerrillas (who started their activities in the early 1980s) were arrested. Fujimori was re-elected in the presidential elections in April 1995, winning against former UN Secretary General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar. In 2000, Fujimori won the presidential elections again, but faced charges of corruption and fraud soon after. A few months later he travelled to Japan, where he announced that he was resigning as president. In June 2001, Alejandro Toledo, a candidate of indigenous descent, was elected president, defeating the APRA candidate. He is still in power today, despite a series of protests against him.

Economy

Despite large deposits of raw materials, the Peruvian economy experienced a major crisis in the 1970s and 1980s, characterized by high inflation and serious budget deficits. In 1990 the government implemented took economic measures, which, in combination with a strict tax collection system, led to the national economy being consolidated. Around 35% of the country's labour force works in agriculture. Mining is very important for the Peruvian economy. Peru has large reserves, mainly of copper, gold, silver, iron, lead and zinc, but also of crude oil and natural gas. It ranks as one of the world's leading producers of some of the aforementioned metals, including zinc, lead, and silver. In 2003, the unemployment rate was 9% and inflation was 2.5%.

Culture

The indigenous heritage of Peru is one of the richest in South America. Archaeological excavations have uncovered numerous monumental buildings, such as the town of Machu Picchu, that is northwest of Cuzco. The architecture of the Spanish colonial period is a blend of Spanish and indigenous forms. The pentatonic scale is still used nowadays, as are traditional instruments, such as cajon drums, flutes, ocarinas, and panpipes.