Peru

**Peru** is a country in South America. The capital is Lima. The ruins of Machu Picchu, the Andes mountains, and the source of the Amazon River are all found in Peru.

Peru is bordered to the north by Ecuador and Colombia, to the east by Brazil, to the south by Chile, and to the southeast by Bolivia. Peru is a representative democratic republic divided into 25 regions and over 33 million people live in it.

Peruvian territory was home to the Norte Chico civilization, one of the oldest in the world, and to the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Columbian America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and established a Viceroyalty, which included most of its South American colonies. After achieving independence in 1821.

Peru suffered a terrible guerrilla war in the 1980s. The communist (Maoist) Shining Path tried to take over the country. But after the leader of the group was captured in 1992, Shining Path was not a threat anymore. During the 1990s, it was ruled by President Alberto Fujimori. During this time, the economy of Peru got better, and it became easier to start a company or operate a business. After Fujimori, Alejandro Toledo was elected President, and then Alan García, who was President previously from 1985 to 1990, was elected again in 2006. Ollanta Humala was elected President in 2011 and Pedro Pablo Kuczynski was elected President in 2016. In March 2018, Kuczynski resigned following political scandals and Vice President Martín Vizcarra was sworn-in as the next president.

## Economy and tourism

Peru's most important exports, products that it sells to other countries, are fish, gold and other metals, oil, coffee, sugar, and cotton. Also, the food in Peru is very diverse, including typical dishes like Ceviche and Broiled Chicken.

Tourists from other countries like to come to Peru because of the history and also to enjoy nature. Many people come to climb mountains in the Cordillera Blanca in the Ancash Region, and many people visit Peru's long Pacific coast or the Amazon jungle. Cuzco and Machu Picchu are just two of the places where many buildings built by the Incas are still standing after hundreds of years, and these are some of the most visited places. The Incas were not the only tribe in Peru who left buildings and artifacts, but they were the most powerful.

Peru is divided into 25 regions. Lima is the capital and other main regions are Cuzco, Arequipa and Lambayeque.  In the Amazon jungle region, we can find many important rivers and different animals, plants and people of many indigenous cultures.

Peru includes 29.5 million people. The currency of Peru is the Nuevo Sol.

## Demographics

The population of Peru is approx. 30 million. The ethnic composition of Peru is like the following:
- 44.0%: Mestizo.
- 31.0%: Native American.
- 15.0%: European.
- 7.0%: Mulatto.
- 2.0%: Black.
- 1.0%: Asians.

### Economy

As of 2018, about 22.3% of the population lives below the national poverty line

## History

Peru was the home of the Inca Empire. The Incas were a well-organized Indian civilization that began the city of Cuzco (now called Cusco). Beginning in the 1400s, they defeated many nearby tribes and built an empire in the Andes. The Inca forced the people to work for the king for a certain number of days every year. They used this "work tax" to build roads and terraces on the sides of the mountains to grow crops, and huge cities with rich palaces for the rulers and their queens. Records were kept on quipa, knotted ropes, since the Incas never invented writing. These could be quickly sent anywhere in the empire by a series of relay runners set up along the roads. Heavier loads were sent by llamas, the pack animals of the Andes. Potatoes were first cultivated in Peru by the Incas. There are currently 4,000 different kinds of potatoes grown in the country and the number is increasing due to biodiversity.

The Incas were rich in gold and silver which could be found in the mountains. The Spanish wanted that treasure when they discovered the nation in the 1500s. Francisco Pizarro, a Spanish man, kidnapped and killed the Inca ruler in 1532, even after his people paid a huge amount of treasure for his release. The Incas fought the Spanish for many years, but the last Inca king was killed in 1572.
Peru was a Spanish colony until 1821. Spanish is still the main language of the people, although many also speak Quechua, the Inca language.

## Related pages

- List of rivers of Peru
- Machu Picchu
- Manú National Park
- National University of San Marcos
- Peru at the Olympics
- Peru national football team
- Lord of Miracles

## References

**Notes**

## Other websites

- Peruvians in Germany
- Peruvian Directory of websites

## Infobox (infobox)

- **subbox**: yes
- **bodystyle**: font-size:80%;font-weight:normal;
- **rowclass1**: mergedrow
- **label1**: Quechua language, Quechua:
- **rowclass2**: mergedrow
- **label2**: Aymara language, Aymara:


## Infobox (country)

- **conventional long name**: Republic of Peru
- **common name**: Peru
- **image flag**: Flag of Peru (state).svg
- **image coat**: Escudo_nacional_del_Perú.svg
- **other symbol**: <div style="padding:0.3em;"></div>
Great Seal of the State
- **other symbol type**: Seal (device), National seal
- **national motto**:

"Firm and Happy for the Union"
- **national anthem**:

"National Anthem of Peru"

---
- **image map**: PER_orthographic.svg
- **capital**: Lima
- **largest city**: capital
- **languages type**: Official language
- **languages**: Peruvian Spanish, Spanish
- **languages2 type**: Co-official languages
- **ethnic groups year**: 2017 Peru Census, 2017
- **demonym**: Peruvian
- **government type**: Unitary state, Unitary Presidential system, presidential republic
- **leader title1**: President of Peru, President
- **leader name1**: José María Balcázar
- **leader title2**: Vice President of Peru, Vice President
- **leader name2**: _Vacant_
- **leader title4**: Prime Minister of Peru, Prime Minister
- **leader name4**: Denisse Miralles
- **legislature**: Congress of the Republic of Peru, Congress of the Republic
- **sovereignty type**: Peruvian War of Independence, Independence
- **sovereignty note**: from the History of Spain (1814-1873), Kingdom of Spain
- **established event1**: Peruvian War of Independence, Declared
- **established date1**: July 28, 1821
- **established event2**: Battle of Ayacucho, Consolidated
- **established date2**: December 9, 1824
- **established event3**: Recognized
- **established date3**: August 14, 1879
- **area km2**: 1,285,216
- **area rank**: 19th
- **area sq mi**: 496,225
- **percent water**: 0.41
- **population estimate**: 32,824,358
- **population census**: 31,237,385
- **population estimate year**: 2020
- **population estimate rank**: 42nd
- **population census year**: 2017
- **population density km2**: 23
- **population density sq mi**: 57
- **population density rank**: 198th
- **gdp ppp**: $505.450 billion
- **gdp ppp year**: 2020
- **gdp ppp rank**: 36th
- **gdp ppp per capita**: $15,399
- **gdp ppp per capita rank**: 85th
- **gdp nominal**: $240.175 billion
- **gdp nominal year**: 2020
- **gdp nominal rank**: 41st
- **gdp nominal per capita**: $7,317
- **gdp nominal per capita rank**: 80th
- **gini**: 43.3
- **gini year**: 2017
- **gini change**: decrease
- **hdi**: 0.763
- **hdi year**: 2018
- **hdi change**: increase
- **hdi rank**: 82th
- **currency**: Peruvian sol, Sol
- **currency code**: PEN
- **time zone**: Time in Peru, PET
- **utc offset**: −5
- **date format**: dd.mm.yyyy (Common Era, CE)
- **drives on**: right
- **calling code**: +51
- **iso3166code**: PE
- **cctld**: .pe
- **religion year**: 2017 Peru Census, 2017