Peru's population is a little over 30 million Peru is a fairly young country, with about 27 percent of its population under the age of 14. The median age is 27 years old. Most people live in cities — 77 percent of the population live in urban areas. Peru's ethnic makeup is a mishmash of indigenous groups, Spanish colonialism, and foreign immigrants. 45 percent of the population is Amerindian, 37 percent is mestizo , 15 percent is white, and 3 percent is black, Japanese, Chinese and other.