Peru

Peru occupies a slender swath of western South America, where the Pacific Ocean meets soaring Andean peaks and the vast Amazon basin. Its landmass, encompassing 1 285 216 square kilometres, ranks nineteenth among nations and third on the continent. To the north, the borders touch Ecuador and Colombia; the eastern frontier meets Brazil; Bolivia lies to the southeast; Chile bounds the south; while the Pacific laps its western shore. Lima, the capital and principal port, anchors nearly one third of the nation’s population, which exceeds 32 million residents.

A striking feature of Peru is its ecological variety. Along the arid littoral, narrow coastal plains punctuated by river valleys extend from the border with Chile to that with Ecuador. Behind these plains, the Andean cordillera rises abruptly: peaks such as Huascarán (6 768 metres) prescribe a range of climates and habitats. Beyond the highlands, where the Altiplano plateau holds lakes such as Titicaca, the terrain descends into the Amazon basin, a forested expanse that covers almost sixty per cent of the territory and nourishes the river system whose principal artery—known globally as the Amazon River—originates within Peruvian borders.

Peru’s waterways divide into three principal basins. Streams coursing west to the Pacific tend to be steep and seasonal; those flowing east into the Amazon increase in volume and length, carving gentle channels once they emerge from the mountains; a smaller set of rivers drains into Lake Titicaca. Among the longest are the Ucayali, Marañón and Huallaga. These rivers, together with nearly fifty small coastal basins, furnish the country with about four per cent of the world’s freshwater.

The nation’s climate reflects its varied topography. Coastal areas experience mild temperatures, scant rainfall and high humidity. In the highlands, summer rains fall frequently while temperatures drop with elevation until the permanent snows of the highest summits. The Amazon region endures heavy tropical rainfall and consistently warm conditions, though its southern extremity sees cooler winters and a distinct dry season. Ocean currents—the cold Humboldt and the warm El Niño—further modify local weather patterns, producing microclimates along the coast.

Peru’s human history spans more than twelve millennia. The Caral–Supe culture, flourishing as early as the tenth millennium BCE, represents one of the earliest centres of organized settlement in the Americas. Subsequent societies—such as the Nazca, Wari and Tiwanaku—developed distinctive arts and social systems across the millennia. By the fifteenth century, the Kingdom of Cusco had given rise to the Inca Empire, which at its height extended from present-day Ecuador to central Chile and represented the largest polity in pre-Columbian America.

Spanish forces arrived in the early sixteenth century. Following military campaigns led by Francisco Pizarro, the Spaniards imposed colonial rule and in 1542 established the Viceroyalty of Peru, with Lima as its capital. That city soon became a hub of administration, commerce and higher learning; the National University of San Marcos, founded in 1551, holds the distinction of being the oldest officially recognized university in the Americas.

After nearly three centuries of colonial administration, Peru declared independence on July 28, 1821. Military efforts by figures such as José de San Martín, Simón Bolívar and Bernardo O’Higgins culminated in the Battle of Ayacucho on December 9, 1824, sealing liberation from Spain. The nineteenth century that followed saw periods of political turbulence interspersed with economic booms—most notably the guano trade, which financed infrastructure yet also sowed the seeds of diplomatic conflict that erupted in the War of the Pacific (1879–1884).

The twentieth century brought further fluctuations. Internal strife—marked by confrontations between state forces and armed insurgencies—alternated with phases of growth. In the 1990s, an internal security plan known as Plan Verde facilitated the rise of Alberto Fujimori. His administration, influenced by neoliberal policy frameworks, advanced economic liberalization while governing through exceptional measures alongside adviser Vladimiro Montesinos. The so-called decade of expansion in the 2000s achieved notable reductions in poverty; yet, by the 2010s, structural weaknesses emerged. Political disputes reached a crescendo during the COVID-19 crisis, presaging widespread social unrest from 2022 onward.

Today, Peru functions as a representative democratic republic. Its territory subdivides into twenty-five regions: twenty-four departments plus the Constitutional Province of Callao and the independent Province of Lima. Regional governments, led by elected governors and councils serving four-year terms without immediate reelection, oversee budgets, public investment and development initiatives. Provincial administrations—such as that of Lima—comprise municipal councils headed by mayors. Metropolitan areas, most prominently the urban sprawl of Lima, which ranks seventh among Americas metropolises, overlap multiple districts.

Economic activity rests on mining, manufacturing, agriculture and fishing, while emerging sectors include telecommunications and biotechnology. Under the banner of the Pacific Pumas—a collective of Pacific-coast economies—Peru has recorded sustained macroeconomic stability and openness to international trade. It maintains membership in forums such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, the Pacific Alliance and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. Ranked forty-eighth by purchasing-power parity, with an upper-middle income classification and an HDI around 0.767 in 2024, Peru has reduced extreme poverty yet contends with inequality. Inflation reached 8.6 percent in 2023 and unemployment hovers near four per cent.

Transport infrastructure spans a road network of approximately 175 589 kilometres, of which roughly twenty-nine thousand are paved. Major arteries—the Pan American and the Interoceanic highways—link the coast to interior regions and neighbouring countries. Railways remain limited, totalling under two thousand kilometres. International travel relies on airports in Lima, Cusco and Arequipa. Jorge Chávez International Airport is expanding its runway, terminal and support facilities into an “Airport City” capable of handling forty million passengers annually by late 2024. In the highlands, the new Chinchero International Airport will supersede the Velasco Astete facility in Cusco, offering direct international connections without transit through Lima.

Maritime commerce centres on ports such as Callao, with ongoing development of the Chancay Port Terminal—a joint China-Peru venture projected to become Latin America’s largest. Inland waterways, including the Amazon and lake routes on Titicaca, supplement bulk-cargo and passenger transport.

Tourism represents the country’s third-largest industry after fishing and mining. Visitors show high satisfaction, with studies reporting rates over ninety per cent. Annually, arrivals have grown by around twenty-five per cent over recent years, contributing approximately seven per cent of GDP and generating nearly half-a-million direct jobs. The Commission for the Promotion of Peru for Exports and Tourism oversees policy, while the Marca Perú initiative markets national products across exports, tourism and investment.

Tourist circuits divide broadly into the southern route—linking Lima, Ica, Nazca, Arequipa, Puno, Cusco and the Sacred Valley culminating at Machu Picchu—and the Callejón de Huaylas in Áncash, famed for high-altitude agriculture and emergent mountain-region cuisine. Other excursions explore the Mantaro and Tarma valleys, Trujillo with its adobe citadel of Chan Chan, the spa town of Huanchaco, and jungle gateways such as Iquitos and Puerto Maldonado. Peru hosts fourteen UNESCO World Heritage Sites and eleven national parks, each preserving facets of biodiversity and cultural patrimony.

Demographically, Peru counted about 33.4 million inhabitants by 2022 projections, yielding a density near 26 persons per square kilometre. Coastal dwellers make up nearly sixty per cent of the populace, with twenty-seven per cent in mountainous areas and fourteen per cent in the jungle. Urbanisation has risen steadily; by 2020, eighty per cent lived in cities. Growth rates declined from 2.6 percent in 1950 to approximately 1.1 percent today, forecasting a population near forty-two million by mid-century. Ethnic composition reflects centuries of interchange among Amerindian, European, African and Asian lineages. Spanish serves as the predominant language, though Quechua, Aymara and other Indigenous tongues remain vital in many communities.

Peruvian cultural expression draws on millennia of craft and art. Pre-Inca ceramics, textiles and metallurgy set technical standards that the Inca refined through monumental architecture, notably the terraces and stonework of Machu Picchu. Colonial rule introduced Baroque aesthetics, evident in Andean churches and the paintings of the Cusco School. Artistic innovation slowed after independence but reemerged in the twentieth century with the Indigenismo movement and subsequent plural currents blending global and local influences.

Cuisine embodies the convergence of geographies and peoples. Staples include an array of indigenous tubers—over three thousand varieties of potato—alongside maize, quinoa, rice and legumes. Spanish, African, Chinese, Japanese and other immigrant traditions merged with native practices to yield dishes such as anticuchos, ceviche and pachamanca. Lima’s Central Restaurante, under Chef Gastón Acurio, exemplifies the national kitchen by presenting seasonal ingredients from the coast, highlands and jungle in thoughtfully composed menus.

Peru presents a complex interplay of environment, history and culture. Its shores, mountains and forests remain arenas of exploration for scholars, visitors and enterprises alike. Amid persistent challenges of inequality and governance, the nation’s layered heritage and resource base continue to inform its trajectory.