Peru
Peru | Facts & Information
Facts & Figures
Official name: Republic of Peru (República del Perú)
Land area: 494,208 sq mi (1,279,999 sq km)
Total area: 496,223 sq mi (1,285,220 sq km)
Prime Minister: Mercedes Aráoz (Since 2017)
President: Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (Since 2016)
Capital: Lima, 9.752 million (2015 est.)
Other large city: Arequipa, 804,000
Currency: Nuevo sol
National Holiday: Fiestas Patrias (7/28 and 7/29)
Population: 31,036,656 (July 2017 est.)
Population Change: Growth rate: 0.95%; 17.8 births/1,000 population, 6.1 deaths/1,000 population, -2.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population; infant mortality rate: 18.4 deaths/1,000 live births (2017 est.)
Life Expectancy: 74 years
Nationality/Demonym: Peruvian (Peruano/a)
Languages: Spanish 84.1%, Quéchua 13%; Aymara 1.7% (all three official); many minor Amazonian languages
Ethnicity/race: Amerindian 45%, mestizo 37%, white 15%, black, Japanese, Chinese, and other 3% (2007 est.)
Religions: Roman Catholic 81.3%, Evangelical 12.5%, other 3.3%, unspecified or none 2.9% (2007 est.)
Literacy rate: 94.2% (2016 est.)
Geography
Peru, in western South America, extends for nearly 1,500 mi (2,414 km) along the Pacific Ocean. Colombia and Ecuador are to the north, Brazil and Bolivia to the east, and Chile to the south. Five-sixths the size of Alaska, Peru is divided by the Andes Mountains into three sharply differentiated zones. To the west is the coastline, much of it arid, extending 50 to 100 mi (80 to 160 km) inland. The mountain area, with peaks over 20,000 ft (6,096 m), lofty plateaus, and deep valleys, lies centrally. Beyond the mountains to the east is the heavily forested slope leading to the Amazonian plains.
Peru shares borders with five neighboring countries. In order of shared border length, these are: Bolivia (900 km), Brazil (1,560 km), Chile (160 km), Colombia (1,496 km), and Ecuador (1,420 km).
Government
Constitutional Republic
International Affairs:
International Disputes: Chile and Ecuador rejected Peru’s November 2005 unilateral legislation to shift the axis of their joint treaty-defined maritime boundaries along the parallels of latitude to equidistance lines which favor Peru; organized illegal narcotics operations in Colombia have penetrated Peru’s shared border; Peru rejects Bolivia’s claim to restore maritime access through a sovereign corridor through Chile along the Peruvian border.