Peru (country)

I

Introduction

Peru (country), country in west central South America, bordering the Pacific Ocean. Peru is a land of sharp contrasts, of barren deserts and green oases, snowcapped mountains, high bleak plateaus, and deep valleys. The Andes mountains cross the country from northwest to southeast. Beyond the Andes, in the interior of the country, is a thinly settled area covered with dense tropical forests. Lima, situated along the Pacific coast, is the country’s capital and chief commercial center.

Peru was once the center of an extensive South American empire ruled by the Inca. This empire fell to conquerors from Spain in the 16th century. Attracted by the gold and silver mines of the Andes, the Spaniards quickly converted Peru into the seat of their wealth and power in South America. Peru remained a Spanish colony until the early 19th century.

Mining has remained the basis of Peru’s wealth, although agriculture, fishing, and tourism also contribute. Many tourists visit Peru to see the remains of the Inca empire, especially the Inca stronghold at Machu Picchu high in the Andes.

Many of Peru’s people are descended from the Inca or other Native American groups. Quechua, the language of the Inca, and Aymara, a related Indian language, rank with Spanish as official languages of the country. However, sharp class and ethnic divisions that developed during the colonial period persist to this day. In this divided society a wealthy elite of largely Spanish descent has long dominated Peru’s larger population of Native Americans and mestizos—people of mixed European and Native American ancestry.

---

---

II

Land and Resources

Peru is bounded on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil and Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The area of Peru, including several offshore islands, is 1,285,216 sq km (496,225 sq mi). It ranks third in size among South American countries, after Brazil and Argentina, and is three times as large as the state of California. Peru may be divided into three main topographical regions: the coastal plain, the sierra, and the montaña.

The coastal plain is an arid, elongated stretch of land extending the entire length of the country and varying in width from about 65 to 160 km (about 40 to 100 mi). It is a northern extension of the Atacama Desert of Chile. The plain has few adequate harbors. Most of the desert is so dry that only 10 of the 52 rivers draining the Andean slopes to the Pacific Ocean have sufficient volume to maintain their flow across the desert and reach the coast. However, the coast is the economic center of Peru. Most of the nation’s leading commercial and export crops grow in the 40 oases of the region.

Parallel to and lying east of the coastal plain is the sierra, an upland region with towering mountain ranges of the Andes, lofty plateaus, and deep gorges and valleys. The main range is the Cordillera Occidental; other ranges include the Cordillera Oriental, the Cordillera Central, and a number of lesser chains. The sierra, which covers some 30 percent of the country’s land area, traverses the country from southeast to northwest and varies in width from about 400 km (about 250 mi) in the south to about 240 km (about 150 mi) in the north; the average height is some 3,660 m (some 12,000 ft).

Several of the highest peaks in the world are located in the various sierran cordilleras and plateaus, notably Huascarán (6,768 m/22,205 ft), the highest in Peru. Lake Titicaca is in the southeast. The rainy eastern slopes of the Andes are deeply carved by rivers into a chaotic maze of sharp crests, canyons 3,000 m (10,000 ft) deep, and V-shaped valleys through which emerge several major tributaries of the Amazon River. This rugged border is the principal barrier to trans-Andean travel. Earthquakes occur in the sierra.

In the northeast the sierra slopes downward to a vast, flat tropical jungle, the selvas, extending to the Brazilian border and forming part of the Amazon Basin. The forested sierran slopes and a somewhat less elevated region are collectively designated the montaña. The montaña attains a maximum width of about 965 km (about 600 mi) in the north and constitutes some 60 percent of the Peruvian land area; it is covered with thick tropical forests in the west and with dense tropical vegetation in the center and east. As a result, the region remains largely unexplored and undeveloped.

A

Rivers and Lakes

Peru has three main drainage systems. One comprises about 50 torrential streams that rise in the sierra and descend steeply to the coastal plain. The second comprises the tributaries of the Amazon River in the montaña region. In the third the principal feature is Lake Titicaca, which drains into Lake Poopó in Bolivia through the Desaguadero River.

The Napo, Tigre, and Pastaza rivers rise in Ecuador and flow into Peru. The latter two streams are tributaries of the Marañón River, and the Napo empties into the Amazon River. The border between Peru and Colombia is delineated by the Putumayo River.

B

Climate

The climate of Peru varies widely, ranging from tropical in the montaña to arctic in the highest mountains of the Andes. Average temperatures decrease about 1.7 Celsius degrees (about 3 Fahrenheit degrees) with every 450-m (1,500-ft) increase in elevation. Permanent snow and ice fields cover peaks more than 5,000 m (16,500 ft) above sea level, and the highest elevation at which the land is suitable for agriculture is about 4,400 m (14,500 ft).

In the coastal plain the temperature is normally equable, averaging about 20°C (about 68°F) throughout the year. The coastal climate is moderated by winds blowing from the cool offshore current known as the Peru, or Humboldt, Current. The coast receives less than 50 mm (2 in) of precipitation each year, largely because the cordilleras receive most of the rain carried by the trade winds from the east. Mist-laden clouds known as garúa shroud many of the slopes of the sierra from June to October, providing enough moisture to support grasslands.

In the sierra the temperature ranges seasonally from about -7° to 21°C (about 20° to 70°F). Rainfall is usually scanty, but in some localities heavy rains fall from October to April. In Cuzco, in the southeastern sierra, annual rainfall averages some 815 mm (32 in). The exposed eastern slopes of the Andes receive more than 2,500 mm (100 in) of rain annually, but sheltered locations receive much less. Rainfall amounts diminish rapidly southward, causing many changes in the vegetation.

The montaña region is extremely hot and humid, although at higher elevations it is less so. The prevailing easterly winds blowing across that region gather moisture that is later deposited on the eastern Andean slopes. Annual rainfall in some districts averages as much as 3,810 mm (150 in). Most of this rain, which principally falls from November through April, eventually drains back to the montaña.

Peru’s climate periodically experiences a weather pattern known as El Niño. El Niño occurs every three to seven years when unusually warm ocean conditions appear along the western coast. During El Niño the wet weather conditions normally present in the western Pacific move to the east, bringing heavy rains that can cause extensive flooding.

	More from Encarta
	•  Important Notice: MSN Encarta to be discontinued. Learn more. •  Presidential Myths Quiz •  Coffee break: Recharge your brain