PERU

Surface Area
Geography
Population
Main Cities
Climate
Language
Religion
Economy
Gastronomy
Currency
Local Time
Current and Voltage

 

SURFACE AREA
Peru is located on the central west coast of South America, with a surface area of 1,285,215 sq km. It is the third largest country in South America.

GEOGRAPHY
Peru possesses an enormous multiplicity of landscapes, which gives the country a great diversity of natural resources. The country is divided into three main geographic regions, divided regionally from north to south. The Coast comprises 10% and the Andes 29%. More than 60% of the country lies on the eastern side of the Andes Mountain Range, in the Amazon jungle.

POPULATION
Peru has a population of 28,220,764 inhabitants (according to census in November, 2007). Over half of Peru’s 28 million inhabitants, are concentrated in the coastal desert, mainly in the city of Lima. The remaining half live in the highlands and Amazon. About 45% of the population is Amerindian (indigenous from Peru), 37% is Mestizo (mixed race), 15% Caucasian (European), 2% Afro-Peruvian and 1% Chinese-Japanese descent. Density   21,958 (2007) people/km² 

MAIN CITIES
Lima
Arequipa
 Trujillo
Chiclayo
Cuzco

CLIMATE
Peru does not have an exclusively tropical climate as is commonly thought. Because it is situated near Ecuador; the influence of the Andes and Humboldt's cold water currents determine a great climatic diversity to the Peruvian territory. The coast has moderate temperatures, low rainfalls and high dampness, with the exception of the hotter and wetter north coastal region. In the highlands, it frequently rains from November to April, whereas the temperature and dampness diminish with the increased elevation of the Andes Mountains. The jungle is characterized by heavy rains and high temperatures

LANGUAGE
The official languages of Peru are Spanish and Quechua (the language spoken principally in the highlands by most indigenous people). Aymara is not an official language and is spoken in the southern Altiplano region of the Peruvian Andes, where Lake Titicaca is located. There are also more than 40 official dialects spoken in the region of the Amazonia, including the Machiguenga, Shipibo, and the Ashaninka.

RELIGION 
The official religion of Peru is Catholicism. More than 80% of Peruvians are declared Roman Catholics, although less than 20% practice other religions or do not practice any religion. Peru celebrates many religious festivities throughout the year. These occur in different cities throughout Peru. One of the most prominent religious manifestations is the Procession of the Lord of the Miracles (Lima), which is considered by many to be one of the most multitudinous faith manifestations in the world. Peru is a Catholic country, but Peruvians are free to practice one or more religions simultaneously, and generally, religious preferences change due to the geographic location of the populations. This is reflected mainly in the Andes and in the jungle where the people may adore Mother Earth (Pacha Mama) and the Mountains (Apus) in addition to or instead of Catholicism.

ECONOMY
Peru is a developing country that is in a stage of economic growth. In April, 2008, the increase of the Interior Brute Product of this country was 13.25 percent. According to the America Economy and the International Monetary Fund, in 2008 Peru had the second lowest inflation in the world (after France). It, therefore, has one of the most solid economies in South America. Peru’s main exports are relative to mining industries. Peru is the second largest producer of silver, fourth largest producer of copper, zinc and lead, and fifth largest producer of gold. Additionally, Peru possesses large deposits of iron, tin, manganese, oil and natural gas. In agro-industry, Peru is the largest producer of fish meal, asparagus, and paprika, the second largest producer of artichokes and the sixth largest producer of coffee. In addition, Peru is the largest producer of Alpaca wool and the most important Latin American exporter of cotton textile articles. In the framework of a new world economy, the Asian-Pacific area will be an investment of economic growth that in conjunction with Peruvian comparative advantages will be a pole of development to attract investments.

Export-Import:
The main exported goods are copper, gold, zinc, textiles, and fishing consuming products. Peru´s principal commerce partners are the United States, China, Brazil and Chile. MINCETUR (the Ministry of Foreign Commerce and Tourism) lead the international commerce negotiations in the framework of its government´s macroeconomics and the principals of the World Trade Organization of which Peru is a constitutive member. In this sense, MINCETUR centers its trading analysis efforts and international commerce tendencies to obtain better conditions to access international markets, to maximize Peru benefits in the outline of integration, to promote investments with the promotion of the international commerce.

GATRONOMY
Peru´s gastronomic diversity is demonstrated in the fact that, according to experts, there is such a wide range of traditional dishes (491).  This is the equivalent of French, Chinese or Indian cuisine. With Peruvian food you can find at least 5000 years of pre-Inca, Inca, colonial and republican history. Almost three centuries of influence is apparent by 762 years of Muslim presence in the Iberian Peninsula, gastronomic customs and traditions brought by slaves from the African Atlantic coast and the influence and tradition of French chefs who escaped from the revolution to live, in a large number, in Peru´s vice regal capital. Equally important is the influence by the Cantonese Chinese, Japanese, Italians from 1900 and other European immigrants (who arrived in Peru between 1400 and 2000). As an exclusive aspect of Peru´s gastronomy, there is food and flavors from four continents in one country. This gastronomy holds various Guinness World Records for its variety, quantity and quality. Peruvian culinary arts are in constant evolution and this, added to its variety of traditional food, makes it impossible to establish a complete list of representative dishes. It is worthy to mention that along the Peruvian coast there are more than 2500 different type of soups. Likewise there are more than 250 traditional desserts.

The great variety of Peruvian gastronomy is based in 3 major sources:

• Peru´s singular geography
• The blend of races and cultures
• The adaptation of millenary cultures to modern cuisine

CURRENCY
The official currency of Peru is the Nuevo Sol (S/.).
Exchange rate currently is: US$ 1.00 = 2.70 Soles

LOCAL TIME
Five hours past Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)

CURRENT AND VOLTAGE
Electrical current in Peru runs at 220 volts, 60 cycles AC. Most five star hotels have 110 volt sockets in the rooms, although you may want to bring a travel electric adapter. It is recommended to bring an electric adapter to change flat- pronged plugs to round-pronged plugs.