Ancient Peru was the seat of several prominent Andean civilizations, most notably that of the Incas whose empire was captured by the Spanish conquistadors in 1533. Peruvian independence was declared in 1821, and remaining Spanish forces were defeated in 1824. After a dozen years of military rule, Peru returned to democratic leadership in 1980, but experienced economic problems and the growth of a violent insurgency. President Alberto FUJIMORI's election in 1990 ushered in a decade that saw a dramatic turnaround in the economy and significant progress in curtailing guerrilla activity. Nevertheless, the president's increasing reliance on authoritarian measures and an economic slump in the late 1990s generated mounting dissatisfaction with his regime, which led to his ouster in 2000. A caretaker government oversaw new elections in the spring of 2001, which ushered in Alejandro TOLEDO Manrique as the new head of government - Peru's first democratically elected president of indigenous Quechuan ethnicity. The presidential election of 2006 saw the return of Alan GARCIA Perez who, after a disappointing presidential term from 1985 to 1990, has overseen a robust macroeconomic performance. In June 2011, former army officer Ollanta HUMALA Tasso was elected president, defeating Keiko FUJIMORI Higuchi, the daughter of Alberto FUJIMORI. Since his election, HUMALA has carried on the sound, market-oriented economic policies of the three preceeding administrations.

Western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Chile and Ecuador

10 00 S, 76 00 W

South America

slightly smaller than Alaska

2,414 km

varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west; temperate to frigid in Andes

western coastal plain (costa), high and rugged Andes in center (sierra), eastern lowland jungle of Amazon Basin (selva)

copper, silver, gold, petroleum, timber, fish, iron ore, coal, phosphate, potash, hydropower, natural gas

11,950 sq km (2003)

1,913 cu km (2000)

earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, landslides, mild volcanic activity

deforestation (some the result of illegal logging); overgrazing of the slopes of the costa and sierra leading to soil erosion; desertification; air pollution in Lima; pollution of rivers and coastal waters from municipal and mining wastes

shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake, with Bolivia; a remote slope of Nevado Mismi, a 5,316 m peak, is the ultimate source of the Amazon River

Amerindian 45%, mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 37%, white 15%, black, Japanese, Chinese, and other 3%

Spanish (official) 84.1%, Quechua (official) 13%, Aymara (official) 1.7%, Ashaninka 0.3%, other native languages (includes a large number of minor Amazonian languages) 0.7%, other 0.2% (2007 Census)

Roman Catholic 81.3%, Evangelical 12.5%, other 3.3%, unspecified or none 2.9% (2007 Census)

Peru's urban and coastal communities have benefited much more from recent economic growth than rural, Afro-Peruvian, indigenous, and poor populations of the Amazon and mountain regions. The poverty rate has dropped substantially during the last decade but remains stubbornly high at about 30% (more than 55% in rural areas). After remaining almost static for about a decade, Peru's malnutrition rate began falling in 2005, when the government introduced a coordinated strategy focusing on hygiene, sanitation, and clean water. School enrollment has improved, but achievement scores reflect ongoing problems with educational quality. Many poor children temporarily or permanently drop out of school to help support their families. About a quarter to a third of Peruvian children aged 6 to 14 work, often putting in long hours at hazardous mining or construction sites.

Peru was a country of immigration in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but has become a country of emigration in the last few decades. Beginning in the 19th century, Peru brought in Asian contract laborers mainly to work on coastal plantations. Populations of Chinese and Japanese descent - among the largest in Latin America - are economically and culturally influential in Peru today. Peruvian emigration began rising in the 1980s due to an economic crisis and a violent internal conflict, but outflows have stabilized in the last few years as economic conditions have improved. Nonetheless, more than 2 million Peruvians have emigrated in the last decade, principally to the US, Spain, and Argentina.

29,549,517 (July 2012 est.)

1.016% (2012 est.)

19.13 births/1,000 population (2012 est.)

5.95 deaths/1,000 population (July 2012 est.)

-3.03 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2012 est.)

LIMA (capital) 8.769 million; Arequipa 778,000 (2009)

67 deaths/100,000 live births (2010)

2.29 children born/woman (2012 est.)

4.6% of GDP (2009)

0.92 physicians/1,000 population (2009)

1.5 beds/1,000 population (2009)

urban: 81% of population

rural: 36% of population

total: 68% of population

urban: 19% of population

rural: 64% of population

total: 32% of population

0.4% (2009 est.)

75,000 (2009 est.)

5,000 (2009 est.)

16.3% (2000)

5.4% (2005)

2.7% of GDP (2008)

constitutional republic

25 regions (regiones, singular - region) and 1 province* (provincia); Amazonas, Ancash, Apurimac, Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Callao, Cusco, Huancavelica, Huanuco, Ica, Junin, La Libertad, Lambayeque, Lima, Lima*, Loreto, Madre de Dios, Moquegua, Pasco, Piura, Puno, San Martin, Tacna, Tumbes, Ucayali

28 July 1821 (from Spain)

Independence Day, 28 July (1821)

29 December 1993

civil law system

accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

18 years of age; universal and compulsory until the age of 70

unicameral Congress of the Republic of Peru or Congreso de la Republica del Peru (130 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)

Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (judges are appointed by the National Council of the Judiciary)

Alliance for Great Change (Alianza por el Gran Cambio) (a coalition of the Alliance for Progress, Humanist Party, National Restoration Party, and Popular Christian Party) [Pedro Pablo KUCZYNSKI]; Fuerza 2011 [Keiko FUJIMORI]; Gana Peru (a coalition of Lima Para Todos, Peruvian Communist Party, Peruvian Nationalist Party, and Peruvian Socialist Party) [Ollanta HUMALA Tasso]; National Solidarity (Solidaridad Nacional) or SN (a coalition of Cambio 90, Siempre Unidos, Todos por el Peru, and Union for Peru or UPP) [Luis CASTANEDA Lossio]; Peru Posible or PP (a coalition of Accion Popular and Somos Peru) [Alejandro TOLEDO Manrique]; Peruvian Aprista Party (Partido Aprista Peruano) or PAP [Alan GARCIA Perez] (also referred to by its original name Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana or APRA)

General Workers Confederation of Peru (Confederacion General de Trabajadores del Peru) or CGTP [Mario HUAMAN]; Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) or SL [Abimael GUZMAN Reynoso (imprisoned), Victor QUISPE Palomino (top leader at-large)] (leftist guerrilla group)

APEC, BIS, CAN, CD, CELAC, EITI (compliant country), FAO, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC (NGOs), ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC (NGOs), LAES, LAIA, Mercosur (associate), MIGA, MINURSO, MINUSTAH, MONUSCO, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, SICA (observer), UN, UNASUR, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, Union Latina, UNISFA, UNMIL, UNMISS, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU (NGOs), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO

three equal, vertical bands of red (hoist side), white, and red with the coat of arms centered in the white band; the coat of arms features a shield bearing a vicuna (representing fauna), a cinchona tree (the source of quinine, signifying flora), and a yellow cornucopia spilling out coins (denoting mineral wealth); red recalls blood shed for independence, white symbolizes peace

vicuna (a camelid related to the llama)

Peru's economy reflects its varied geography - an arid lowland coastal region, the central high sierra of the Andes, the dense forest of the Amazon, with tropical lands bordering Colombia and Brazil. A wide range of important mineral resources are found in the mountainous and coastal areas, and Peru's coastal waters provide excellent fishing grounds. The Peruvian economy has been growing by an average of 6.4% per year since 2002 with a stable/slightly appreciating exchange rate and low inflation, which in 2013 is expected to be below the Central Bank target of 3 percent. Growth has been in the 6-9% range for the last three years, due partly to a leap in private investment, especially in the extractive sector, which accounts for more than 60% of Peru's total exports. Despite Peru's strong macroeconomic performance, dependence on minerals and metals exports and imported foodstuffs subjects the economy to fluctuations in world prices. Poor infrastructure hinders the spread of growth to Peru's non-coastal areas. Peru's rapid expansion coupled with cash transfers and other programs have helped to reduce the national poverty rate by 23 percentage points since 2002, but inequality persists and continues to pose a challenge for the new Ollanta HUMALA administration, which has championed a policy of social inclusion and a more equitable distribution of income. Peru's free trade policy has continued under the HUMALA administration; since 2006, Peru has signed trade deals with the US, Canada, Singapore, China, Korea, Mexico, and Japan, concluded negotiations with the European Free Trade Association and Chile, and begun trade talks with Central American countries and others. Peru also has signed a trade pact with Chile, Colombia, and Mexico called the Pacific Alliance that rivals Mercosur in combined population, GDP, and trade. The US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement entered into force 1 February 2009, opening the way to greater trade and investment between the two economies. Trade agreements with South Korea, Japan, and Mexico also were signed in 2011. Although Peru has continued to attract foreign investment, political disputes and protests may impede development of some projects related to natural resource extraction.

$325.4 billion (2012 est.)

$306.9 billion (2011 est.)

$287 billion (2010 est.)

$200.3 billion (2012 est.)

6% (2012 est.)

6.9% (2011 est.)

8.8% (2010 est.)

$10,700 (2012 est.)

$10,200 (2011 est.)

$9,700 (2010 est.)

15.9 million

7.7% (2012 est.)

7.9% (2011 est.)

31.3% (2010 est.)

46 (2010)

51 (2005)

25.4% of GDP (2012 est.)

29% of GDP (2012 est.)

0.9% of GDP (2012 est.)

18.3% of GDP (2012 est.)

19.9% of GDP (2011 est.)

3.6% (2012 est.)

3.4% (2011 est.)

5.05% (31 December 2011)

3.8% (31 December 2010)

19.7% (31 December 2012 est.)

18.69% (31 December 2011 est.)

$27.64 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$25.35 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$73.97 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$64.6 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$37.63 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$33.37 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$121.6 billion (31 December 2011)

$160.9 billion (31 December 2010)

$107.3 billion (31 December 2009)

asparagus, coffee, cocoa, cotton, sugarcane, rice, potatoes, corn, plantains, grapes, oranges, pineapples, guavas, bananas, apples, lemons, pears, coca, tomatoes, mangoes, barley, medicinal plants, palm oil, marigold, onion, wheat, dry beans; poultry, beef, pork, dairy products; guinea pigs; fish

5% (2011 est.)

-$4.856 billion (2012 est.)

-$2.267 billion (2011 est.)

$47.38 billion (2012 est.)

$46.27 billion (2011 est.)

copper, gold, lead, zinc, tin, iron ore, molybdenum, silver; crude petroleum and petroleum products, natural gas; coffee, asparagus and other vegetables, fruit, apparel and textiles, fishmeal, fish, chemicals, fabricated metal products and machinery, alloys

China 18.3%, US 15.2%, Canada 11.4%, Japan 5.4%, Spain 5.3%, Chile 4.8%, South Korea 4.6%, Germany 4.1% (2011)

$41.15 billion (2012 est.)

$36.97 billion (2011 est.)

petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, plastics, machinery, vehicles, color TV sets, power shovels, front-end loaders, telephones and telecommunication equipment, iron and steel, wheat, corn, soybean products, paper, cotton, vaccines and medicines

US 24.5%, China 13.7%, Brazil 6.7%, Chile 5.9%, Ecuador 4.4%, South Korea 4% (2011)

$61.3 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$48.93 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$38.91 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$37.39 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$59.49 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$49.8 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

$3.597 billion (31 December 2012 est.)

$3.432 billion (31 December 2011 est.)

nuevo sol (PEN) per US dollar -

2.65 (2012 est.)

2.7541 (2011 est.)

2.8251 (2010 est.)

3.0115 (2009)

2.91 (2008)

calendar year

38.7 billion kWh (2011 est.)

34.25 billion kWh (2011 est.)

0 kWh (2011 est.)

6 million kWh (2011 est.)

7.982 million kW (2009 est.)

59% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

41% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

0% of total installed capacity (2009 est.)

152,600 bbl/day (2011 est.)

18,880 bbl/day (2009 est.)

99,590 bbl/day (2009 est.)

586.1 million bbl (1 January 2012 est.)

173,700 bbl/day (2008 est.)

172,600 bbl/day (2011 est.)

60,720 bbl/day (2008 est.)

38,390 bbl/day (2008 est.)

31.12 billion cu m (2011)

5.41 billion cu m (2010 est.)

3.59 billion cu m (2010 est.)

0 cu m (2011)

352.8 billion cu m (1 January 2012 est.)

41.88 million Mt (2010 est.)

3.688 million (2011)

32.461 million (2011)

10 major TV networks of which only one, Television Nacional de Peru, is state-owned; multi-channel cable TV services are available; in excess of 2,000 radio stations including a substantial number of indigenous language stations (2010)

.pe

234,102 (2012)

9.158 million (2009)

191 (2012)

4 (2012)

extra heavy crude 533 km; gas 1,526 km; liquid petroleum gas 679 km; oil 1,033 km; refined products 15 km (2010)

8,808 km (there are 8,600 km of navigable tributaries on the Amazon system and 208 km on Lago Titicaca) (2011)

Callao, Iquitos, Matarani, Paita, Pucallpa, Yurimaguas; note - Iquitos, Pucallpa, and Yurimaguas are on the upper reaches of the Amazon and its tributaries

Peruvian Army (Ejercito Peruano), Peruvian Navy (Marina de Guerra del Peru, MGP (includes naval air, naval infantry, and Coast Guard)), Air Force of Peru (Fuerza Aerea del Peru, FAP) (2010)

18-50 years of age for male and 18-45 years of age for female voluntary military service; no conscription (2012)

1.5% of GDP (2006)

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

until 1996 the world's largest coca leaf producer, Peru is now the world's second largest producer of coca leaf, though it lags far behind Colombia; cultivation of coca in Peru was estimated at 40,000 hectares in 2009, a slight decrease over 2008; second largest producer of cocaine, estimated at 225 metric tons of potential pure cocaine in 2009; finished cocaine is shipped out from Pacific ports to the international drug market; increasing amounts of base and finished cocaine, however, are being moved to Brazil, Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia for use in the Southern Cone or transshipment to Europe and Africa; increasing domestic drug consumption