General Information

Surface Area
With an area of 1.285.216 km², Peru is the third-largest country in South America after Brazil and Argentina, ranking it amongst the world's 20 largest nations.

Population

• Population 27.000.000 inhabitants.
• Urban: 72,3 %.
• Rural: 27,7 %.

Peru also owns an area of up to 200 miles over the sea from its coast. The country also owns the rights of an area of 60 millions hectares of the Antarctic. Peru is divided in 24 departments. Lima is its capital.

Throughout its history, Peru have been the meeting point of a lot of different cultures and ethnic groups. 500 years ago, the Spaniards were mixed with the native population. From this encounter and by the migration of africans, asians and europeans, emerged the peruvian man, representing a nation which ethnical diversity is part of its most important caracteristics.

Language

• Language - Spanish: 80,3%.
• Quechua: 16,2%.
• Other languages: 3,0%.
• Foreign languages: 2%.

A lot of native languages are spoker within Peru which is part of its rich cultural heritage. Even though spanish is the most commonly used, the quechua remains an important part of the Inca’s heritage and it is still spoken in many regions of the country with slight variations according to the area.

There are also other dialects lie the aymara (spoken in Puno) and a wide variety of families of amazonian languages divided in up to 15 linguistic families and 43 different languages

Currency
The Nuevo Sol is the official currency of Peru. There are coins of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 50 cents, as well as 1, 2 and 5 soles. There are also bills of 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 Nuevo Soles

Politics
Peru is a democratic country. The leaders of the country are elected every 5 fives by universal suffrage. Alan Garcia is the current president of the country.

Religion

Religión Roman Catholic: 89,03%
Evangelical: 6,73%
Other religions: 2,56%
Any Religion: 1.65%

Peru is a traditionnally a faithful country. The diversity of beliefs and freedom of cults can be seen through the wide variety of festivals and fiestas that feature the catholic fervor inherited by the Spaniards as well as the mysticism of the the pre hispanic culture.