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Portal:Peru

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Introduction

The Peru Portal
The Peru Portal
Republic of Peru
República del Perú (Spanish)
Location of Peru
CapitalLima
12°2.6′S 77°1.7′W / 12.0433°S 77.0283°W / -12.0433; -77.0283
ISO 3166 codePE

Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered to the north by Ecuador and Colombia, to the east by Brazil, to the southeast by Bolivia, to the south by Chile, and to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean. Peru is a megadiverse country, with habitats ranging from the arid plains of the Pacific coastal region in the west, to the peaks of the Andes mountains extending from the north to the southeast of the country, to the tropical Amazon basin rainforest in the east with the Amazon River. Peru has a population of over 32 million, and its capital and largest city is Lima. At 1,285,216 km2 (496,225 sq mi), Peru is the 19th largest country in the world, and the third largest in South America.

Peruvian territory was home to several cultures during the ancient and medieval periods, and has one of the longest histories of civilization of any country, tracing its heritage back to the 10th millennium BCE Caral–Supe civilization, the earliest civilization in the Americas and considered one of the cradles of civilization. Notable succeeding cultures and civilizations include the Nazca culture, the Moche, Wari and Tiwanaku empires, the Kingdom of Cusco, and the Inca Empire, the largest known state in the pre-Columbian Americas. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and Charles V established a viceroyalty with the official name of the Kingdom of Peru that encompassed most of its South American territories, with its capital in Lima. Higher education started in the Americas with the official establishment of the National University of San Marcos in Lima in 1551.

Peru's population includes Mestizos, Amerindians, White people, Afro-descedant people, and Asian people. The main spoken language is Spanish, although a significant number of Peruvians speak Quechuan languages, Aymara, or other Indigenous languages. This mixture of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide diversity of expressions in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music. Peru has recently gained international recognition for its vibrant gastronomy, blending Indigenous, Spanish, African, and Asian influences. Lima is now considered a global culinary capital, home to award-winning restaurants like Central and Maido. (Full article...)

Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

The departments of Peru (Spanish: departamentos), informally called regions (Spanish: regiones), are the first-level administrative subdivisions of the country. According to the Organic Law of Regional Governments, each department is administered by a regional government and a legislature responsible for administration, economic planning, and public services. These governments operate with autonomy while still coordinating with national authorities. Each department is led by a regional governor, who is elected by popular vote for a four-year term, and is responsible for implementing regional policies, managing budgets, and overseeing infrastructure projects. The governor is supported by a regional legislative council, composed of elected representatives from different provinces within the department. This council approves budgets, monitors public investments, and ensures government accountability.

There are 24 departments in total, as well as two provinces that operate under a special regime: Callao and Lima. The former does not belong to any department since 1836, but is nevertheless administered by a regional government of its own. The latter is administered by the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima, which is equal in status to a regional government. (Full article...)

Selected image

Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu
Photo credit: Allard Schmidt

Machu Picchu (Quechua: Machu Pikchu "Old Peak") is a pre-Columbian Inca city located at 2,430 m (7,970 ft) altitude on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru, about 70 km (44 mi) northwest of Cusco. It was built around the year 1450 and abandoned a hundred years later, at the time of the Spanish conquest of Peru. Forgotten for centuries the site was brought to worldwide attention in 1911 by Hiram Bingham. Since then, it has become an important tourist attraction; it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983. (more...)

Selected battle

Naval battle of Angamos

The Battle of Angamos (8 October 1879) was an important struggle in the War of the Pacific, where the Peruvian ironclad Huáscar was surrounded and captured by the Chilean Navy. The captain of the ironclad, Peruvian Admiral Miguel Grau, was killed in the combat. After this battle, the Peruvian Navy was unable to prevent the invasion of its territorial sea. The seas were cleared for the invasion of Peru and Bolivia. (more...)

In this month

  • October  2, 1996 - Flight Aeroperú 603 crashes off the coast of Lima killing all crew members and passengers on board.

General images

The following are images from various Peru-related articles on Wikipedia.

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Humala in 2016

Ollanta Moisés Humala Tasso (born 27 June 1962) is a Peruvian former military officer and politician who served as president of Peru from 2011 to 2016. A leftist, he founded the Peruvian Nationalist Party, but shifted towards neoliberalism and the political centre during his presidency.

Born to a prominent political family affiliated with the ethnocacerist movement, Humala is the son of Quechua labour lawyer Isaac Humala. He entered the Peruvian Army in 1981, eventually achieving the rank of lieutenant colonel. During his time in the military, he fought in the internal conflict against left-wing terrorist group Shining Path as well as in the Cenepa War with neighboring Ecuador. In October 2000, Humala attempted an unsuccessful coup d'etat against President Alberto Fujimori during the final days of his regime; eventually, the Congress of the Republic of Peru granted him amnesty and he was allowed to return to military duty. (Full article...)

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Javier Pérez de Cuéllar

Peruvian diplomat Javier Pérez de Cuéllar 1920–...

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Peru Topics

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