Peru

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Peru

General Information
Geography
Government
Economy
Population
Health
Communications and media
Chronology


GENERAL INFORMATION

National name República del Perú/Republic of Peru Area 1,285,200 sq km/496,216 sq mi Capital Lima Language Spanish, Quechua (both official), Aymara, many indigenous dialects Religion Roman Catholic (state religion) 95% Time difference GMT -5 Major holidays 1 January, 1 May, 29–30 June, 28 July (2 days), 30 August, 8 October, 1 November, 8, 25, 31 December; variable: Good Friday, Holy Thursday


GEOGRAPHY

Major towns/cities Arequipa, Iquitos, Chiclayo, Trujillo, Huancayo, Piura, Chimbote Major ports Callao, Chimbote, Salaverry Physical features Andes mountains running northwest–southeast cover 27% of Peru, separating Amazon river-basin jungle in northeast from coastal plain in west; desert along coast north–south (Atacama Desert); Lake Titicaca Airports five major international airports and over 250 other airports; total passengers carried: 2.2 million (2003 est) Railways total length: 2,123 km/1,319 mi; Roads total road network: 78,672 km/48,884 mi, of which 13.1% paved (2003 est); passenger cars: 46.3 per 1,000 people (2003 est)


GOVERNMENT

Head of state Alan Garcia from 2006 Head of government Jorge del Castillo from 2006 Political system liberal democracy Political executive limited presidency Administrative divisions 24 departments and the constitutional province of Callao Political parties American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA), moderate, left wing; United Left (IU), left wing; Change 90 (Cambio 90), centrist; New Majority (Nueva Mayoria), centrist; Popular Christian Party (PPC), right of centre; Liberal Party (PL), right wing Death penalty abolished for ordinary crimes in 1979; laws provide for the death penalty for exceptional crimes, such as crimes committed in wartime Armed forces 80,000; plus 188,000 reservists and paramilitary forces of 77,000 (2006 est) Conscription conscription is selective for two years Defence spend (% GDP) 1.4 (2005 est) Education spend (% GDP) 3 (2003 est) Health spend (% GDP) 2.1 (2004)


ECONOMY

Currency nuevo sol GDP (US$) 78.4 billion (2005 est) Real GDP growth (% change on previous year) 6 (2006 est) GNI (US$) 73 billion (2005 est) GNI per capita (PPP) (US$) 5,830 (2005 est) Consumer price inflation 2.4% (2006 est) Unemployment 11% (2004 est) Labour force 0.7% agriculture, 23.8% industry, 75.5% services (2005) Foreign debt (US$) 30.2 billion (2005 est) Major trading partners USA, China, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Ecuador Resources lead, copper, iron, silver, zinc (world's fourth-largest producer), petroleum Industries food processing, textiles and clothing, petroleum refining, metals and metal products, chemicals, machinery and transport equipment, beverages, tourism Exports gold, copper, fishmeal, zinc, refined petroleum products. Principal market: USA 31% (2005) Imports machinery and transport equipment, basic foodstuffs, basic manufactures, chemicals, mineral fuels, consumer goods. Principal source: USA 19.9% (2005) Arable land 2.9% (2006 est) Agricultural products potatoes, wheat, seed cotton, coffee, rice, maize, beans, sugar cane; fishing (particularly for South American pilchard and the anchovetta)


POPULATION

Population 28,380,300 (2006 est) Population growth rate 1.4% (2005–10) Population density (per sq km) 22 (2006 est) Urban population (% of total) 75 (2005 est) Age distribution (% of total population) 0–14 32%, 15–59 60%, 60+ 8% (2005 est) Ethnic groups about 50% South American Indian, 40% mestizo, 7% European, and 3% African origin Life expectancy 69 (men); 74 (women) (2005–10) Child mortality rate (under 5, per 1,000 live births) 29 (2004) Education (compulsory years) 11 Literacy rate 91% (men); 80% (women) (2004 est)


HEALTH

Physicians (per 10,000 people) 11.7 (2004 est) Hospital beds (per 1,000 people) 1.4 (2003 est) HIV infection (% of population aged 15–49) 0.6 (2005 est) AIDS deaths 5,600 (2005 est) Access to drinking-water source (% of total population) 87 (urban); 66 (rural) (2002)


COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA

Landline telephones (per 100 people) 8.1 (2005 est) Mobile phone subscribers (per 100 people) 20 (2005 est) Radios (per 1,000 people) 273 (1997) TV sets (per 1,000 people) 199 (2004 est) Personal computer users (per 100 people) 10 (2005 est) Internet users (per 100 people) 16.5 (2005 est)


CHRONOLOGY

4000 BC Evidence of early settled agriculture in Chicama Valley. AD 700–1100 Period of Wari Empire, first expansionist militarized empire in Andes. 1200 Manco Capac became the first emperor of South American Indian Quechua-speaking Incas, who established a growing and sophisticated empire centred on the Andean city of Cuzco, and believed their ruler was descended from the Sun. late 15th century At its zenith, the Inca Empire stretched from Quito in Ecuador to beyond Santiago in southern Chile. It superseded the Chimu civilization, which had flourished in Peru 1250–1470. 1532–33 Incas defeated by Spanish conquistadores, led by Francisco Pizarro. Empire came under Spanish rule, as part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, with capital in Lima, founded in 1535. 1780 Tupac Amaru, who claimed to be descended from the last Inca chieftain, led a failed native revolt against Spanish. 1810 Peru became the headquarters for the Spanish government as European settlers rebelled elsewhere in Spanish America. 1820–22 Fight for liberation from Spanish rule led by Gen José de San Martín and Army of Andes which, after freeing Argentina and Chile, invaded southern Peru. 1824 Became last colony in Central and South America to achieve independence from Spain after attacks from north by Field Marshal Sucre, acting for freedom fighter Simón Bolívar. 1836–39 Failed attempts at union with Bolivia. 1849–74 Around 80,000–100,000 Chinese labourers arrived in Peru to fill menial jobs such as collecting guano. 1866 Victorious naval war fought with Spain. 1879–83 Pacific War fought in alliance with Bolivia and Chile over nitrate fields of the Atacama Desert in the south; three provinces along coastal south lost to Chile. 1902 Boundary dispute with Bolivia settled. mid–1920s After several decades of civilian government, a series of right-wing dictatorships held power. 1927 Boundary dispute with Colombia settled. 1929 Tacna province, lost to Chile in 1880, was returned. 1941 Brief war with Ecuador secured Amazonian territory. 1945 Civilian government, dominated by left-of-centre American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA, formed 1924), came to power after free elections. 1948 Army coup installed military government led by Gen Manuel Odría, who remained in power until 1956. 1963 Return to civilian rule, with centrist Fernando Belaúnde Terry as president. 1968 Return of military government in bloodless coup by Gen Juan Velasco Alvarado, following industrial unrest. Populist land reform programme introduced. 1980 Return to civilian rule, with Fernando Belaúnde as president; agrarian and industrial reforms pursued. Sendero Luminoso (‘Shining Path’) Maoist guerrilla group active. 1981 Boundary dispute with Ecuador renewed. 1985 Belaúnde succeeded by Social Democrat Alan García Pérez, who launched campaign to remove military and police ‘old guard’. 1988 García pressured to seek help from International Monetary Fund (IMF) as economy deteriorated. Sendero Luminoso increased campaign of violence. 1990 Right-of-centre Alberto Fujimori defeated ex-communist writer Vargas Llosa in presidential elections. Inflation rose to 400%; privatization programme launched. 1992 Fujimori allied himself with army and suspended constitution, provoking international criticism. Sendero Luminoso leader arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. New single-chamber legislature elected. 1993 New constitution adopted. 1994 6,000 Sendero Luminoso guerrillas surrendered. 1995 Border dispute with Ecuador resolved after armed clashes. Fujimori re-elected. Controversial amnesty granted to those convicted of human-rights abuses. 1996 Hostages held in Japanese embassy by Marxist Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) guerrillas. 1997 Hostage siege ended. 1998 157-year-old border dispute with Ecuador settled. 1999 Alberto Bustamante became prime minister. 2000 Fujimori re-elected as president for third term. Head of national intelligence service, Vladimiro Montesinos, was proved to have bribed member of congress; he tried to flee the country, but was arrested in Peru on charges of corruption and abusing human rights (sentenced 2002–04 to four prison terms totalling 37 years). Fujimori sent his resignation from Japan, from where he could not be extradited, and Valentin Paniagua became president. 2001 Paniagua set up commission to investigate disappearance of 4,000 people during fighting in 1980s and 1990s. Centre-left economist Alejandro Toledo elected president, first president of native origin. International arrest warrant for former president Fujimori issued by Supreme Court judge. 2002 After visit by US president Bush, nine people killed in bomb blast near US embassy in Lima. 2002–05 Truth and Reconciliation Commission began public hearings. Commission's inquiry into atrocities committed during 20-year civil war concluded an estimated 69,280 people had been killed. Government began compensating guerrilla war victims. 2004 Major gas pipeline project connecting jungle gas field with Lima inaugurated. 2005 President Toledo found guilty of fraud; Congress voted against impeachment. Fujimori arrested in Chile, pending extradition proceedings. Peru agreed on free trade with USA after nearly 18 months of negotiations. 2006 Eight police officers killed by suspected Sendero Luminoso guerrillas, prompting declaration of state of emergency in six provinces. Former president Alan Garcia won presidential elections. Abimael Guzman, former Sendero Luminoso rebel leader, given life sentence 2007 President Garcia was granted emergency powers, allowing him to govern by decree with regard to organized crime and drug trafficking. Earthquake hit coastal areas, killing hundreds.


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