"text":"Ancient Peru was the seat of several prominent Andean civilizations, most notably that of the Incas whose empire was captured by Spanish conquistadors in 1533. Peru declared its independence 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 resignation in 2000. A caretaker government oversaw a new election in the spring of 2001, which installed Alejandro TOLEDO Manrique as the new head of government - Peru's first democratically elected president of indigenous ethnicity. The presidential election of 2006 saw the return of Alan GARCIA Perez who, after a disappointing presidential term from 1985 to 1990, oversaw a robust economic rebound. Former army officer Ollanta HUMALA Tasso was elected president in June 2011, and carried on the sound, market-oriented economic policies of the three preceding administrations. Poverty and unemployment levels have fallen dramatically in the last decade, and today Peru boasts one of the best performing economies in Latin America. Pedro Pablo KUCZYNSKI Godard won a very narrow presidential runoff election in June 2016. Facing impeachment after evidence surfaced of his involvement in a vote-buying scandal, President KUCZYNSKI offered his resignation on 21 March 2018. Two days later, First Vice President Martin Alberto VIZCARRA Cornejo was sworn in as president. On 30 September 2019, President VIZCARRA invoked his constitutional authority to dissolve Peru's Congress after months of battling with the body over anticorruption reforms. New congressional elections took place on 26 January 2020 resulting in the return of an opposition-led legislature. President VIZCARRA was impeached by Congress on 9 November 2020 for a second time and removed from office after being accused of corruption and mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of vacancies in the vice-presidential positions, constitutional succession led to the President of the Peruvian Congress, Manuel MERINO, becoming the next president of Peru. His ascension to office was not well received by the population, and large protests forced his resignation on 15 November 2020. On 17 November, Francisco SAGASTI assumed the position of President of Peru after being appointed President of the Congress the previous day. Jose Pedro CASTILLO Terrones won the second round of presidential elections on 6 June 2021 and was inaugurated on 28 July."
"text":"Amazon river source (shared with Brazil [m]) - 6,400 km<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"approximately one-third of the population resides along the desert coastal belt in the west, with a strong focus on the capital city of Lima; the Andean highlands, or sierra, which is strongly identified with the country's Amerindian population, contains roughly half of the overall population; the eastern slopes of the Andes, and adjoining rainforest, are sparsely populated"
"text":"<p>earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, landslides, mild volcanic activity</p><p><strong>volcanism:</strong> volcanic activity in the Andes Mountains; Ubinas (5,672 m), which last erupted in 2009, is the country's most active volcano; other historically active volcanoes include El Misti, Huaynaputina, Sabancaya, and Yucamane; see note 2 under \"Geography - note\"</p>"
"text":"<p><strong>note 1:</strong> 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</p> <p><strong>note 2:</strong> Peru is one of the countries along the Ring of Fire, a belt of active volcanoes and earthquake epicenters bordering the Pacific Ocean; up to 90% of the world's earthquakes and some 75% of the world's volcanoes occur within the Ring of Fire<br><br><strong>note 3:</strong> on 19 February 1600, Mount Huaynaputina in the southern Peruvian Andes erupted in the largest volcanic explosion in South America in historical times; intermittent eruptions lasted until 5 March 1600 and pumped an estimated 16 to 32 million metric tons of particulates into the atmosphere reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the earth's surface and affecting weather worldwide; over the next two and a half years, millions died around the globe in famines from bitterly cold winters, cool summers, and the loss of crops and animals<br><br><strong>note 4:</strong> the southern regions of Peru and the extreme northwestern part of Bolivia are considered to be the place of origin for the common potato </p>"
"text":"Mestizo (mixed Amerindian and White) 60.2%, Amerindian 25.8%, White 5.9%, African descent 3.6%, other (includes Chinese and Japanese descent) 1.2%, unspecified 3.3% (2017 est.)"
"text":"Spanish (official) 82.9%, Quechua (official) 13.6%, Aymara (official) 1.6%, Ashaninka 0.3%, other native languages (includes a large number of minor Amazonian languages) 0.8%, other (includes foreign languages and sign language) 0.2%, none 0.1%, unspecified 0.7% (2017 est.)"
"text":"<br>La Libreta Informativa del Mundo, la fuente indispensable de información básica. (Spanish)<br><br>The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information."
"text":"<p>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.</p><p>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.</p>"
"text":"approximately one-third of the population resides along the desert coastal belt in the west, with a strong focus on the capital city of Lima; the Andean highlands, or sierra, which is strongly identified with the country's Amerindian population, contains roughly half of the overall population; the eastern slopes of the Andes, and adjoining rainforest, are sparsely populated"
"text":"deforestation (some the result of illegal logging); overgrazing leading to soil erosion; desertification; air pollution in Lima; pollution of rivers and coastal waters from municipal and mining wastes; overfishing"
"text":"Amazon river source (shared with Brazil [m]) - 6,400 km<br><strong>note</strong> – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
"text":"the word \"Lima\" derives from the Spanish pronunciation of \"Limaq,\" the native name for the valley in which the city was founded in 1535; \"limaq\" means \"talker\" in coastal Quechua and referred to an oracle that was situated in the valley but which was eventually destroyed by the Spanish and replaced with a church"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> Callao, the largest port in Peru, is also referred to as a constitutional province, the only province of the Callao region"
"text":"proposed by Congress, by the president of the republic with the approval of the Council of Ministers or by petition of at least 0.3% of voters; passage requires absolute majority approval by the Congress membership, followed by approval in a referendum; a referendum is not required if Congress approves the amendment by greater than two-thirds majority vote in each of two successive sessions; amended many times, last in 2021"
"text":"President Dina Ercilia BOLUARTE Zegarra (since 7 December 2022); First Vice President (vacant); Second Vice President (vacant); note - the president is both chief of state and head of government"
"text":"president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for nonconsecutive terms); election last held on 11 April 2021 with a runoff on 6 June 2021 (next to be held in April 2026)"
"text":"<br><em>2021:</em>Jose Pedro CASTILLO Terrones elected president in second round; percent of vote in first round - Jose Pedro CASTILLO Terrones (Free Peru) 18.9%, Keiko Sofia FUJIMORI Higuchi (Popular Force) 13.4%, Rafael LOPEZ ALIAGA Cazorla (Popular Renewal) 11.8%, Hernando DE SOTO Polar (Social Integration Party) 11.6%, Yonhy LESCANO Ancieta (Popular Action) 9.1%, Veronika MENDOZA Frisch (JP) 7.9%, Cesar ACUNA Peralta (APP) 6%, George FORSYTH Sommer (National Victory) 5.7%, Daniel Belizario URRESTI Elera (We Can Peru) 5.6%, other 10%; percent of vote second round - Jose Pedro CASTILLO Terrones (Free Peru) 50.1%, Keiko Sofia FUJIMORI Higuchi (Popular Force) 49.9%<br><br><em>2016:</em> Pedro Pablo KUCZYNSKI Godard elected president in second round; percent of vote in first round - Keiko FUJIMORI Higuchi (Popular Force) 39.9%, Pedro Pablo KUCZYNSKI Godard (PPK) 21.1%, Veronika MENDOZA (Broad Front) 18.7%, Alfredo BARNECHEA (Popular Action) 7%, Alan GARCIA (APRA) 5.8%, other 7.5%; percent of vote in second round - Pedro Pablo KUCZYNSKI Godard 50.1%, Keiko FUJIMORI Higuchi 49.9%"
"note":"<strong>note 1: </strong>First Vice President Dina Ercilia BOLUARTE Zegarra assumed the office of the president on 7 December 2022 after President Jose Pedro CASTILLO Terrones was impeached and arrested; BOLUARTE is the first woman to become president of Peru <br><br><strong>note 2:</strong> Prime Minister Alberto OTAROLA Penaranda (since 21 December 2022) does not exercise executive power; this power rests with the president"
"text":"unicameral Congress of the Republic of Peru or Congreso de la Republica del Peru (130 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by closed party-list proportional representation vote to serve single 5-year terms)"
},
"elections":{
"text":"last held on 11 April 2021 (next to be held in April 2026)"
"text":"percent of vote by party/coalition - NA; seats by party/coalition - Free Peru 32, Popular Force 24, AP 15, APP 15, Avanza Pais 10, Popular Renewal 9, Democratic Peru 7, We Are Peru 5, We Can Peru 5, JP 5, Purple Party 3; composition - men 78, women 52, percent of women 40%"
"text":"Supreme Court (consists of 16 judges and divided into civil, criminal, and constitutional-social sectors)"
},
"judge selection and term of office":{
"text":"justices proposed by the National Board of Justice (a 7-member independent body), nominated by the president, and confirmed by the Congress; justices can serve until mandatory retirement at age 70"
},
"subordinate courts":{
"text":"Court of Constitutional Guarantees; Superior Courts or Cortes Superiores; specialized civil, criminal, and mixed courts; 2 types of peace courts in which professional judges and selected members of the local communities preside"
"text":"<p>Advance the Nation (Avanza Pais) [Aldo BORREROZeta]<br>Alliance for Progress (Alianza para el Progreso) or APP [Cesar ACUNA Peralta] <br>Broad Front (Frente Amplio) or FA [Marco ARANA]<br>Free Peru (Peru Libre) or PL [Vladimir CERRON Rojas]<br>Front for Hope (Frente Esperanza) [Fernando OLIVERA Vega]<br>National Victory (Victoria Nacional) or VN [George FORSYTH Sommer]<br>Popular Action (Accion Popular) or AP [Mesias GUEVARA Amasifuen]<br>Popular Force (Fuerza Popular) or FP [Keiko FUJIMORI Higuchi]<br>Popular Renewal (Renovacion Popular) or RP [Rafael LOPEZ ALIAGA]<br>Purple Party (Partido Morado) [Luis DURAN Rojo]<br>Social Integration Party (Avanza Pais - Partido de Integracion Social) [Aldo BORRERO]<br>Together For Peru (Juntos por el Peru) or JP [Robert SANCHEZ Palomino]<br>We Are Peru (Somos Peru) of SP [Patricia LI]<br>We Can Peru (Podemos Peru) or PP [Jose Leon LUNA Galvez]</p>"
"text":"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"
},
"National symbol(s)":{
"text":"vicuna (a camelid related to the llama); national colors: red, white"
},
"National anthem":{
"name":{
"text":"\"Himno Nacional del Peru\" (National Anthem of Peru)"
},
"lyrics/music":{
"text":"Jose DE LA TORRE Ugarte/Jose Bernardo ALZEDO"
"text":"Cuzco (c); Machu Picchu (m); Chavin (c); Historic Lima (c); Huascarán National Park (n); Chan Chan (c); Manú National Park (n); Lines and Geoglyphs of Nazca (c); Rio Abiseo National Park (m); Historic Arequipa (c); Sacred City of Caral-Supe (c); Qhapaq Ñan/Andean Road System (c)"
"text":"upper middle-income South American economy; hit hard by political instability and COVID-19 but rebounding quickly; second-largest cocaine producer; current account balance improving; persistent income inequality; diversified exporter"
"text":"mining and refining of minerals; steel, metal fabrication; petroleum extraction and refining, natural gas and natural gas liquefaction; fishing and fish processing, cement, glass, textiles, clothing, food processing, beer, soft drinks, rubber, machinery, electrical machinery, chemicals, furniture"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> data cover general government debt, and includes debt instruments issued by government entities other than the treasury; the data exclude treasury debt held by foreign entities; the data include debt issued by subnational entities"
"text":"after suffering a sharp retraction in the number of subscriptions and revenue during 2020 due to the pandemic, Peru’s telecom sector managed to stage a small recovery in the first half of 2021; it will likely be two to three years before penetration rates return to the peak levels last seen in 2018; this is especially true given the overwhelming influence of mobile on Peru’s telecommunications market, which now commands almost 95% of all connections; Peru’s fixed-line teledensity continued its slow dropping below 7% at the end of 2021; investment in network infrastructure is mainly focused on rolling out fiber cable for fixed broadband services in (mainly) urban areas; fixed broadband services inched higher to reach 8.4% at the end of 2020, a positive result that reflected the shift to working from home during enforced lock downs at the start of the year; yet Peru has a relatively low level of computer use, and prices for fixed broadband services are among the highest in Latin America; the overwhelmingly preferred internet access platform will remain the smartphone, with a further 8.6% growth in the number of mobile broadband subscriptions expected in 2021 (2021)"
"text":"country code - 51; landing points for the SAM-1, IGW, American Movil-Telxius, SAC and PAN-AM submarine cable systems that provide links to parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, and US; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2019)"
"text":"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 5,000 radio stations including a substantial number of indigenous language stations (2021)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> paved runways have a concrete or asphalt surface but not all have facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control; the length of a runway required for aircraft to safely operate depends on a number of factors including the type of aircraft, the takeoff weight (including passengers, cargo, and fuel), engine types, flap settings, landing speed, elevation of the airport, and average maximum daily air temperature; paved runways can reach a length of 5,000 m (16,000 ft.), but the “typical” length of a commercial airline runway is between 2,500-4,000 m (8,000-13,000 ft.)"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> unpaved runways have a surface composition such as grass or packed earth and are most suited to the operation of light aircraft; unpaved runways are usually short, often less than 1,000 m (3,280 ft.) in length; airports with unpaved runways often lack facilities for refueling, maintenance, or air traffic control"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> includes 27,109 km of national roads (21,434 km paved), 247,505 km of departmental roads (3,623 km paved), and 113,857 km of local roads (1,858 km paved)"
"text":"Armed Forces of Peru (Fuerzas Armadas del Perú or FAP): Peruvian Army (Ejercito del Peru), Peruvian Navy (Marina de Guerra del Peru, MGP, includes naval infantry and Coast Guard), Air Force of Peru (Fuerza Aerea del Peru, FAP); Ministry of the Interior (Ministerio del Interior): Peruvian National Police (Policía Nacional del Perú, PNP) (2023)"
"text":"information varies; approximately 95,000 active-duty personnel (60,000 Army; 25,000 Navy, including about 4,000 naval infantry and 1,000 Coast Guard; 10,000 Air Force) (2022)"
"text":"the military's inventory is a mix of mostly older equipment from a wide variety of suppliers, including Brazil, Europe, Russia/the former Soviet Union, and the US; in recent years, it has received some more modern weapons systems from more than a dozen countries with South Korea as the leading supplier (2023)"
"text":"18-50 years of age for male and 18-45 years of age for female voluntary military service (12 months); no conscription (abolished in 1999) (2022)",
"text":"the Peruvian Armed Forces (FAP) are responsible for external security in addition to some domestic security responsibilities in designated emergency areas and in exceptional circumstances; key areas of focus include counterinsurgency, counternarcotics, disaster relief, and maritime security operations; the FAP trains regularly and participates in both bilateral and multinational exercises; it has contributed to UN missions since 1958 and has ties to regional militaries, particularly Colombia, as well as those of numerous other countries such as China, Russia, Spain, and the US; the FAP’s last external conflict was a brief border war with Ecuador in 1995; the FAP supported the police during anti-government protests in early 2023 and was accused of human rights violations<br><br>the Joint Command of the Armed Forces of Peru (Comando Conjunto de las Fuerzas Armadas del Perú or CCFFAA) has responsibility for the planning, preparation, coordination, and direction of the military’s operations; the CCFFAA has oversight over commands for air, air defense, cyber, maritime, and special operations, as well as five regional commands (Amazonas, central, north, south, and Ucayali) and a Special Command of the Valley of the Apurimac, Ene, and Mantaro rivers (CE-VRAEM); CE-VRAEM is responsible for combating the remnants of the Shining Path terrorist group (aka Sendero Luminoso; see Appendix T) and includes several thousand air, ground, naval, police, and special forces personnel; the FAP also provides aircraft, vehicles, and logistical support to the command <br><br>the Army was officially established in 1821 with the formation of the Peruvian Guard Legion; it has five regionally based divisions comprised of about 20 combat brigades, which include a mix of armored, artillery, jungle infantry, light infantry, mechanized cavalry, and special forces; the Army also has an aviation brigade and a multi-purpose support brigade designed in large part to provide assistance during natural disasters; the Navy, also established in 1821, includes the Coast Guard; it has undertaken efforts to modernize since the 2000s; the Navy’s warships include seven frigates, 15 corvettes and patrol ships, and six attack submarines; it also has a flotilla of river gunboats, plus naval aviation and a marine force comprised of amphibious infantry, light infantry, jungle infantry, and commandos; the Air Force, established in the 1920s, has several squadrons of French-, Russian-, and US-made fighters, multirole fighters, and fixed-wing ground attack aircraft, as well as attack helicopters (2023)"
"text":"the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial waters of Peru are a risk for armed robbery against ships; in 2022, 12 attacks against commercial vessels were reported, a slight decrease over the 18 attacks in 2021; all of these occurred in the main port of Callao while ships were berthed or at anchor"
"note":"<strong>note:</strong> details about the history, aims, leadership, organization, areas of operation, tactics, targets, weapons, size, and sources of support of the group(s) appear(s) in Appendix-T"
"text":"<p><em>Peru-Bolivia</em>: Peru rejects Bolivia's claim to restore maritime access through a sovereign corridor through Chile along the Peruvian border</p> <p><em>Peru-Brazil</em>: none identified</p> <p><em>Peru-Chile</em>: Bolivia continues to press for a sovereign corridor to the Pacific Ocean; any concession Chile makesto Bolivia to grant thema sovereign corridor requires approval by Peru under the terms of their treaty; in January 2018, the International Court of Justice ruled that Chile is not legally obligated to negotiate a sovereign corridor to the Pacific Ocean with Bolivia</p> <p><em>Peru-Chile-Ecuador</em>: 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 out to 200 nautical miles, which would give Peru 37,900 square kilometers of water</p> <p><em>Peru-Colombia</em>: organized illegal narcotics operations in Colombia have penetrated Peru's shared border; problems also include cross border illegal migration, human trafficking, and contraband smuggling</p> <p><em>Peru-Ecuador</em>: in 1999, Tiwinza memorial park was created on lands that remains sovereign Peruvian territory, but Ecuador has the right to maintain and administer it in perpetuity</p>"
"text":"1,518,102 (Venezuela) (economic and political crisis; includes Venezuelans who have claimed asylum, are recognized as refugees, or have received alternative legal stay) (2023)"
"text":"60,000 (civil war from 1980-2000; most IDPs are indigenous peasants in Andean and Amazonian regions; as of 2011, no new information on the situation of these IDPs) (2021)"
"text":"<p>world’s second-largest producer of cocaine and coca (after Colombia), with approximately 84,400 hectares (ha) under cultivation in 2021; Peruvian cocaine is trafficked throughout South America for shipment to Europe, East Asia, Mexico, and the United States; major importer of precursor chemicals for cocaine production; growing domestic drug consumption problem; a major source of precursor or essential chemicals used in the production of illicit narcotics</p>"
