{
"Introduction": {
"Background": {
"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."
}
},
"Geography": {
"Location": {
"text": "Western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Chile and Ecuador"
},
"Geographic coordinates": {
"text": "10 00 S, 76 00 W"
},
"Map references": {
"text": "South America"
},
"Area": {
"total": {
"text": "1,285,216 sq km"
},
"land": {
"text": "1,279,996 sq km"
},
"water": {
"text": "5,220 sq km"
}
},
"Area - comparative": {
"text": "almost twice the size of Texas; slightly smaller than Alaska"
},
"Land boundaries": {
"total": {
"text": "7,062 km"
},
"border countries": {
"text": "Bolivia 1,212 km; Brazil 2,659 km; Chile 168 km; Colombia 1,494 km; Ecuador 1,529 km"
}
},
"Coastline": {
"text": "2,414 km"
},
"Maritime claims": {
"territorial sea": {
"text": "200 nm; note: the US does not recognize this claim"
},
"exclusive economic zone": {
"text": "200 nm"
},
"continental shelf": {
"text": "200 nm"
}
},
"Climate": {
"text": "varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west; temperate to frigid in Andes"
},
"Terrain": {
"text": "western coastal plain (costa), high and rugged Andes in center (sierra), eastern lowland jungle of Amazon Basin (selva)"
},
"Elevation": {
"highest point": {
"text": "Nevado Huascaran 6,746 m"
},
"lowest point": {
"text": "Pacific Ocean 0 m"
},
"mean elevation": {
"text": "1,555 m"
}
},
"Natural resources": {
"text": "copper, silver, gold, petroleum, timber, fish, iron ore, coal, phosphate, potash, hydropower, natural gas"
},
"Land use": {
"agricultural land": {
"text": "18.8% (2018 est.)"
},
"agricultural land: arable land": {
"text": "arable land: 3.1% (2018 est.)"
},
"agricultural land: permanent crops": {
"text": "permanent crops: 1.1% (2018 est.)"
},
"agricultural land: permanent pasture": {
"text": "permanent pasture: 14.6% (2018 est.)"
},
"forest": {
"text": "53% (2018 est.)"
},
"other": {
"text": "28.2% (2018 est.)"
}
},
"Irrigated land": {
"text": "25,800 sq km (2012)"
},
"Major lakes (area sq km)": {
"fresh water lake(s)": {
"text": "Lago Titicaca (shared with Bolivia) - 8,030 sq km"
}
},
"Major rivers (by length in km)": {
"text": "Amazon river source (shared with Brazil [m]) - 6,400 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth"
},
"Major watersheds (area sq km)": {
"text": "Atlantic Ocean drainage: Amazon (6,145,186 sq km)"
},
"Major aquifers": {
"text": "Amazon Basin"
},
"Population distribution": {
"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"
},
"Natural hazards": {
"text": "
earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, landslides, mild volcanic activity
volcanism: 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\"
" }, "Geography - note": { "text": "note 1: 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
note 2: 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
note 3: 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
note 4: the southern regions of Peru and the extreme northwestern part of Bolivia are considered to be the place of origin for the common potato
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.
" }, "Age structure": { "0-14 years": { "text": "26.04% (male 4,311,243/female 4,136,849)" }, "15-64 years": { "text": "65.94% (male 10,452,598/female 10,937,233)" }, "65 years and over": { "text": "8.02% (2023 est.) (male 1,134,587/female 1,467,662)" } }, "Dependency ratios": { "total dependency ratio": { "text": "53" }, "youth dependency ratio": { "text": "37.1" }, "elderly dependency ratio": { "text": "13.1" }, "potential support ratio": { "text": "7.9 (2021 est.)" } }, "Median age": { "total": { "text": "29.1 years" }, "male": { "text": "28.3 years" }, "female": { "text": "29.9 years (2020 est.)" } }, "Population growth rate": { "text": "0.5% (2023 est.)" }, "Birth rate": { "text": "16.96 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)" }, "Death rate": { "text": "11.04 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)" }, "Net migration rate": { "text": "-0.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)" }, "Population distribution": { "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" }, "Urbanization": { "urban population": { "text": "78.9% of total population (2023)" }, "rate of urbanization": { "text": "1.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)" } }, "Major urban areas - population": { "text": "11.204 million LIMA (capital), 959,000 Arequipa, 904,000 Trujillo (2023)" }, "Sex ratio": { "at birth": { "text": "1.05 male(s)/female" }, "0-14 years": { "text": "1.04 male(s)/female" }, "15-64 years": { "text": "0.96 male(s)/female" }, "65 years and over": { "text": "0.77 male(s)/female" }, "total population": { "text": "0.96 male(s)/female (2023 est.)" } }, "Mother's mean age at first birth": { "text": "21.9 years (2013 est.)", "note": "note: data represents median age at first birth among women 25-49" }, "Maternal mortality ratio": { "text": "69 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)" }, "Infant mortality rate": { "total": { "text": "10.8 deaths/1,000 live births" }, "male": { "text": "11.89 deaths/1,000 live births" }, "female": { "text": "9.65 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)" } }, "Life expectancy at birth": { "total population": { "text": "68.94 years" }, "male": { "text": "65.38 years" }, "female": { "text": "72.67 years (2023 est.)" } }, "Total fertility rate": { "text": "2.18 children born/woman (2023 est.)" }, "Gross reproduction rate": { "text": "1.06 (2023 est.)" }, "Contraceptive prevalence rate": { "text": "77.4% (2020)" }, "Drinking water source": { "improved: urban": { "text": "urban: 97.2% of population" }, "improved: rural": { "text": "rural: 82.4% of population" }, "improved: total": { "text": "total: 94% of population" }, "unimproved: urban": { "text": "urban: 2.8% of population" }, "unimproved: rural": { "text": "rural: 17.6% of population" }, "unimproved: total": { "text": "total: 6% of population (2020 est.)" } }, "Current health expenditure": { "text": "6.3% of GDP (2020)" }, "Physicians density": { "text": "1.37 physicians/1,000 population (2018)" }, "Hospital bed density": { "text": "1.6 beds/1,000 population (2017)" }, "Sanitation facility access": { "improved: urban": { "text": "urban: 93.6% of population" }, "improved: rural": { "text": "rural: 65.3% of population" }, "improved: total": { "text": "total: 87.4% of population" }, "unimproved: urban": { "text": "urban: 6.4% of population" }, "unimproved: rural": { "text": "rural: 34.7% of population" }, "unimproved: total": { "text": "total: 12.6% of population (2020 est.)" } }, "Major infectious diseases": { "degree of risk": { "text": "very high (2023)" }, "food or waterborne diseases": { "text": "bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever" }, "vectorborne diseases": { "text": "dengue fever, malaria, and Bartonellosis (Oroya fever)" } }, "Obesity - adult prevalence rate": { "text": "19.7% (2016)" }, "Alcohol consumption per capita": { "total": { "text": "5.74 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)" }, "beer": { "text": "3.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)" }, "wine": { "text": "0.46 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)" }, "spirits": { "text": "2.26 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)" }, "other alcohols": { "text": "0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)" } }, "Tobacco use": { "total": { "text": "8.1% (2020 est.)" }, "male": { "text": "13.2% (2020 est.)" }, "female": { "text": "3% (2020 est.)" } }, "Children under the age of 5 years underweight": { "text": "2.4% (2019)" }, "Currently married women (ages 15-49)": { "text": "51.2% (2023 est.)" }, "Child marriage": { "women married by age 15": { "text": "2.5%" }, "women married by age 18": { "text": "17.4% (2018 est.)" } }, "Education expenditures": { "text": "4% of GDP (2021 est.)" }, "Literacy": { "definition": { "text": "age 15 and over can read and write" }, "total population": { "text": "94.5%" }, "male": { "text": "97%" }, "female": { "text": "92% (2020)" } }, "School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)": { "total": { "text": "15 years" }, "male": { "text": "15 years" }, "female": { "text": "15 years (2017)" } }, "Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)": { "total": { "text": "11.2%" }, "male": { "text": "9.2%" }, "female": { "text": "13.2% (2021 est.)" } } }, "Environment": { "Environment - current issues": { "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" }, "Environment - international agreements": { "party to": { "text": "Antarctic-Environmental Protection, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping-London Convention, Marine Dumping-London Protocol, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands, Whaling" }, "signed, but not ratified": { "text": "none of the selected agreements" } }, "Climate": { "text": "varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west; temperate to frigid in Andes" }, "Land use": { "agricultural land": { "text": "18.8% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: arable land": { "text": "arable land: 3.1% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent crops": { "text": "permanent crops: 1.1% (2018 est.)" }, "agricultural land: permanent pasture": { "text": "permanent pasture: 14.6% (2018 est.)" }, "forest": { "text": "53% (2018 est.)" }, "other": { "text": "28.2% (2018 est.)" } }, "Urbanization": { "urban population": { "text": "78.9% of total population (2023)" }, "rate of urbanization": { "text": "1.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)" } }, "Revenue from forest resources": { "text": "0.12% of GDP (2018 est.)" }, "Revenue from coal": { "text": "0% of GDP (2018 est.)" }, "Air pollutants": { "particulate matter emissions": { "text": "24.27 micrograms per cubic meter (2016 est.)" }, "carbon dioxide emissions": { "text": "57.41 megatons (2016 est.)" }, "methane emissions": { "text": "30.17 megatons (2020 est.)" } }, "Waste and recycling": { "municipal solid waste generated annually": { "text": "8,356,711 tons (2014 est.)" }, "municipal solid waste recycled annually": { "text": "334,268 tons (2012 est.)" }, "percent of municipal solid waste recycled": { "text": "4% (2012 est.)" } }, "Major lakes (area sq km)": { "fresh water lake(s)": { "text": "Lago Titicaca (shared with Bolivia) - 8,030 sq km" } }, "Major rivers (by length in km)": { "text": "Amazon river source (shared with Brazil [m]) - 6,400 kmAdvance the Nation (Avanza Pais) [Aldo BORRERO Zeta]
Alliance for Progress (Alianza para el Progreso) or APP [Cesar ACUNA Peralta]
Broad Front (Frente Amplio) or FA [Marco ARANA]
Free Peru (Peru Libre) or PL [Vladimir CERRON Rojas]
Front for Hope (Frente Esperanza) [Fernando OLIVERA Vega]
National Victory (Victoria Nacional) or VN [George FORSYTH Sommer]
Popular Action (Accion Popular) or AP [Mesias GUEVARA Amasifuen]
Popular Force (Fuerza Popular) or FP [Keiko FUJIMORI Higuchi]
Popular Renewal (Renovacion Popular) or RP [Rafael LOPEZ ALIAGA]
Purple Party (Partido Morado) [Luis DURAN Rojo]
Social Integration Party (Avanza Pais - Partido de Integracion Social) [Aldo BORRERO]
Together For Peru (Juntos por el Peru) or JP [Robert SANCHEZ Palomino]
We Are Peru (Somos Peru) of SP [Patricia LI]
We Can Peru (Podemos Peru) or PP [Jose Leon LUNA Galvez]
Peru-Bolivia: Peru rejects Bolivia's claim to restore maritime access through a sovereign corridor through Chile along the Peruvian border
Peru-Brazil: none identified
Peru-Chile: Bolivia continues to press for a sovereign corridor to the Pacific Ocean; any concession Chile makes to Bolivia to grant them a 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
Peru-Chile-Ecuador: 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
Peru-Colombia: organized illegal narcotics operations in Colombia have penetrated Peru's shared border; problems also include cross border illegal migration, human trafficking, and contraband smuggling
Peru-Ecuador: 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
" }, "Refugees and internally displaced persons": { "refugees (country of origin)": { "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)" }, "IDPs": { "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)" } }, "Illicit drugs": { "text": "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
" } } }