Background:
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.
- total: 1,285,216 sq km
- land: 1,279,996 sq km
- water: 5,220 sq km
- country comparison to the world: 20
Area - Comparative: almost
twice the size of Texas; slightly smaller than Alaska
Border countries (5): Bolivia 1,212 km, Brazil 2,659 km,
Chile 168 km, Colombia 1,494 km, Ecuador 1,529 km.
Coastline: 2,414 km
copper, silver, gold, petroleum, timber, fish, iron ore, coal,
phosphate, potash, hydropower, natural gas.
agricultural land: 18.8%
arable land 3.1%; permanent crops 1.1%; permanent pasture 14.6%
forest: 53%
other: 28.2% (2011 est.)
25,800 sq km (2012)
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.
earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, landslides, mild volcanic activity
volcanism: volcanic activity in the Andes Mountains; Ubinas (elev.
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
deforestation (some the result of illegal logging); overgrazing of the
slopes of the costa and sierra leading to soil erosion; desertification; air
pollution in Lima; pollution of rivers and coastal waters from municipal and
mining wastes.
30,741,062 (July 2016
est.)
Amerindian 45%, mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 37%, white 15%,
black, Japanese, Chinese, and other 3%
Spanish (official) 84.1%, Quechua (official) 13%, Aymara (official)
1.7%, Ashaninka 0.3%, other native languages (includes a large number of minor
Amazonian languages) 0.7%, other (includes foreign languages and sign language)
0.2% (2007 est.)
Demographic profile:
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.
Economy:
Peru's economy reflects its varied topography - an arid lowland coastal
region, the central high sierra of the Andes, the dense forest of the Amazon,
with tropical lands bordering Colombia and Brazil. A wide range of important
mineral resources are found in the mountainous and coastal areas, and Peru's coastal
waters provide excellent fishing grounds. Peru is the world's second largest
producer of silver and third largest producer of copper.
The Peruvian economy grew by an average of 5.6% from 2009-13 with a
stable exchange rate and low inflation, which in 2013 was just below the upper
limit of the Central Bank target range of 1% to 3%. This growth was due partly
to high international prices for Peru's metals and minerals exports, which
account for almost 60% of the country's total exports. Growth slipped in 2014
and 2015, due to weaker world prices for these resources. Despite Peru's strong
macroeconomic performance, dependence on minerals and metals exports and
imported foodstuffs makes the economy vulnerable to fluctuations in world
prices.
Peru's rapid expansion coupled with cash transfers and other programs
have helped to reduce the national poverty rate by 28 percentage points since
2002, but inequality persists and continues to pose a challenge for the Ollanta
HUMALA administration, which has championed a policy of social inclusion and a
more equitable distribution of income. Poor infrastructure hinders the spread
of growth to Peru's non-coastal areas. The HUMALA administration passed several
economic stimulus packages in 2014 to bolster growth, including reforms to
environmental regulations in order to spur investment in Peru’s lucrative
mining sector, a move that was opposed by some environmental groups. However,
in 2015, mining investment fell as global commodity prices remained low and
social conflicts plagued the sector.
Peru's free trade policy has continued under the HUMALA administration;
since 2006, Peru has signed trade deals with the US, Canada, Singapore, China,
Korea, Mexico, Japan, the EU, the European Free Trade Association, Chile, Thailand,
Costa Rica, Panama, Venezuela, concluded negotiations with Guatemala and the
Trans-Pacific Partnership, and begun trade talks with Honduras, El Salvador,
India, Indonesia, and Turkey. Peru also has signed a trade pact with Chile,
Colombia, and Mexico, called the Pacific Alliance, that seeks integration of
services, capital, investment and movement of people. Since the US-Peru Trade
Promotion Agreement entered into force in February 2009, total trade between
Peru and the US has doubled.
$192.1 billion (2015 est.)
3.3% (2015 est.)
2.4% (2014 est.)
5.9% (2013 est.)
$12,200 (2015 est.)
$12,000 (2014 est.)
$11,900 (2013 est.)
note: data are in 2015 US dollars
agriculture: 7.3%
industry: 34.6%
services: 58.1% (2015 est.)
artichokes, asparagus, avocados, blueberries, coffee, cocoa, cotton,
sugarcane, rice, potatoes, corn, plantains, grapes, oranges, pineapples,
guavas, bananas, apples, lemons, pears, coca, tomatoes, mangoes, barley,
medicinal plants, quinoa, palm oil, marigold, onion, wheat, dry beans; poultry,
beef, pork, dairy products; guinea pigs; fish.
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.
1.5% (2015 est.)
16.64 million
note: individuals older than 14 years of age (2015 est.)
agriculture: 25.8%
industry: 17.4%
services: 56.8% (2011)
5.2% (2015 est.)
5.5% (2014 est.)
note: data are for metropolitan Lima; widespread underemployment
25.8% (2012 est.)
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