Background: After a dozen years of military rule Peru returned to democratic leadership in 1980. In recent years bold reform programs and significant progress in curtailing guerrilla activity and drug trafficking have resulted in solid economic growth.

Map reference: South America, Standard Time Zones of the World

Area
Total: total: 1,285,220 km²

Land boundaries: total 6,940 km, Bolivia 900 km, Brazil 1,560 km, Chile 160 km, Colombia 2,900 km, Ecuador 1,420 km

Coastline: 2,414 km
Territorial sea: 200 nm

Climate: varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west

Terrain: western coastal plain (costa), high and rugged Andes in center (sierra), eastern lowland jungle of Amazon Basin (selva)

Natural resources: copper, silver, gold, petroleum, timber, fish, iron ore, coal, phosphate, potash

Land use
Arable land: 3%
Permanent crops: 0%
Meadows and pastures: 21%
Forest and woodland: 55%
Other: 21%

Irrigated land: 12,500 km² (1989 est.)

Population: 23,210,352 (July 1993 est.)
Growth rate: 1.9% (1993 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Peruvian(s)
Adjective: Peruvian

Ethnic groups: Indian 45%, mestizo (mixed Indian and European ancestry) 37%, white 15%, black, Japanese, Chinese, and other 3%

Languages: Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara

Religions: Roman Catholic

Population growth rate: 1.9% (1993 est.)

Birth rate: 26.19 births/1000 population (1993 est.)

Death rate: 7.15 deaths/1000 population (1993 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (1993 est.)

Environment
Current issues: subject to earthquakes, tsunamis, landslides, mild volcanic activity; deforestation; overgrazing; soil erosion; desertification; air pollution in Lima
Current issues note:

Infant mortality rate: 56.4 deaths/1000 live births (1993 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 65.17 years
Female: 67.44 years (1993 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.22 children born/woman (1993 est.)

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
Total population: 85%
Male: 92%
Female: 29%

Country name
Conventional long form: Republic of Peru
Conventional short form: Peru
Local long form: Republica del Peru
Local short form: Peru

Government type: republic

Capital: Lima

Administrative divisions:

Independence: 28 July 1821 (from Spain)

National holiday: Independence Day, 28 July (1821)

Constitution: 28 July 1980 (often referred to as the 1979 Constitution because the Constituent Assembly met in 1979, but the Constitution actually took effect the following year; suspended 5 April 1992; being revised or replaced

Legal system: based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch: president, prime minister, Council of Ministers (cabinet)

Legislative branch: unicameral Democratic Constituent Congress (CCD)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court of Justice (Corte Suprema de Justicia)

International organization participation:

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Ricardo LUNA
In the us chancery: 1700 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20,036
In the us telephone: (202) 833-9,860 through 9,869)
In the us consulates general:
From the us chief of mission: (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Charles H. BRAYSHAW
From the us embassy:
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 1991, Lima 1, or APO AA 34,031
From the us telephone: 51 (14) 33-8,000
From the us fax: 51 (14) 31-6,682

Flag description: 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 llama, cinchona tree (the source of quinine), and a yellow cornucopia spilling out gold coins, all framed by a green wreath

Economy overview: The Peruvian economy is becoming increasingly market oriented, with a large dose of government ownership remaining in mining, energy, and banking. In the 1980s the economy suffered from hyperinflation, declining per capita output, and mounting external debt. Peru was shut off from IMF and World Bank support in the mid-1980s because of its huge debt arrears. An austerity program implemented shortly after the FUJIMORI government took office in July 1990 contributed to a third consecutive yearly contraction of economic activity, but the slide halted late that year, and output rose 2.4% in 1991. After a burst of inflation as the austerity program eliminated government price subsidies, monthly price increases eased to the single-digit level and by December 1991 dropped to the lowest increase since mid-1987. Lima obtained a financial rescue package from multilateral lenders in September 1991, although it faced $14 billion in arrears on its external debt. By working with the IMF and World Bank on new financial conditions and arrangements, the government succeeded in ending its arrears by March 1993. In 1992, GDP fell by 2.8%, in part because a warmer-than-usual El Nino current resulted in a 30% drop in the fish catch. Meanwhile, revival of growth in GDP continued to be restricted by the large amount of public and private resources being devoted to strengthening internal security.

Real gdp per capita: $1,100 (1992 est.)

Agriculture products: accounts for 10% of GDP, about 35% of labor force; commercial crops - coffee, cotton, sugarcane; other crops - rice, wheat, potatoes, plantains, coca; animal products - poultry, red meats, dairy, wool; not self-sufficient in grain or vegetable oil; fish catch of 6.9 million metric tons (1990)

Industries: mining of metals, petroleum, fishing, textiles, clothing, food processing, cement, auto assembly, steel, shipbuilding, metal fabrication

Industrial production growth rate: growth rate -5% (1992 est.), accounts for almost 24% of GDP

Labor force: 8 million (1992)
By occupation government and other services: 44%
By occupation agriculture: 37%
By occupation industry: 19% (1988 est.)

Unemployment rate: 15% (1992 est.), underemployment 70% (1992 est.)

Budget: revenues $2.0 billion; expenditures $2.7 billion, including capital expenditures of $300 million (1992 est.)

Fiscal year: calendar year

Exports: $3.5 billion (f.o.b., 1992)
Commodoties: copper, fishmeal, zinc, crude petroleum and byproducts, lead, refined silver, coffee, cotton
Partners: EC 28%, US 22%, Japan 13%, Latin America 12%, former USSR 2% (1991)

Imports: $4.1 billion (f.o.b., 1992)
Commodoties: foodstuffs, machinery, transport equipment, iron and steel semimanufactures, chemicals, pharmaceuticals
Partners: US 32%, Latin America 22%, EC 17%, Switzerland 6%, Japan 3% (1991)

Exchange rates: nuevo sol (S/. per US$1 - 1.690 (January 1993), 1.245 (1992), 0.772 (1991), 0.187 (1990), 2.666 (1989), 0.129 (1988)

Electricity
Production: 5,042,000 kW capacity; 17,434 million kWh produced, 760 kWh per capita (1992)

Airports: 228
Usable: 199
With permanentsurface runways: 37
With runways over 3659 m: 2
With runways 2440-3659 m: 23
With runways 1220-2439 m: 46

Pipelines: crude oil 800 km, natural gas and natural gas liquids 64 km

Waterways: 8,600 km of navigable tributaries of Amazon system and 208 km Lago Titicaca

Merchant marine:

Disputes international: three sections of the boundary with Ecuador are in dispute

Illicit drugs: world's largest coca leaf producer with about 121,000 hectares under cultivation; source of supply for most of the world's coca paste and cocaine base; at least 85% of coca cultivation is for illicit production; most of cocaine base is shipped to Colombian drug dealers for processing into cocaine for the international drug market