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. Peruvian independence was declared 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 new elections 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. In June 2011 former army officer Ollanta HUMALA Tasso was elected president defeating Keiko FUJIMORI Higuchi the daughter of Alberto FUJIMORI. Since his election HUMALA has carried on the sound market-oriented economic policies of the three preceding administrations.

Geographic coordinates: 10 00 S 76 00 W

Area
Rank: 20
Land: 1,279,996 km²
Water: 5,220 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Alaska

Land boundaries
Border countries: (5) Bolivia 1075 km; Brazil 2,995 km; Chile 171 km; Colombia 1800 km; Ecuador 1420 km

Coastline: 2,414 km

Maritime claims
Continental shelf: 200 nm

Climate: varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west; temperate to frigid in Andes

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

Elevation
Extremes highest point: Nevado Huascaran 6,768 m

Natural resources: copper silver gold petroleum timber fish iron ore coal phosphate potash hydropower natural gas

Land use
Permanent crops: 0.66%
Other: 96.5% (2011)

Irrigated land: 11,960 km² (2003)

Total renewable water resources: 1913 km³ (2011)

Natural hazards: 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

Geography
Note: 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

Population: 30,147,935 (July 2014 est.)
Rank: 43
Growth rate: 0.99% (2014 est.)
Growth rate rank: 120
Below poverty line: 25.8% (2012 est.)

Nationality
Adjective: Peruvian

Ethnic groups: Amerindian 45% mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 37% white 15% black Japanese Chinese and other 3%

Languages: 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.)

Religions: Roman Catholic 81.3% Evangelical 12.5% other 3.3% none 2.9% (2007 est.)

Demographic profile:

Age structure
15-24 years: 19.2% (male 2,894,168/female 2,889,409)
25-54 years: 39.4% (male 5,715,542/female 6,161,540)
55-64 years: 7.3% (male 1,071,688/female 1,125,100)
65 years and over: 6.7% (male 979,854/female 1,086,208) (2014 est.)

Dependency ratios
Youth dependency ratio: 43.6 %
Elderly dependency ratio: 10 %
Potential support ratio: 10 (2014 est.)

Median age
Male: 26.3 years
Female: 27.7 years (2014 est.)

Population growth rate: 0.99% (2014 est.)
Rank: 120

Birth rate: 18.57 births/1000 population (2014 est.)
Rank: 99

Death rate: 5.99 deaths/1000 population (2014 est.)
Rank: 165

Net migration rate: -2.69 migrant(s)/1000 population (2014 est.)
Rank: 175

Urbanization
Rate of urbanization: 1.55% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)

Major urban areas
Population: LIMA (capital) 9.13 million; Arequipa 804,000 (2011)

Environment
Current issues: 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
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Sex ratio
0-14 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 0.93 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 0.97 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.9 male(s)/female
Total population: 0.97 male(s)/female (2014 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth: 22.2

Infant mortality rate
Rank: 90
Male: 22.44 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 17.88 deaths/1000 live births (2014 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Rank: 127
Male: 71.23 years
Female: 75.33 years (2014 est.)

Total fertility rate: 2.22 children born/woman (2014 est.)
Rank: 101

Contraceptive prevalence rate: 68.9% (2011)

Drinking water source:

Physicians density: 0.92 physicians/1000 population (2009)

Hospital bed density: 1.5 beds/1000 population (2011)

Sanitation facility access:

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.4% (2012 est.)
Adult prevalence rate rank: 79
People living with hivaids: 75,500 (2012 est.)
People living with hivaids rank: 51
Deaths: 4,100 (2012 est.)
Deaths rank: 45

Major infectious diseases
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea hepatitis A and typhoid fever
Vectorborne disease: dengue fever malaria and Bartonellosis (Oroya fever) (2013)

Obesity adult prevalence rate: 15.7% (2008)
Rank: 117

Children under the age of 5 years underweight: 4.5% (2008)
Rank: 93

Education expenditures: 2.8% of GDP (2012)
Rank: 145

Literacy
Total population: 89.6%
Male: 94.9%
Female: 84.6% (2007 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education
Male: 13 years
Female: 13 years (2010)

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

Government type: constitutional republic

Capital
Geographic coordinates: 12 03 S 77 03 W
Time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions: 25 regions (regiones singular - region) and 1 province* (provincia); Amazonas Ancash Apurimac Arequipa Ayacucho Cajamarca Callao Cusco Huancavelica Huanuco Ica Junin La Libertad Lambayeque Lima Lima* Loreto Madre de Dios Moquegua Pasco Piura Puno San Martin Tacna Tumbes Ucayali

Independence: 28 July 1821 (from Spain)

National holiday: Independence Day 28 July (1821)

Constitution: several previous; latest promulgated 29 December 1993 enacted 31 December 1993; amended several times last in 2009 (2009)

Legal system: civil law system

International law organization participation: accepts compulsory ICJ jurisdiction with reservations; accepts ICCt jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal and compulsory until the age of 70

Executive branch
Head of government: President Ollanta HUMALA Tasso (since 28 July 2011); First Vice President Marisol ESPINOZA Cruz (since 28 July 2011); Second Vice President (vacant)
Cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president
Elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for nonconsecutive reelection); presidential election last held on 10 April 2011 with run-off election held on 6 June 2011 (next to be held in April 2016)
Election results: Ollanta HUMALA Tasso elected president; percent of vote - Ollanta HUMALA Tasso 51.5% Keiko FUJIMORI Higuchi 48.5%

Legislative branch: unicameral Congress of the Republic of Peru or Congreso de la Republica del Peru (130 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
Elections: last held on 10 April 2011 with run-off election on 6 June 2011 (next to be held in April 2016)
Election results: percent of vote by party - Gana Peru 25.3% Fuerza 2011 23% PP 14.8% Alliance for Great Change 14.4% National Solidarity 10.2% Peruvian Aprista Party 6.4% other 5.9%; seats by party - Gana Peru 47 Fuerza 2011 37 PP 21 Alliance for Great Change 12 National Solidarity 9 Peruvian Aprista Party 4; note - as of 10 March 2014 the composition of the legislature is as follows: seats by bloc party - Gana Peru 43 Fuerza Popular (formerly Fuerza 2011) 36 PP 10 Accion Popular-Frente Amplio 10 National Solidarity 9 Union Regional 8 Partido Popular Cristiano-Alianza Para el Progreso 7 Concertacion Parlamentaria 6 Independent 1; note - defections by members of the National Assembly are commonplace resulting in the formation of new blocs and frequent changes in the numbers of seats held by the various blocs

Judicial branch
Judge selection and term of office: justices proposed by the National Council of the Judiciary or National Judicial Council (a 7-member independent body) nominated by the president and confirmed by the Congress (all appointments reviewed by the Council every 7 years; justices appointed for life or until age 70
Subordinate courts: Court of Constitutional Guarantees; Superior Courts or Cortes Superiores; specialized civil criminal and mixed courts; two types of peace courts in which professional judges and selected members of the local communities preside

Political parties and leaders:

International organization participation: APEC BIS CAN CD CELAC EITI (compliant country) FAO G-24 G-77 IADB IAEA IBRD ICAO ICC (NGOs) ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS IHO ILO IMF IMO IMSO Interpol IOC IOM IPU ISO ITSO ITU ITUC (NGOs) LAES LAIA Mercosur (associate) MIGA MINURSO MINUSTAH MONUSCO NAM OAS OPANAL OPCW Pacific Alliance PCA SICA (observer) UN UNASUR UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO Union Latina UNISFA UNMIL UNMISS UNOCI UNWTO UPU WCO WFTU (NGOs) WHO WIPO WMO WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chancery: 1700 Massachusetts Avenue NW Washington DC 20,036
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 833-9,860 through 9,869
In the us FAX: [1] (202) 659-8,124
In the us consulate general: Atlanta Boston Chicago Dallas Denver Hartford (CT) Houston Los Angeles Miami New York Paterson (NJ) San Francisco
From the us embassy: Avenida La Encalada Cuadra 17 s/n Surco Lima 33
From the us mailing address: P. O. Box 1995 Lima 1; American Embassy (Lima) APO AA 34,031-5,000
From the us telephone: [51] (1) 618-2000
From the us FAX: [51] (1) 618-2,397

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 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 symbols: vicuna (a camelid related to the llama)

National anthem
Lyrics and music: Jose DE LA TORRE Ugarte/Jose Bernardo ALZEDO

Economy overview: 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 has been growing by an average of 5.6% for the past five years 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%. For the last three years 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. 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. 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 begun trade talks with Honduras and El Salvador Turkey and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Peru also has signed a trade pact with Chile Colombia and Mexico called the Pacific Alliance that rivals Mercosur. Since the US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement entered into force in February 2009 total trade between Peru and the United States has doubled. Although Peru has continued to attract foreign investment political activism and protests are hampering development of some projects related to natural resource extraction.

Real gdp purchasing power parity:
Rank: 40

Real gdp growth rate:
Rank: 54

Real gdp per capita:
Rank: 112

Gross national saving:
Rank: 67

Gdp composition by end use
Government consumption: 10.8%
Investment in fixed capital: 27%
Investment in inventories: 0.1%
Exports of goods and services: 24.4%
Imports of goods and services: -24.7%: (2013 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Industry: 37.5%
Services: 56.3% (2013 est.)

Agriculture products: asparagus coffee cocoa cotton sugarcane rice potatoes corn plantains grapes oranges pineapples guavas bananas apples lemons pears coca tomatoes mangoes barley medicinal plants palm oil marigold onion wheat dry beans; poultry beef pork dairy products; guinea pigs; fish

Industries: 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

Industrial production growth rate: 5% (2013 est.)
Rank: 58

Labor force: 16.16 million
Rank: 38
By occupation industry: 17.4%
By occupation services: 56.8% (2011)

Unemployment rate: 3.9% (2011 est.)
Rank: 29

Population below poverty line: 25.8% (2012 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Highest 10: 36.1% (2010 est.)

Distribution of family income gini index: 51 (2005)
Rank: 25

Budget
Expenditures: $58.91 billion (2013 est.)
Surplus or deficit: 1% of GDP (2013 est.)
Surplus or deficit rank: 29

Taxes and other revenues: 29% of GDP (2013 est.)
Rank: 97

Public debt: 16.6% of GDP (2012 est.)
Rank: 144

Fiscal year: calendar year

Inflation rate consumer prices: 3.4% (2011 est.)
Rank: 111

Central bank discount rate: 5.05% (31 December 2011)
Rank: 68

Commercial bank prime lending rate: 19.23% (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 18

Stock of narrow money: $32.61 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 57

Stock of broad money: $77.62 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 59

Stock of domestic credit: $36.76 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 65

Market value of publicly traded shares:
Rank: 37

Current account balance: -$7.137 billion (2012 est.)
Rank: 177

Exports: $45.64 billion (2012 est.)
Rank: 60
Commodities: copper gold lead zinc tin iron ore molybdenum silver; crude petroleum and petroleum products natural gas; coffee asparagus and other vegetables fruit apparel and textiles fishmeal fish chemicals fabricated metal products and machinery alloys
Partners: China 19.9% US 15.7% Canada 9.5% Japan 6.6% Spain 5.2% Chile 4.9% (2012)

Imports: $41.11 billion (2012 est.)
Rank: 59
Commodities: petroleum and petroleum products chemicals plastics machinery vehicles color TV sets power shovels front-end loaders telephones and telecommunication equipment iron and steel wheat corn soybean products paper cotton vaccines and medicines
Partners: US 24.6% China 14% Brazil 6.4% Argentina 5% Chile 4.8% Colombia 4.2% Ecuador 4.1% Mexico 4% (2012)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $64.17 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 33

Debt external: $50.47 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 63

Stock of direct foreign investment at home: $63.51 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 49

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad: $3.041 billion (31 December 2012 est.)
Rank: 67

Exchange rates:

Electricity
Production: 38.4 billion kWh (2012 est.)
Production rank: 60
Consumption: 34.25 billion kWh (2011 est.)
Consumption rank: 58
Exports: 112 million kWh (2010 est.)
Exports rank: 75
Imports: 0 kWh (2012 est.)
Imports rank: 185
Installed generating capacity: 8.613 million kW (2010 est.)
Installed generating capacity rank: 62
Generation sources fossil fuels: 60.1% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources fossil fuels rank: 133
Generation sources nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources nuclear rank: 160
Generation sources hydroelectricity: 39.9% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources hydroelectricity rank: 60
Generation sources other renewable sources: 0% of total installed capacity (2010 est.)
Generation sources other renewable sources rank: 111

Petroleum
Petroleum total petroleum production: 160,400 bbl/day (2012 est.)
Petroleum total petroleum production rank: 43
Crude oil exports: 15,610 bbl/day (2012 est.)
Crude oil exports rank: 57
Crude oil imports: 99,590 bbl/day (2012 est.)
Crude oil imports rank: 50
Crude oil proven reserves: 579.2 million bbl (1 January 2013 est.)
Crude oil proven reserves rank: 49

Refined petroleum
Products production: 159,500 bbl/day (2012 est.)
Products production rank: 60
Products consumption: 206,900 bbl/day (2012 est.)
Products consumption rank: 56
Products exports: 82,080 bbl/day (2012 est.)
Products exports rank: 48
Products imports: 43,480 bbl/day (2012 est.)
Products imports rank: 75

Natural gas
Production: 32.4 billion m³ (2012)
Production rank: 28
Consumption: 5.49 billion m³ (2010 est.)
Consumption rank: 59
Exports: 8.73 billion m³ (2012 est.)
Exports rank: 29
Imports: 0 m³ (2012)
Imports rank: 114
Proven reserves: 359.6 billion m³ (1 January 2013 est.)
Proven reserves rank: 38

Carbon dioxide emissions
From consumption of energy: 37.71 million Mt (2011 est.)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 3.42 million (2012)
Main lines in use rank: 45
Mobile cellular: 29.4 million (2012)
Mobile cellular rank: 36

Telephone system
Domestic: fixed-line teledensity is only about 12 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity spurred by competition among multiple providers exceeds 100 telephones per 100 persons
International: country code - 51; the South America-1 (SAM-1) and Pan American (PAN-AM) submarine cable systems provide links to parts of Central and South America the Caribbean and US; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2010)

Broadcast media: 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 2000 radio stations including a substantial number of indigenous language stations (2010)

Internet
Country code: .pe
Hosts: 234,102 (2012)
Hosts rank: 70
Users: 9.158 million (2009)
Users rank: 31

Military expenditures:
Rank: 81

Military service age and obligation: 18-50 years of age for male and 18-45 years of age for female voluntary military service; no conscription (2012)

Airports: 191 (2013)
Rank: 30
With paved runways over 3047 m: 5
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 21
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 16
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 12
With paved runways under 914 m: 5 (2013)
With unpaved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 1
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 19
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 30
With unpaved runways: 82 (2013)

Heliports: 5 (2013)

Pipelines: extra heavy crude 786 km; gas 1526 km; liquid petroleum gas 679 km; oil 1033 km; refined products 15 km (2013)

Railways
Rank: 74
Standard gauge: 1772 km 1.435-m gauge
Narrow gauge: 135 km 0.914-m gauge (2012)

Roadways
Rank: 35

Waterways: 8,808 km (there are 8,600 km of navigable tributaries on the Amazon system and 208 km on Lago Titicaca) (2011)
Rank: 14

Merchant marine
Rank: 92
By type: cargo 2 chemical tanker 5 liquefied gas 2 petroleum tanker 13
Foreign owned: 8 (Chile 6 Ecuador 1 Spain 1)
Registered in other countries: 9 (Panama 9) (2010)

Ports and terminals
River port: Iquitos Pucallpa Yurimaguas (Amazon)
Oil terminals: Conchan oil terminal La Pampilla oil terminal
Container port: Callao (1,616,365)

Disputes international: 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 which favor Peru; organized illegal narcotics operations in Colombia have penetrated Peru's shared border; Peru rejects Bolivia's claim to restore maritime access through a sovereign corridor through Chile along the Peruvian border

Illicit drugs: until 1996 the world's largest coca leaf producer Peru is now the world's second largest producer of coca leaf though it lags far behind Colombia; cultivation of coca in Peru was estimated at 40,000 hectares in 2009 a slight decrease over 2008; second largest producer of cocaine estimated at 225 metric tons of potential pure cocaine in 2009; finished cocaine is shipped out from Pacific ports to the international drug market; increasing amounts of base and finished cocaine however are being moved to Brazil Chile Argentina and Bolivia for use in the Southern Cone or transshipment to Europe and Africa; increasing domestic drug consumption