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Introduction

The Peru Portal
The Peru Portal
Republic of Peru
República del Perú (Spanish)
CapitalLima
12°2.6′S 77°1.7′W / 12.0433°S 77.0283°W / -12.0433; -77.0283
ISO 3166 codePE

Peru (/pəˈruː/ ⓘ pə-ROO; Spanish: Perú [peˈɾu]; Quechua: Piruw [pɪɾʊw]; Aymara: Piruw [pɪɾʊw]), officially the Republic of Peru (ES-pe - República del Perú.ogg), is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pacific Ocean. Peru is a megadiverse country with habitats ranging from the arid plains of the Pacific coastal region in the west to the peaks of the Andes mountains extending from the north to the southeast of the country to the tropical Amazon basin rainforest in the east with the Amazon River. Peru has a population of over 32 million, and its capital and largest city is Lima. At 1,285,216 km2 (496,225 sq mi), Peru is the 19th largest country in the world, and the third largest in South America.

Peruvian territory was home to several cultures during the ancient and medieval periods, and has one of the longest histories of civilization of any country, tracing its heritage back to the 10th millennium BCE. Notable pre-colonial cultures and civilizations include the Caral-Supe civilization (the earliest civilization in the Americas and considered one of the cradles of civilization), the Nazca culture, the Wari and Tiwanaku empires, the Kingdom of Cusco, and the Inca Empire, the largest known state in the pre-Columbian Americas. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and Charles V established a viceroyalty with the official name of the Kingdom of Peru that encompassed most of its South American territories, with its capital in Lima. Higher education started in the Americas with the official establishment of the National University of San Marcos in Lima in 1551.

Peru has a population that includes Mestizos, Amerindians, Europeans, Africans and Asians. The main spoken language is Spanish, although a significant number of Peruvians speak Quechuan languages, Aymara, or other Indigenous languages. This mixture of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide diversity of expressions in fields such as art, cuisine, literature, and music. (Full article...)

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Cinder cones surrounded by lava flows
The Andagua volcanic field (also known as Andahua) is a volcanic field in southern Peru which includes a number of cinder cones, lava domes and lava flows which have filled the Andagua Valley (which is also known as Valley of the Volcanoes for this reason). The volcanic field is part of a larger volcanic province that clusters around the Colca River and is mostly of Pleistocene age, although the Andagua sector also features volcanic cones with historical activity, with the last eruption about 370 years ago. Eruptions were mostly effusive, generating lava flows, cones and small eruption columns. Future eruptions are possible, and there is ongoing fumarolic activity. Volcanic activity in the field has flooded the Andahua valley with lava flows, damming local watersheds in the Laguna de Chachas, Laguna Mamacocha and Laguna Pumajallo lakes and burying the course of the Andagua River. The Andahua valley segment of the larger volcanic province was declared a geopark in 2015. (Full article...)
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Arequipa city
Arequipa city
Photo credit: Valentín Ramírez

The city of Arequipa is the capital of the Arequipa Region in southern Peru. With a population of around 800,000 it is the second most populous city of the country. Arequipa lies in the Andes mountains, at an altitude of 2,380 meters (7740 feet) above sea level, overseen by the snow-capped volcano El Misti. The city has many colonial-era Spanish buildings built of sillar, a pearly white volcanic rock, from which it gets the nickname La Ciudad Blanca ("The White City"). (more...)

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Naval Combat of Iquique - The sinking of the Esmeralda

The Naval Battle of Iquique was a confrontation occurred on May 21, 1879; during the naval stage of the War of the Pacific, a conflict between Chile and the alliance between Peru and Bolivia. This battle took place on the shores of the Peruvian port of Iquique, where the Peruvian ironclad Huáscar, commanded by the Captain Miguel Grau Seminario sunk the Esmeralda, an old Chilean wooden corvette led by Captain Arturo Prat Chacón; after four hours of combat. This event has become one of the most emblematic battles of this war due to the glorification of the fallen Chilean captain Prat and Peruvian Captain Miguel Grau's noble gesture of saving the enemy crew and rescuing Prat's body. (more...)

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In this month

  • January 16, 1991 - In the district Ate, Lima construction began of Estadio Monumental "U" with 80,093 seats the largest stadium in Peru.

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Machu Picchu in 2007

Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a 2,430-meter (7,970 ft) mountain ridge. Often referred to as the "Lost City of the Incas", it is the most familiar icon of the Inca Empire. It is located in the Machupicchu District within Urubamba Province above the Sacred Valley, which is 80 kilometers (50 mi) northwest of Cusco. The Urubamba River flows past it, cutting through the Cordillera and creating a canyon with a tropical mountain climate. In reference to the site's name, for most English or Spanish speakers, the first 'c' in Picchu is silent. In English, the name is pronounced /ˌmɑːtʃuː ˈpiːtʃuː/ MAH-choo PEE-choo or /ˌmætʃuː ˈpiːktʃuː/ MATCH-oo PEAK-choo, in Spanish as [ˈmatʃu ˈpitʃu] or [ˈmatʃu ˈpiɣtʃu], and in Quechua (Machu Pikchu) as [ˈmatʃʊ ˈpɪktʃʊ].

The Inca civilization had no written language and following the first encounter by the Spanish soldier Baltasar Ocampo, no Europeans are recorded to have visited the site from the late 16th century until the 19th century. As far as historical knowledge extends, there are no existing written records detailing the site during its period of active use. The names of the buildings, their supposed uses, and their inhabitants, are the product of modern archaeologists based on physical evidence, including tombs at the site. Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls. Its three primary structures are the Intihuatana, the Temple of the Sun, and the Temple of the Three Windows. Most of the outlying buildings have been reconstructed in order to give visitors a better idea of how they originally appeared. By 1976, 30 percent of Machu Picchu had been restored and restoration continues. Most recent archaeologists believe that Machu Picchu was constructed as an estate for the Inca emperor Pachacuti (1438–1472). The Incas built the estate around 1450 but abandoned it a century later, at the time of the Spanish conquest. According to the new AMS radiocarbon dating, it was occupied from c. 1420–1532. Historical research published in 2022 claims that the site was probably called Huayna Picchu by the Inca people themselves, as it exists on the smaller peak of the same name. (Full article...)

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English Nonconformist Isaac Watts 1674–1748
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Twelve-angled rock in Hatun Rumiyoq street

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