Peru (pe-ROO), Spanish Perú, republic (496,220 sq mi/1,285,210 sq km; 1993 population 22,128,466; 2004 estimated population 27,544,305), W South America. Lima is the capital and largest city.
Geography
Bordering on the Pacific Ocean in the W, on Ecuador and Colombia in the N, on Brazil and Bolivia in the E, and on Chile in the S. The country is divided into twenty-four departments and one constitutional province with the status of a department. Peru, which varies greatly in climate and topography, falls into three main geographical regions—a narrow strip of desert along the coast, a region of high mountains in the center, and a large area of forested mountains and tropical lowlands in the E. The desert region stretches the entire length (1,410 mi/2,269 km) of Peru’s Pacific coastline and is somewhat wider in the N. It is extremely arid because of the effects of the cold Humboldt, or Peru Current in the Pacific, which acts as a barrier to the moist air over the Pacific. When a warm current (El Niño) appears off the coast, as it does every five or so years, there are torrential and damaging rainstorms. The coast and also the mountains are in addition more frequently shaken by severe earthquakes. Within the desert are about forty oases (irrigated by streams flowing from the mountains) where Peru’s main commercial crops (sugarcane, rice, cotton, and grain) are grown; the principal oases are near Lima, Chiclayo, and Trujillo. Callao (near Lima) and Mollendo, Peru’s leading ports, are also in the desert region. Near Pisco and Ica are large vineyards. Off the coast are small islands, notably the Lobos and Chincha islands, where guano (used as fertilizer) is mined. The central region (c.200 mi/320 km wide) is made up mostly of three ranges of the Andes Mountains, the Cordillera Occidental in the W and the Cordillera Central and its continuation, the Cordillera Real, in the E. The Cordillera Occidental includes the loftiest peaks, notably Huascarán (22,205 ft/6,768 m, Peru’s highest point) and El Misti (19,150 ft/5,837 m). The rugged E ranges receive considerable rainfall and are drained by numerous rivers, which have cut deep canyons. Subsistence agriculture is practiced in the upper parts of the valleys. Between the E and W ranges of the Andes in the S, and extending into Bolivia, is the Altiplano Plateau, which includes small, scattered basins of cultivable soil and pastureland and also part of Lake Titicaca. The central region includes about 60% of Peru’s population; its main cities are Arequipa, Huancayo, Ayacucho, and Cuzco, an old Inca center. The E region, called La Selva, includes more than half of the country’s land area. It is made up of the highly forested Cordillera Oriental of the Andes and low-lying tropical plains, covered by rain forests and drained by the Amazon River and its tributaries. The region is generally inaccessible and sparsely inhabited in the N; it is used for the illegal cultivation of coca, the plant from which cocaine is made. Iquitos is the chief city of the E region.
Population
Peru’s population is made up of three main groups: native inhabitants (about 45% of the population), European-descended inhabitants (15%), and mestizos (mixed European and native descent, 45%), plus small numbers of persons of Japanese, Chinese, and African descent. Most of the native inhabitants speak Quechua or Aymara as their first language; they live in the Andes and have retained much of their traditional way of life. In addition, there are about 100,000 natives, divided into about one hundred groups, who live in the isolated rain forest of E Peru and speak a variety of languages. Most other Peruvians are westernized, speak Spanish (the official language) as their first language, and are Roman Catholic Power and wealth in the country have traditionally been monopolized by the European-descended inhabitants and by a small number of the mestizos; the bulk of the mestizos and virtually all of the natives are laborers or subsistence farmers.
Economy
Farming provides the livelihood for the majority of Peruvians, some of whom remain outside the money economy. Agriculture accounts for over 8% of the gross domestic product and occupies nearly 5.9% of the work force. The chief farm commodities produced are cotton, sugarcane, coffee, wheat, rice, maize, and barley. Peru is also the world’s largest producer of coca leaves, some of which are exported to Colombia, where they are used to make cocaine. It is, itself, the largest producer and exporter of coco paste. Large numbers of poultry, sheep, cattle, llamas, alpacas, and hogs are raised. In 1987 Peru had the fifth-largest fishing catch in the world. The fish, mostly anchovetas (small anchovies), are caught in the Pacific and are processed into fish meal, which is used as animal feed. Most of the fish meal is exported. In recent years, fishing has declined in importance. Peru has a large mining industry, and the most valuable minerals produced are copper and silver; other minerals extracted include gold, iron ore, coal, and phosphate rock. Most of these minerals are found in the mountains. Petroleum is produced along the N coast and in the Amazon basin, and there is a large refinery at Talara.
Manufacturing accounts for over 27% of the gross domestic product. Peru’s principal manufacture includes textiles, consumer goods (including apparel, footwear, and household appliances), processed food, cement, refined minerals (especially copper, zinc, and lead), and processed fish (mainly fish meal and fertilizer). There is a substantial tourist industry based on archaelogical remains of pre-Columbian cultures and ecological diversity. Economic development has been hindered by the country’s very poor transportation network, which has left large blocks of Peru isolated. Peru’s main exports are fish meal, gold, copper, zinc, crude petroleum and by products, lead, coffee, sugar, cotton, and minerals. The main imports are machinery, transport equipment, food, petroleum, iron and steel, chemicals, and pharmaceuticals. High inflation and high foreign debt hindered Peru’s economy throughout the 1980s. In the early 1990s, Peru began to pay off its international debt and solicit foreign investment. The chief trade partners are the U.S., the U.K. China, Switzerland, Chile, and Japan. There are numerous universities, some founded as early as the 1500s, but most of which were founded in the 1960s. The leading universities are at Lima, Arequipa, Trujillo, and Cuzco.
History to 1533
Peru has been inhabited by humans since at least the 9th millenium B.C. It was later the center of several developed cultures, including the Chavín, the Chimú, and the Nazca. In the 12th century A.D., the Quechua-speaking Inca settled around Cuzco, and in the mid-15th century they established by conquest a large, well-organized empire that included most of present-day Peru and Ecuador and parts of Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and Colombia. Around 1530 the empire was weakened by civil war initiated by Atahualpa and Huascar, who had been designated as dual heirs by their father, Huayna Capac, but who each wanted to control the whole empire. Atahualpa had emerged victorious by 1532, when Francisco Pizarro, a Spaniard, arrived on the coast of Peru with a small band of adventurers. Sensing no danger to his empire, Atahualpa agreed to meet Pizarro at Cajamarca. However, Pizarro, whose horses and firearms gave him an overriding advantage, imprisoned Atahualpa after he refused to accept Spanish suzerainty and Christianity.
History - 1533 to 1780
Despite a ransom offering for his release, the Spaniards executed him in mid-1533. Later that year Pizarro captured Cuzco, the Inca capital, destroying the empire. In 1535, Pizarro founded Lima, which in 1542 became the center of Spanish rule in South America. Political unrest continued until 1544. Pizarro’s forced labor of the natives defied the New Laws of 1542 (which would have ended the abuses of the encomienda system) and eventually led to his defeat and execution (1548). Francisco de Toledo (viceroy; 1569–1581) improved administration, defeated a revolt under Tupac Amaru, and resettled the natives in new villages or reductions. Also, the viceroyalty of Peru was expanded to include all of Spanishh-ruled South America except Venezuela, and the mining of silver and gold increased. Lima became the administrative, religious, economic, and cultural center of the viceroyalty. In the 18th century Peru was drastically reduced in size by the creation of the viceroyalty of New Granada and a viceroyalty centered at Buenos Aires; as a result, Lima lost control over considerable trade and mineral wealth. Despite government reform in Peru, Spaniards retained almost complete control in the viceroyalty, and the Indians and creoles (persons of Spanish descent born in Peru) remained powerless and poor.
History - 1780 to 1828
Tupac Amaru II, (a man with alleged Inca ancestry) led the native inhabitants in an unsuccesful revolt (1780–1783). There were a few further uprisings in the early 19th century. While much of Spain’s Latin American holdings began strong independence movements, Peru remained loyal to Spain; due in large part to the large number of Spaniards who resided here, to the concentration of Spanish power at Lima, and to the efficiency of the government in the viceroyalty. As a result, Peru achieved independence (1821) largely due to the efforts of outsiders, notably José de San Martín and Simón Bolívar. After he had ended Spanish rule in Chile in 1818, San Martín captured the Peruvian port of Pisco in 1820. Shortly thereafter the viceroy evacuated Lima, and on July 28, 1821, José de la Serna proclaimed the independence of Peru. However, Spanish forces remained in the interior. Bolívar took over the leadership of the liberation movement (July, 1822) and in 1824, he and his lieutenant Antonio José de Sucre assured Peru’s independence by defeating Spain at the battles of Junín and Ayacucho.
History - 1828 to 1872
Santa Cruz left Peru to govern Bolivia in 1828, and government in Peru became confused as several military leaders vied for power. Taking advantage of the disorder, Santa Cruz joined Bolivia and Peru in a confederation in 1836. Fearing the power of the new state, Chile intervened militarily and the confederation was terminated (1839) after the battle of Yungay. Peru continued to be torn by civil strife until the emergence of General Ramón Castilla (president; 1844–1850, 1855–1862). Under Castilla, Peru enjoyed stability and economic development. He supervised the exploitation of guano and nitrate deposits, improved the country’s transportation system, and encouraged the immigration of foreigners. However, the society remained sharply divided between the wealthy oligarchy (made up mostly of creoles) and the great majority of poor inhabitants (mostly indigenous). A republican constitution was promulgated in 1860 and remained in effect until 1920. Political unrest began again due in large part to corruption, growing foreign indebtedness, and an attempt by Spain to regain Peru. Claiming that Peru had not met its financial obligations, Spain seized the guano-rich Chincha Islands in 1863. Aided by Chile, Bolivia, and Ecuador, Peru defeated the Spaniards at Callao in 1866; a truce was signed in 1871 and in 1879 Spain formally recognized Peru’s independence. Meanwhile, under President José Balta (1868–1872), who undertook a costly program of public works, Peru’s foreign debt rose dramatically. Peru’s first railroad, between Mollendo and Arequipa, was built (1868–1871) under the direction of Henry Meiggs.
History - 1872 to 1886
The first civilian president of Peru, Manuel Pardo (1872–1876), tried to better the country’s financial position, but was seriously hampered by the declining international price of guano, one of Peru’s major resources. Guano was highly important as a fertilizer before chemical fertilizers were invented. In 1873, Peru signed a secret defensive alliance with Bolivia, whose valuable coastal nitrate deposits (especially in Atacama) were worked by Chileans. When disagreements over the mining led to war between Bolivia and Chile, Peru tried to mediate but refused to declare its neutrality. Therefore, Chile declared war (1879) on Peru. Chile badly defeated the allies and by the Treaty of Ancón (1883) Peru had to yield the nitrate-rich province of Tarapacá and also to surrender the other S coastal provinces of Tacna and Arica to Chilean administration until a plebiscite would be held ten years later. The plebiscite was never carried out, and there ensued the Tacna-Arica controversy, which was not resolved until 1929. Peru emerged nearly bankrupt from the War of the Pacific.
History - 1886 to 1945
President A.A. Cáceres (1886–1890) created a syndicate of foreign capitalists to manage the guano deposits and the railroads, and thus foreign influence and holdings in Peru grew stronger. The first third of the century was dominated by President Augusto B. Leguía (1908–1912, 1919–1930), who for much of his tenure in office governed as a virtual dictator and successfully promoted economic development in the interest of the country’s dominant oligarchy. Peru benefited, in turn, from a rubber boom in the Putumayo River region, from the opening (1914) of the Panama Canal, and from a large increase in its exports that began during World War I. In 1924 a new political party, the Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana (APRA), was founded; it was headed by Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre and called for radical reform, especially of the condition of native peoples. The party was banned by Leguía and was again outlawed after Sánchez Cerro overthrew Leguía in 1930. The 1930s were marked by a bitter rivalry between leftists and rightists. A more moderate course was followed by President Manuel Prado y Ugarteche (1939–1945). Peru was involved in a serious border dispute with Ecuador in 1941 signed by both countries on January 29, 1942. Respecting the 1936 boundary, territory was confirmed as belonging to Peru; it ran from Jaen in the SW to Iquitos at the junction of the Ecuador–Columbian border. The area (125,000 sq mi/325,000 sq km) at the center of the dispute contains oil (the dispute flared up again in 1981 and 1995). Peru sided with the Allies in World War II.
History - 1945 to 1975
APRA was allowed to take part in the 1945 elections and backed the victorious moderate, José Luís Bustamante y Rivero. However, APRA split with Bustamante in 1947, and the resulting disputes led to a military coup by Manuel Odría in 1948. Odría, a conservative, was president until 1956, when Prado was again elected president, this time with APRA support. Under Odría and Prado (who was in office until 1962), Peru’s economic situation improved because of increased sales and U.S. loans. The military seized power and conducted elections in 1963 that were won by Fernando Belaúnde Terry, a moderate reformer. Belaúnde’s regime was plagued by budgetary deficits, reduced sales abroad, spiraling inflation, and poor relations with foreign companies active in Peru. In 1968 he was deposed by a military junta, which installed General Juan Velasco Alvarado as president at the head of a revolutionary government. Velasco suspended the constitution and assumed dictatorial powers. He sought to diversify the country’s economy by exploiting systematically its natural resources (especially petroleum) with foreign help but without foreign control. In 1970 a severe earthquake in N Peru killed about 50,000 people.
History - 1975 to Present
In 1975, General Francisco Morales Bermúdez headed the formation of a new junta, and in 1980, a new constitution came into force and civilian government was restored. Both Morales and his successor, Fernando Belaúnde Terry, instituted austerity programs to aid the failing economy. As a result, riots and strikes broke out all over the country. Much of the unrest was led by a Maoist guerrilla group based in the Andes mountains known as the Shining Path and by the Tupac Amaro Revolutionary Movement (MRTA). In 1981, there was a five-day war between Ecuador and Peru, when Peruvian forces drove Ecuadorian troops away from three military posts. Ecuador renounced the Rio protocol, based on claims to the Maranon River and an historic desire for an outlet to the Amazon. Alan García Pérez, elected president in 1985, instituted a broad range of social and economic reforms, but the cost of military actions against the insurgents continued to strain the economy. In 1990, Alberto Fujimori defeated author Mario Vargas Llosa for the presidency. Insurgent violence continued into the 1990s. By the time the leader of the Shining Path, Abimael Guzmán Reynoso, was captured in September 1992, over 25,000 people had been killed and over $20 billion in property had been destroyed. Fujimori won reelection to a third term in 2000, but his corrupt regime and pressure from the international community led to his ouster the same year.
Government
Under the 1980 constitution, Peru’s chief executive and head of state is the president, who is directly elected along with the legislature every five years. Legislative power is vested in a bicameral parliament, consisting of the sixty-member senate and the 180-member chamber of deputies. The current president is Alejandro Teoledo Manrique, who was elected in 2001 after a care-taker government was put in place between Furjimori's leaving office in 2000 and the time of the election.
