PROFILE

OFFICIAL NAME:
Republic of Peru

Geography
Area: 1.28 million sq. km. (496,225 sq. mi.). Peru is the third-largest country in South America and is approximately three times the size of California.
Cities: Lima (capital), Arequipa, Chiclayo, Cuzco, Huancayo, Ica, Trujillo, Ayacucho, Piura, Iquitos, Chimbote.
Terrain: Western arid coastal plains, central rugged Andean mountains, and eastern lowlands with tropical forests that are part of the Amazon basin.
Climate: Arid and mild in coastal area, temperate to frigid in the Andes, and warm and humid in the jungle lowlands.

People
Nationality: Peruvian.
Ethnic groups: Indigenous (45%), mixed background ("mestizo") (37%), European (15%), African, Japanese, Chinese, and other (3%).
Population: 28.3 million (July 2006). Approximately 30% of the population lives in the Lima/Callao metropolitan area.
Annual population growth rate (2006 est.): 1.32%.
Religions: Roman Catholic (85%), Protestant (10%).
Languages: Spanish is the principal language. Quechua, Aymara and other indigenous languages also have official status.
Education: Years compulsory--11. Attendance--92% ages 6-11, and 66% ages 12-16. Literacy--95% in urban areas, 77% in rural areas.
Health: Infant mortality rate (2006)--30.94/1,000. Life expectancy (2006)--68.05 years male; 71.71 years female.
Unemployment (2005): 9.6%; underemployment (2005): 54.9%.

Government
Type: Constitutional republic.
Independence: July 28, 1821.
Constitution: December 31, 1993.
Branches: Executive--President, two Vice Presidents, and a Council of Ministers led by a Prime Minister. Legislative--Unicameral Congress. Judicial--Four-tier court structure consisting of Supreme Court and lower courts.
Administrative divisions: 25 departments subdivided into 180 provinces and 1,747 districts.
Political parties: Alianza Popular Revolucionaria Americana (APRA), National Unity (UN), Peru Posible (PP), Popular Action (AP), Union for Peru (UPP), Solucion Popular, Somos Peru (SP).
Suffrage: Universal and mandatory for citizens 18 to 70.

Economy
GDP (2005): $78.4 billion.
Annual growth rate (2005): 6.7%.
Per capita GDP (2005): $2,806.
Natural resources: Iron ore, copper, gold, silver, zinc, lead, fish, petroleum, natural gas, and forestry.
Manufacturing (14.9% of GDP, 2004): Types--Food and beverages, textiles and apparel, nonferrous and precious metals, nonmetallic minerals, petroleum refining, paper, chemicals, iron and steel, fishmeal.
Agriculture (8.3% of GDP, 2004): Products--Coffee, asparagus, paprika, artichoke, sugarcane, potato, rice, banana, maize, poultry, milk, others.
Other sectors (by percentage of GDP in 2004): Services (55.0%), mining (6.6%), construction (4.8%), fisheries (0.5%).
Trade: Exports (2005)--$17 billion: gold, copper, fishmeal, petroleum, zinc, textiles, apparel, asparagus and coffee. Major markets (2005)--U.S. (30%), China (11%), Chile (6.6%), Canada (6.0%), Switzerland (4.6%), Japan (3.6%), Spain (3.3%), Netherlands (3.1%). Imports (2005)--$12.5 billion: machinery, vehicles, processed food, petroleum and steel. Major suppliers (2005)--U.S. (17.7%), China (8.5%), Brazil (8.2%), Ecuador (7.3%), Colombia (6.2%).

PEOPLE
Peru is the fifth most populous country in Latin America (after Brazil, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina). Twenty-one cities have a population of 100,000 or more. Rural migration has increased the urban population from 35.4% of the total population in 1940 to an estimated 73% today.