Peru

agricultural land:

18.8%;

• arable land 3.1%;
• permanent crops 1.1%;
• permanent pasture 14.6%

forest:

53%

other:

28.2% (2011 est.)

• approximately one-third of the population resides along the desert coastal belt in the west, with a strong focus on the capital city of Lima;
• the Andean highlands, or sierra, which is strongly identified with the country's Amerindian population, contains roughly half of the overall population;
• the eastern slopes of the Andes, and adjoining rainforest, are sparsely populated

• 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

party to:

Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

• 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

noun:

Peruvian(s)

adjective:

Peruvian

• approximately one-third of the population resides along the desert coastal belt in the west, with a strong focus on the capital city of Lima;
• the Andean highlands, or sierra, which is strongly identified with the country's Amerindian population, contains roughly half of the overall population;
• the eastern slopes of the Andes, and adjoining rainforest, are sparsely populated

at birth:

1.05 male(s)/female

0-14 years:

1.04 male(s)/female

15-24 years:

1 male(s)/female

25-54 years:

0.92 male(s)/female

55-64 years:

0.94 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.9 male(s)/female

total population:

0.97 male(s)/female (2016 est.)

conventional long form:

Republic of Peru

conventional short form:

Peru

local long form:

Republica del Peru

local short form:

Peru

etymology:

exact meaning is obscure, but the name may derive from a native word "biru" meaning "river"

name:

Lima

geographic coordinates:

12 03 S, 77 03 W

time difference:

UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC, during Standard Time)

• 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

note: Callao, the largest port in Peru, is also referred to as a constitutional province, the only province of the Callao region

• several previous;
• latest promulgated 29 December 1993, enacted 31 December 1993;
• amended several times, last in 2015 (2016)

citizenship by birth:

yes

citizenship by descent:

yes

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

2 years

chief of state:

• President Pedro Pablo KUCZYNSKI Godard (since 28 July 2016);
• First Vice President Martin Alberto VIZCARRA Cornejo (since 28 July 2016);
• Second Vice President Mercedes Rosalba ARAOZ Fernandez (since 28 July 2016);
• note - the president is both chief of state and head of government

head of government:

• President Pedro Pablo KUCZYNSKI Godard (since 28 July 2016);
• First Vice President Martin Alberto VIZCARRA Cornejo (since 28 July 2016);
• Second Vice President Mercedes Rosalba ARAOZ Fernandez (since 28 July 2016)

cabinet:

Council of Ministers appointed by the president

elections/appointments:

• president directly elected by absolute majority popular vote in 2 rounds if needed for a 5-year term (eligible for nonconsecutive terms);
• election last held on 10 April 2016 with runoff on 5 June 2016 (next to be held in April 2021)

election results:

• Pedro Pablo KUCZYNSKI Godard elected president in second round;
• percent of vote in first round - Keiko FUJIMORI Higuchi (Fuerza Popular) 39.9%, Pedro Pablo KUCZYNSKI Godard (Peruanos Por el Kambio) 21.1%, Veronika MENDOZA (Broad Front) 18.7%, Alfredo BARNECHEA (Popular Action) 7%, Alan GARCIA (APRA) 5.8%, other 7.5%;
• percent of vote in second round - Pedro Pablo KUCZYNSKI Godard 50.1%, Keiko FUJIMORI Higuchi 49.9%

note: Prime Minister Mercedes Rosalba ARAOZ Fernandez (since 17 September 2017) does not exercise executive power; this power rests with the president

description:

unicameral Congress of the Republic of Peru or Congreso de la Republica del Peru (130 seats; members directly elected in multi-seat constituencies by closed party-list proportional representation vote to serve 5-year terms)

elections:

last held on 10 April 2016 with run-off election on 6 June 2016 (next to be held in April 2021)

election results:

• percent of vote by party/coalition - Fuerza Popular 36.3%, PPK 16.5%, Frente Amplio 13.9%, APP 9.2%;
• APRA 8.3%;
• AP 7.2%, other 8.6%;
• seats by party/coalition - Fuerza Popular 73, Frente Amplio 20, PPK 18, APP 9;
• APRA 5;
• AP 5

highest court(s):

Supreme Court (consists of 16 judges and divided into civil, criminal, and constitutional-social sectors)

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;
• 2 types of peace courts in which professional judges and selected members of the local communities preside

chief of mission:

Ambassador Carlos Jose PAREJA Rios (since 16 September 2016)

chancery:

1700 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036

telephone:

[1] (202) 833-9860 through 9869

FAX:

[1] (202) 659-8124

consulate(s) general:

Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Hartford (CT), Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paterson (NJ), San Francisco, Washington DC

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Mark WELLS (since 13 October 2017)

embassy:

Avenida La Encalada, Cuadra 17 s/n, Surco, Lima 33

mailing address:

P. O. Box 1995, Lima 1; American Embassy (Lima), APO AA 34031-5000

telephone:

[51] (1) 618-2000

FAX:

[51] (1) 618-2397

• 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

name:

"Himno Nacional del Peru" (National Anthem of Peru)

lyrics/music:

Jose DE LA TORRE Ugarte/Jose Bernardo ALZEDO

note: adopted 1822; the song won a national anthem contest

• artichokes, asparagus, avocados, blueberries, coffee, cocoa, cotton, sugarcane, rice, potatoes, corn, plantains, grapes, oranges, pineapples, guavas, bananas, apples, lemons, pears, coca, tomatoes, mangoes, barley, medicinal plants, quinoa, palm oil, marigolds, onions, wheat, dry beans;
• poultry, beef, pork, dairy products;
• guinea pigs;
• fish

• 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

agriculture:

25.8%

industry:

17.4%

services:

56.8% (2011)

lowest 10%:

1.4%

highest 10%:

36.1% (2010 est.)

• 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

general assessment:

adequate for most requirements; nationwide microwave radio relay system and a domestic satellite system with 12 earth stations

domestic:

• fixed-line teledensity is only about 10 per 100 persons;
• mobile-cellular teledensity, spurred by competition among multiple providers, now 120 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) (2016)

• 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 2,000 radio stations including a substantial number of indigenous language stations (2010)

number of registered air carriers:

7; inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 35

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

13,907,948

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

223,643,434 mt-km (2015)

• extra heavy crude 786 km;
• gas 1,526 km;
• liquid petroleum gas 679 km;
• oil 1,033 km;
• refined products 15 km (2013)

total:

1,854.4 km

standard gauge:

1,730.4 km 1.435-m gauge (34 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

124 km 0.914-m gauge (2014)

country comparison to the world: 74

total:

22

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)

country comparison to the world: 92

major seaport(s):

Callao, Matarani, Paita

river port(s):

Iquitos, Pucallpa, Yurimaguas (Amazon)

oil terminal(s):

Conchan oil terminal, La Pampilla oil terminal

container port(s) (TEUs):

Callao (1,616,365)

• the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial waters of Peru are a risk for armed robbery against ships;
• in 2016, 11 attacks against commercial vessels were reported up from none in 2015;
• most of these occured in the main port of Callao

• 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

• 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 53,000 hectares in 2015, an increase of 14 per cent over 2014;
• second largest producer of cocaine, estimated at 380 metric tons of potential pure cocaine in 2015;
• 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