Peru

• 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

noun:

Peruvian(s)

adjective:

Peruvian

total:

30.2 years (2024 est.)

male:

29.1 years

female:

31.3 years

• 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

15-64 years:

0.96 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.75 male(s)/female

total population:

0.96 male(s)/female (2024 est.)

total:

10.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)

male:

11.9 deaths/1,000 live births

female:

9.7 deaths/1,000 live births

total population:

68.9 years (2024 est.)

male:

65.4 years

female:

72.7 years

total:

5.74 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

beer:

3.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

wine:

0.46 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

spirits:

2.26 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

other alcohols:

0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)

total:

8.1% (2020 est.)

male:

13.2% (2020 est.)

female:

3% (2020 est.)

women married by age 15:

2%

women married by age 18:

14.1% (2020 est.)

• deforestation (some the result of illegal logging);
• overgrazing leading to soil erosion;
• desertification;
• air pollution in Lima;
• pollution of rivers and coastal waters from municipal and mining wastes;
• overfishing

urban population:

78.9% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization:

1.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

particulate matter emissions:

29.07 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions:

57.41 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions:

30.17 megatons (2020 est.)

municipal solid waste generated annually:

8,356,711 tons (2014 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually:

334,268 tons (2012 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled:

4% (2012 est.)

municipal:

2.24 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial:

3.51 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural:

32.8 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

total global geoparks and regional networks:

1

global geoparks and regional networks:

Colca y Volcanes de Andagua (2023)

conventional long form:

Republic of Peru

conventional short form:

Peru

local long form:

República del Perú

local short form:

Perú

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)

etymology:

• the word "Lima" derives from the Spanish pronunciation of "Limaq," the native name for the valley in which the city was founded in 1535;
• "limaq" means "talker" in coastal Quechua and referred to an oracle that was situated in the valley but which was eventually destroyed by the Spanish and replaced with a church

• 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

history:

several previous; latest promulgated 29 December 1993, enacted 31 December 1993

amendments:

• proposed by Congress, by the president of the republic with the approval of the Council of Ministers or by petition of at least 0.3% of voters;
• passage requires absolute majority approval by the Congress membership, followed by approval in a referendum;
• a referendum is not required if Congress approves the amendment by greater than two-thirds majority vote in each of two successive sessions;
• amended many times, last in 2021

citizenship by birth:

yes

citizenship by descent only:

yes

dual citizenship recognized:

yes

residency requirement for naturalization:

2 years

description:

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

elections:

last held on 11 April 2021 (next to be held in April 2026)

election results:

• percent of vote by party/coalition - NA;
• seats by party/coalition - Free Peru 32, Popular Force 24, AP 15, APP 15, AvP 10, RP 9, Democratic Peru 7, We Are Peru 5, PP 5, JP 5, Purple Party 3;
• composition - men 80, women 50, percentage women 40%

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 Board of Justice (a 7-member independent body), nominated by the president, and confirmed by the Congress;
• justices can serve until mandatory retirement at 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

• Advance the Nation (Avanza País) or AvP
• Alliance for Progress (Alianza para el Progreso) or APP
• Broad Front (Frente Amplio) or FA
• Free Peru (Perú Libre) or PL
• Front for Hope (Frente Esperanza)
• Magisterial Block of National Concentration (Bloque Magisterial de Concertación Nacional) or BMCN
• National Victory (Victoria Nacional) or VN
• Peru Bicentennial (Perú Bicentenario) or PB
• Popular Action (Acción Popular) or AP
• Popular Force (Fuerza Popular) or FP
• Popular Renewal (Renovación Popular) or RP
• Purple Party (Partido Morado)
• Social Integration Party (Avanza País - Partido de Integración Social)
• Together For Perú (Juntos por el Peru) or JP
• We Are Peru (Somos Perú) of SP
• We Can Peru (Podemos Perú) or PP

chief of mission:

Ambassador Stephanie SYPTAK-RAMNATH (since 20 June 2024)

embassy:

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

mailing address:

3230 Lima Place, Washington DC 20521-3230

telephone:

[51] (1) 618-2000

FAX:

[51] (1) 618-2724

email address and website:

[email protected]; https://pe.usembassy.gov/

• 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

total World Heritage Sites:

13 (9 cultural, 2 natural, 2 mixed)

selected World Heritage Site locales:

• Cuzco (c);
• Machu Picchu (m);
• Chavin (c);
• Historic Lima (c);
• Huascarán National Park (n);
• Chan Chan (c);
• Manú National Park (n);
• Lines and Geoglyphs of Nazca (c);
• Rio Abiseo National Park (m);
• Historic Arequipa (c);
• Sacred City of Caral-Supe (c);
• Qhapaq Ñan/Andean Road System (c)

• upper-middle-income South American economy;
• strong post-COVID rebound tempered by political uncertainty and climate risks;
• exports driven by mineral extraction and agriculture;
• large informal sector and uneven access to public services;
• stable fiscal position and financial sector

Fitch rating:

BBB+ (2013)

Moody's rating:

A3 (2014)

Standard & Poors rating: BBB+ (2013)

note: The year refers to the year in which the current credit rating was first obtained.

agriculture:

7.1% (2022 est.)

industry:

35% (2022 est.)

services:

49.6% (2022 est.)

note: figures may not total 100% due to non-allocated consumption not captured in sector-reported data

• 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

total:

8.8% (2023 est.)

male:

7.8% (2023 est.)

female:

10% (2023 est.)

note: % of labor force ages 15-24 seeking employment

on food:

26.6% of household expenditures (2022 est.)

on alcohol and tobacco:

2.4% of household expenditures (2022 est.)

lowest 10%:

2.1% (2022 est.)

highest 10%:

30.7% (2022 est.)

note: % share of income accruing to lowest and highest 10% of population

production:

153,000 metric tons (2022 est.)

consumption:

712,000 metric tons (2022 est.)

exports:

1.159 million metric tons (2022 est.)

imports:

356,000 metric tons (2022 est.)

proven reserves:

1.567 billion metric tons (2022 est.)

total petroleum production:

118,000 bbl/day (2023 est.)

refined petroleum consumption:

210,000 bbl/day (2022 est.)

crude oil estimated reserves:

858.89 million barrels (2021 est.)

production:

12.27 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

consumption:

7.185 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

exports:

5.041 billion cubic meters (2022 est.)

proven reserves:

300.159 billion cubic meters (2021 est.)

general assessment:

• after suffering a sharp retraction in the number of subscriptions and revenue during 2020 due to the pandemic, Peru’s telecom sector managed to stage a small recovery in the first half of 2021;
• it will likely be two to three years before penetration rates return to the peak levels last seen in 2018;
• this is especially true given the overwhelming influence of mobile on Peru’s telecommunications market, which now commands almost 95% of all connections;
• Peru’s fixed-line teledensity continued its slow dropping below 7% at the end of 2021;
• investment in network infrastructure is mainly focused on rolling out fiber cable for fixed broadband services in (mainly) urban areas;
• fixed broadband services inched higher to reach 8.4% at the end of 2020, a positive result that reflected the shift to working from home during enforced lock downs at the start of the year;
• yet Peru has a relatively low level of computer use, and prices for fixed broadband services are among the highest in Latin America;
• the overwhelmingly preferred internet access platform will remain the smartphone, with a further 8.6% growth in the number of mobile broadband subscriptions expected in 2021 (2021)

domestic:

fixed-line teledensity is 7 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular teledensity is 128 telephones per 100 persons (2021)

international:

• country code - 51;
• landing points for the SAM-1, IGW, American Movil-Telxius, SAC and PAN-AM submarine cable systems that provide links to parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, and US;
• satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean) (2019)

• 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 5,000 radio stations including a substantial number of indigenous language stations (2021)

number of registered air carriers:

6 (2020); inventory of registered aircraft operated by air carriers: 62

annual passenger traffic on registered air carriers:

17,758,527 (2018)

annual freight traffic on registered air carriers:

313.26 million (2018) mt-km

total:

1,854.4 km (2017)

standard gauge:

1,730.4 km (2014) 1.435-m gauge (34 km electrified)

narrow gauge:

124 km (2014) 0.914-m gauge

total:

70,000 km (2021)

paved:

18,699 km (2022)

note: includes 27,109 km of national roads (21,434 km paved), 247,505 km of departmental roads (3,623 km paved), and 113,857 km of local roads (1,858 km paved)

total ports:

20 (2024)

large:

0

medium:

1

small:

3

very small:

16

ports with oil terminals:

16

key ports:

Bahia de Matarani, Iquitos, Puerto del Callao, Talara