Perú - The Great Incas

Heir to ancient cultures and a rich colonial tradition, Perú is a magical spot which involves one of the richest biodiversities of Earth, and is a melting pot of different cultures who together are forging the promise of a better future.

Perú is South America's fourth largest country, covering 1,285,215 sq. km., and can be divided into three distinct geographic regions. The best known of these is the central high sierra of the Andes, with its massive peaks, steep canyons, and extraordinary pre Columbian archaeological sites. The Andes are still one of the world's most unstable mountain ranges, with frequent earthquakes, landslides, and flash floods. Despite such instability, the Andes are also the site of the most fascinating pre-Columbian cities of South America-like the great city of the clouds, Machu Picchu.

Perú is best known as the heart of the Inca empire, but it was home to many diverse indigenous cultures long before the Incas arrived. Although there is evidence of human habitation in Perú as long ago as the eighth millennium BC , there is little evidence of organized village life until about 2500 BC. It was at about this time that climatic changes in the coastal regions prompted Perú's early inhabitants to move toward the more fertile interior river valleys. For the next 1500 years, Perúvian civilization developed into a number of organized cultures, including the Chavìn and the Sechìn.

It's the multiple layers of great civilisations which make Perú so intriguing. You can wander around colonial cities which have preserved the legacy of the Spanish conquistadors, visit the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco, explore the lost city of Machu Picchu and ponder the enigma of the Nazca Lines.

It also has some of the most spectacular and varied scenery in South America. The Perúvian Andes are arguably the most beautiful on the continent and the mountains are home to millions of highland Indians who still speak the ancient tongue of Quechua and maintain a traditional way of life.

The Andes are by no means the only region to visit in Perú. Also of great interest is Perú's narrow, lowland coastal region, a northern extension of the Atacama Desert. Although the Atacama is generally known as the most arid region on the planet, the climate along Perú's shores is made cooler and less dry by La Garuùa, a dense fog created by the collision of the frigid waters of the Humboldt Current with the heated sands of the Atacama. Lima, Trujillo, and Chiclayo, three of Perú's major population centres, are located along this coastal desert.

Perú's third great region is the dense forest that surrounds the headwaters of the Amazon beneath the eastern slopes of the Andes. This part of the country is so inaccessible that only the most adventurous and intrepid travelers should attempt to penetrate its mysterious emerald depths. In fact, the region's capital of Iquitos, a city of 400,000, is accessible only by air or by boat up the Amazon.

And then there's the natural world. The verdant Amazon Basin, which occupies half of Perú, is one of the world's top 10 biodiversity 'hot spots' - a species-rich area of tropical rain forest that will make your head spin when you start to learn about its ecology. And the coastal deserts, with their huge rolling dunes, farmland oases and fishing villages, are underappreciated by travellers but offer the opportunity to get off the Gringo Trail in a big way

Full country name: Republic of Perú
Area: 1.28 million sq km
Population: 28 million
People: 54% Indian, 32% Mestizo (mixed European and Indian descent), 12% Spanish descent, 2% Black, Asian minority
Language: Spanish, Aymara, Quechua
Religion: Over 90% Roman Catholic, small Protestant population
Government: constitutional republic
 

GDP: US$111.8 billion
GDP per capita: US$4,300
Inflation: 2%
Major Industries: Pulp, paper, coca leaves, fishmeal, steel, chemicals, oil, minerals,cement, auto assembly, steel, shipbuilding.
Major Trading Partners: USA, Japan, UK, China, Germany, Columbia.

For more information please visit: Perú Official Site

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