Peru

Facts & Figures

Map of Peru
  • President: Ollanta Humala (2011)

    Prime Minister: Pedro Cateriano (2015)

    Land area: 494,208 sq mi (1,279,999 sq km); total area: 496,223 sq mi (1,285,220 sq km)

    Population (2014 est.): 30,147,935 (growth rate: 0.99%); birth rate: 18.57/1000; infant mortality rate: 20.21/1000; life expectancy: 73.23

    Capital and largest city (2011 est.): Lima, 9.13 million

    Other large city: Arequipa, 804,000

    Monetary unit: Nuevo sol (1991)

    National name: República del Perú

    Current government officials

    Languages: Spanish 84.1%, Quéchua 13%; Aymara 1.7% (all three official); many minor Amazonian languages

    Ethnicity/race: Amerindian 45%, mestizo 37%, white 15%, black, Japanese, Chinese, and other 3%

    Religion: Roman Catholic 81.3%, Evangelical 12.5%, other 3.3%, unspecified or none 2.9% (2007 est.)

    Literacy rate: 89.6% (2007 est.)

    Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2013 est.): $344 billion; per capita $11,100. Real growth rate:5.1%. Inflation: 2.9%. Unemployment: 3.6% (2012) in metropolitan Lima; widespread underemployment. Arable land: 2.84%. Agriculture: asparagus, coffee, cocoa, cotton, sugarcane, rice, potatoes, corn, plantains, grapes, oranges, pineapples, guavas, bananas, apples, lemons, pears, coca, tomatoes, mangoes, barley, medicinal plants, palm oil, marigold, onion, wheat, dry beans; poultry, beef, pork, dairy products; guinea pigs; fish. Labor force: 15.90 million (2013 est.); agriculture 6.2%, industry 37.5%, services 56.3% (2013). Industries: 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. Natural resources: copper, silver, gold, petroleum, timber, fish, iron ore, coal, phosphate, potash, hydropower, natural gas. Exports: $41.48 billion (2013 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. Imports: $42.13 billion (2013 est.): petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, plastics, machinery, vehicles, color TV sets, power shovels, front-end loaders, telephones and telecommunication equipment, iron and steel, wheat, corn, soybean products, paper, cotton, vaccines and medicines. Major trading partners: U.S., China, Canada, Japan, Spain, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Argentina, Mexico. (2012).

    Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 3.42 million (2012); mobile cellular: 29.4 million (2012). Radio broadcast stations: in excess of 2,000 (2010). Television broadcast stations: 10 (2010). Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 234,102 (2012). Internet users: 9.158 million (2009).

    Transportation: Railways: total: 1,907 km (2012). Highways: total: 140,672 km (2012). Waterways: 8,808 km, 8,600 km of navigable tributaries of Amazon system and 208 km of Lago Titicaca (2011). Ports and harbors: Callao, Chimbote, Ilo, Matarani, Paita, Puerto Maldonado, Salaverry, San Martin, Talara, Iquitos, Pucallpa, Yurimaguas; note: Iquitos, Pucallpa, and Yurimaguas are all on the upper reaches of the Amazon and its tributaries. Airports: 191 (2013).

    International disputes: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 equidistant 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.

    Major sources and definitions

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