PERU AT A GLANCE

With an area of 1,285,215 square km, Peru is the third-largest country in South America after Brazil and Argentina, ranking it amongst the world's 20 largest nations. Peru also claims territorial rights to an area of 60 million hectares in the Antarctic.  Peru is a megadiverse country. Because of its extreem morphology Peru counts with 83 of the 105 ecological zones in the world. With more than 1800 bird species Peru is the secondmost diverse country after Colombia in birds and gives home to 10 percent of the world’s bird species. With more than 4000 butterfly species Peru has more than 20 % of the worlds butterfly species.

The Peruvian lowland rainforest, the cloudforest and the northern peruvian dryforest have been declared biological hotspots by several national and international conservation organisms. Peru counts with high values of endemic species. In the Peruvian sea we can find more than 1000 species of fish, more than 1400 molusk species and more than 600 crustacean species. More than 30 species of whales and dolphins (37 % of the world’s whale and dolphin species) have been regisetered in Peruvian waters.

Peru has a population of over 26 million inhabitants. Of this population, 72.3% lives in urban areas and 27.7% in rural areas. Peru has a democratic government and is divided into 24 regions, plus the Constitutional Province of Callao. The city of Lima, located in the central coast, is the capital of Peru.Throughout its history, Peru has been a melting pot for different nations and cultures. The Incas where overthrown 500 years ago by the Spaniards. The following centuries saw the arrival of African slaves a later migration of Asian and European people. Peru is a nation whose rich ethnical diversity is one of its leading characteristics.