Peru is a South American country with mountains,
rainforests, and a coastal region.
Peru is in the northern part of South America. To the west, it borders the Pacific
Ocean. It also borders five different countries: Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia,
and Chile. Almost 9 million people live in Lima, Peru’s capital and also its largest
city. This makes Lima the second-largest city in South America. The country’s
president is Ollanta Humala. He was elected in 2011.
Peru has three different geographical areas. The first is the country’s Pacific coast,
which is very hot and dry. The second is defined by the Andes mountain range,
which runs through the middle of Peru. Llamas are very important for getting
around in the Peruvian Andes; they are great climbers, and they can carry heavy
loads. They have been pack animals since the days of the Inca Empire. The Inca
was the biggest civilization in pre-Columbian South America, meaning the period
before Christopher Columbus and other European explorers conquered the area.
The third geographic region, located east of the Andes, consists of a huge rainforest
that covers more than half the country. This rainforest contains an incredible
number of different plant and animal species. In fact, Peru has more bird species
than any other country on Earth. Much of the Peruvian rainforest remains
unexplored.
Peru was the center of the Inca Empire; today
its people come from many cultures.
Peru was the first center of Native American culture. In fact, its first cities were
already built before construction started on the Egyptian pyramids. Many of Peru’s
Native people still live in the Andean region. They still speak Quecha, a language
that was already widely spoken before the rise of the Inca Empire in 1438 C.E.
The Inca controlled almost the entire west coast of South America for nearly
100 years. But the Inca people were devastated by the smallpox virus, which was
brought over by Spanish explorers. In 1533 C.E., the Spanish explorer Francisco
Pizarro captured and killed Atahualpa, the “Sapa Inca,” or emperor. This ended the
Inca as a political force, and Peru continued as a colony of Spain for almost 300
years.
In the early 1800s, two men led the movement to win independence from Spain:
Simón Bolívar, from Venezuela, and Argentine general José de San Martín. After
winning independence for Argentina and Chile, San Martín marched into Lima
and declared independence on July 28th, 1821. He is considered Peru’s national
hero.
Peruvians come from many different backgrounds in addition to Native American
and Spanish. Approximately five percent of the population is descended from
Asian people who came across the Pacific Ocean to settle in Lima. For this reason,
Peru has the largest Chinese population in South America and the second-largest
Japanese population, behind Brazil.
There are also many Peruvians with African backgrounds. Spain brought many
Africans to Peru as slaves. They retained much of their original culture and kept
it going after attaining freedom. This legacy lives on through dance and music
traditions. Peru Negro and other musical groups have become popular in the
country by keeping this music alive. They employ Afro-Peruvian instruments such
as the cajón, a percussion instrument that doubles as the musician’s seat.