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PERU PROFILE : Peru Country Profile

PERU

The Republic of Peru, (Spanish: República del Perú pron. IPA [re'pu.βli.ka del pe'ru]), or Peru, is a country in western South America, bordering Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil to the east, Bolivia to the east, south-east and south, Chile to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Peru is rich in cultural anthropology, and is well-known as the cradle of the Inca empire.

History

Francisco Pizarro landed on the Peruvian coast in 1532, and by the end of the 1530s the Viceroyalty of Peru encompassed all of Spain's territories in South America. The Viceroyalty was a major source of gold and silver for the Spanish Empire. Lima was one of the two most important cities in Spain's empire in America, the other being Mexico City. Peru declared its independence from Spain on July 28, 1821 thanks to an alliance between the Chilean/Argentinian army of José de San Martín, and the Neogranadine Army of Simón Bolívar. Its first elected president, however, was not in power until 1827. From 1836 to 1839 Peru and Bolivia were united in the Peru-Bolivian Confederacy, dissolved only after an internal conflict. Between these years, political unrest did not fade away, with the Army as an important political force. In 1879, Chile declared war against Bolivia in response to the fact that Bolivia had changed the tax rules regarding Chilean business activities in the Bolivian province of Antofagasta. Since Peru had made a secret political alliance with Bolivia prior to this conflict, Peru was obliged to declare war against Chile. This was referred to as the War of the Pacific which lasted from 1879 until 1883 with Chile's victory. The war ended with the loss of the department of Tarapacá and the provinces of Tacna and Arica. After the Chilean occupation ended, Peru was engulfed by internal political strife and civil war. Political stability was achieved only during the early years of the 1900s. In 1929 Peru and Chile signed a peace treaty (Treaty of Ancon) by which Tacna was to be returned to Peru and Peru yielded permanently the rich province of Arica, although keeping certain rights to the port activities in Arica. Between 1941 and 1995 there were a series of three wars between Peru and Ecuador over the control of the territory in the northern part of modern-day Peru. Disputes over the territory originated as far back as colonial times but actual wars between those two countries started in 1941. The dispute officially ended in 1998, when Peru obtained all the disputed territory mainly because of military victory. It is said that the country received its name from a Spanish pronunciation of the Belu River.

Geography

The Lima Province, located in the central coast of the country, is unique in that it doesn't belong to any of the twenty-five regions. The city of Lima is located in this province, which is also known as Lima Metropolitana (Metropolitan Lima).

Until 2002, Peru was divided into 24 departments (departamentos) plus one constitutional province (Callao), and many people still use this term when referring to today's regions, although it is now obsolete.

Current Peruvian regions are:

Amazonas
Ancash
Apurímac
Arequipa
Ayacucho
Cajamarca
Callao
Cusco
Huancavelica
Huánuco
Ica
Junín
La Libertad
Lambayeque
Lima
Loreto
Madre de Dios
Moquegua
Pasco
Piura
Puno
San Martín
Tacna
Tumbes
Ucayali

Politics

The current president is Alejandro Toledo, leader of Perú Posible, he was elected with 53% of the votes in second ballot in the 2001 election defeating former socialist president Alberto Fujimori. This governing party is, with 45 seats, the largest in the 120-seat parliament.

The second and third largest parties are in opposition; respectively Partido Aprista Peruano (short: PAP, 28 seats), which is led by Alan García Pérez, and Unidad Nacional (short: UN, 17 seats), which is led by Lourdes Flores Nano. During the 1980s, political instability, mainly due to insurgency and economic crisis, was the main issue in Peru. After the government of president Fujimori during the 1990s, the reforms have changed the country.

The next presidential election will be held on Sunday April the 9th 2006, and more than 16 million Peruvians will be able to vote worldwide.

Economy

The Peruvian economy has become increasingly market oriented, with major privatizations completed since 1990 in the mining, electric/power, and telecommunications industries. Thanks to strong foreign investment and the cooperation between the former Fujimori administration, the IMF, and the World Bank, growth was strong in 1994–97 and inflation was brought under control. In 1998, El Niño's impact on agriculture, the financial crisis in Asia, and instability in Brazilian markets undercut growth. 1999 was another lean year for Peru, with the aftermath of El Niño and the Asian financial crisis working its way through the economy. Lima did manage to complete negotiations for an Extended Fund Facility with the IMF in June 1999, although it subsequently had to renegotiate the targets. Pressure on spending grew in the run-up to the 2000 elections. Growth up to 2005 has been driven by construction, investment, domestic demand, and exports to different world regions. Peru's economy is one of the better-managed in Latin America. Over the next few years, the country is likely to attract both domestic and foreign investment in the tourism, agriculture, mining, construction, industry, petroleum and natural gas, and power industries.

According to The Economist, the Peruvian economy achieved the sixth largest growth worldwide in 2005. It has taken steps to consolidate a possible free trade agreement with United States of America by April 2006; both countries wait for the approval of the terms by their respective congresses. Peru is negotiating a Free Trade Agreement with Chile which may be finished by March 2006. Peru currently has a free trade agreemente with the Andean Community, which is composed of Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia and Venezuela. It also holds free trade agreements with many of the countries in Mercosur as well as Thailand, and during the recent APEC summit, Peru voiced intentions to sign free trade agreements with China, Japan, South Korea and Singapore. It is also pushing for a free trade agreement with the European Union. All these negotiations will broadly expand the markets in which the Peruvian products are traded. Peru has a great export potential in agricultural products (coffee, asparagus, paprika, artichokes, bananas, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, tropical fruits-such as oranges, lemons, limes, papayas, pineapples, peaches, coconuts, sugar, cotton, potatoes -where it is originally from- flowers, avocadoes, olives, mangoes, apples, grapes, ethanol -byproduct of sugar cane), textiles and clothing, shoes, petroleum derivatives (gasolines, light oil, plastics, synthetic fibers, etc), natural gas, minerals (copper, gold, molibdenum, silver, zinc, plumbum, antimonium, etc), as well as fish and seafood products (oil fish, tuna, shrimp, Peruvian King crab, etc), tourism, and manufacturing (electrical and electronic equipment and machinery, automobiles, assembly parts for equipment, hydraulic pumps, ships, small aircraft, sub-assemblies, etc). In 2005 Peruvian exports reached US$ 17.1 billion (an increase of 34.6% compared to 2004) and it is expected to grow 35% for this year reaching US$23.5 billion at the end of 2006. Also, the economy has shown a healthy grow in all its sectors (energy, construction, commerce, fishing, manufacturing, tourism, etc) in 2005 growing over 6.3% (one of the fastest growth rates in the world) and it is projected to grow a strong 7% for 2006 considering that commodity prices, which Peru is a great producer, will have an estimated increment of 25% on average. Unfortunately poverty in Peru is still very high, with a rate of 51,6% of the total population.

For the next five years (until 2010) the Peruvian government has registered over US$ 10 billion in private investment (both domestic and foreign) in the mining and energy sectors, as well as investments of US$ 15 billion in other sectors such as industry, commerce, tourism, seafood and agriculture, which will keep the economy growing at healthy levels of 5% or more, anually. It is possible that with the Free Trade Agreement with the USA these levels of investment will sky rocket developing and transforming the country in a few years.

Demographics

Peru is one of three countries in Latin America whose largest population segment is comprised of unmixed Amerindians - , where almost half of all Peruvians are Amerindian, or 45 percent of the total population. The two major indigenous ethnic groups are the various Quechua-speaking populations, followed closely by the Aymará, as well as several dozen small Amerindian ethnic tribes scattered throughout the country beyond the Andes Mountains and in the Amazon basin. Mestizos, a term that denotes people of mixed European and Amerindian ancestry, constitute around 37% of the people, and 15% of white European ancestry, with the majority of them living in Peru's largest cities such as Trujillo, Arequipa and Lima.

Amerindians who live in the Andean highlands speak Quechua and Aymara have a rich culture which was part of the Inca Empire, the most advanced agricultural civilization in the world. In the low lands of the Amazon Jungle thousand of indigenuos population are dispersed around thousands of square miles of inexpugnable jungles, and 3 big cities (Iquitos, Puerto Maldonado and Pucallpa) with a population of almost one million and an area larger than the US states of Texas and West Virginia combined

Language

Peru has two official languages - Spanish and the foremost indigenous language, Quechua. Spanish is used by all coastal Peruvians, the government, the media, and in education and formal commerce; although there is an increasing and organized effort to teach Quechua in public schools.

The major obstacle to the diffusion of the usage and teaching of Quechua language, namely books, newspapers, software, magazines, technical journals, etc. Importantly, non-governmental organizations as well as state sponsored groups are involved in projects to edit and translate major works into the Quechua language; for instance, in late 2005 a superb version of Don Quixote was presented in Quechua. Nevertheless, these books are just collectors items as they have no natural readership. Significantly, most of the native speakers of Quechua are illiterate. Thus, Quechua, along with Aymara and the minor indigenous languages, remains essentially an oral language.

Folklore and Music

Hundreds of years of ethnic and cultural mixing has created a rich musical landscape across Peru. Typical instruments include the Andean flute and pan-pipes (Quena and Zampoña), the Cajon drum used in Afro Peruvian music, and the traditional Spanish guitar. Peru is home to thousands of dances of pre Inca, Andean and mestizo origin. The southern Andean region is famous for the Huayno.

Arequipa is the proud creator of the famous Yaravi, a melancholy style of a capella singing that evokes the solitude of the mountains. Probably the most well known song of this style is "El Condor Pasa", a traditional Peruvian song popularized in the United States by the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel and featured in the movie "The Graduate". The original composition consists of a Yaravi, followed by an inca "pasacalle" and a Huayno fugue, three traditional inca rhythms. The Huaylas, by contrast, is a cheery, rhythmic style from the central Andes.

The coast has a different feel to its music than its Andean counterpart. Primarily Spanish in origin, coastal culture combines traditional European rhythms such as the flamenco and the waltz with Creole, African and Gypsy influences to create the wide range of styles we hear today. Lima's most well known musical style is the Vals Peruano (Peruvian Waltz), popularized by the great Chabuca Granda. She is widely considered the most important composer of Coastal Creole music, with such songs as La Flor de La Canela, Fina Estampa, and José Antonio. Other commonly known Vals Peruano tunes are: Alma Corazon y Vida, Odiame, Mi Propiedad Privada, El Plebeyo, and Devuelveme El Rosario de Mi Madre, some of which are sung by Caribbean artists in the Bolero or Salsa version.

Afro Peruvian music is most commonly performed by duos of Creole guitars, the Cajon and spoon rhythms. African derived rhythms like the Festejo or Landó are common in the black communities of the southern coast. Susana Baca is a renowned singer and composer of Afro Peruvian music. She won a Grammy award in 2002 for her album Lamento Negro.

The Marinera is the National Dance of Peru, named in honor of the marines who fought against the Chilean military in the War of the Pacific. Among Peruvians of the coast, it is considered as traditional and representative as the Tango is to Argentina. Many people take classes and look forward to the annual Marinera Festival held in the city of Trujillo every July, with thousands in attendance. Lambayeque and Piura are also known for their marineras and tonderos.

Lima is famous for the [[Senor de los Milagros Procession]] and Bullfighting, which takes place in Plaza de Toros Acho (the oldest bullfighting venue of the Americas). Considered the largest procession in South America, congregating devotees from all over the country, the Senor de los Milagros or Lord of Miracles Procession takes place during October. During the whole month, known as the mes morado -or purple month-, minor observations in honour of the patron (whose colour is purple) are celebrated. The main event occurs the 18th: dressed in purple habits, hundreds of thousands of devotees sing and pray while accompanying the image on its 24-hour route from the Nazarenas temple to La Merced church in the Barrios Altos district.

Cumbe Mayo Aqueduct (1500 B.C.) near Cajamarca, PeruPeruvian cuisine, for years unnoticed abroad, has recently exploded onto the world gastronomic scene. The Economist magazine, for example, reported in a January 2004 article that Peru could "lay claim to one of the world's dozen or so great cuisines". Lima was declared "Gastronomic Capital of Latin America" at the 2006 Madrid Fusion International Gastronomic Summit, one of the most prestigious culinary events in Europe.

Peru's cuisine offers an amazing variety of flavors and influences. One reason for this is the country's enormous biodiversity. Peru's many climate zones make it possible to grow a wide range of crops. Potatoes and hot peppers from the Andes, fish and seafood from the Pacific Ocean, mangoes and limes from the coastal valleys, bananas and manioc from the Amazon jungle: a chef's only problem is abundance of choice. In addition, Peruvian cuisine's Incan and Spanish roots have been influenced by sizable immigrant populations such as African, Cantonese, Italian, Japanese, who have added their own ingredients and traditions to the mix.

No visitor should leave Lima without trying one of the many wonderful restaurants. The best are mainly located in the neighborhoods of Miraflores, San Isidro or Chacarilla. Peru is mainly known for its cebiche (fish cooked with lemon and red chili pepper) and its excellent seafood, but other typical food include creole (called "criolla"), chinese-peruvian (called "chifa") which are also first-class.

Sports

Soccer: The most popular Peruvian sport is soccer (World Cup appeareances: 1930,1970,1978,1982 two Copa America tournaments). Although the National team has not been very successful, most of the population of Peru follow the World Cup tournament on television. Soccer legends from Peru include Hugo Sotil, Cesar Cueto, and Teofilo Cubillas, Peru's best striker in World Cup Finals with 10 goals. Current renowned players include midfielder Nolberto Solano (Newcastle United since 1998, with a 2-year parenthesis in Aston Villa), and strikers Claudio Pizarro, Paolo Guerrero (Bayern Munich) and Jefferson Farfán (PSV Eindhoven).

Volleyball: Other popular sport is Women’s Volleyball (Silver medal in Seoul 1988 Olympic Games and 14 times South American champion).

Surfing: Sofia Mulanovich, Women’s World Surf Champion in 2004 and 2005.

Sailing: Peru is the only country of the region that has won for six consecutive years the world Cup in the Sunfish Class. In addition, Peru has won the Central American, South American & Caribbean Championships for the same category. In the Optimist Class, it was three times World Champion in Team-Racing in 1997, 1998, and 1999.

Shooting: Peruvian shooters have won 3 of Peru's 4 olympic medals. Edwin Vásquez won Peru's only gold medal in London 1948 Olympic Games, while Francisco Boza (Los Angeles 1984), and Juan Giha (Barcelona 1992) both won silver medals.

Source : Wikipedia.com


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