Peru
The Country of the Week
Quick Facts
- Capital
- Lima
- Population
- 32,768,614 (2025 est.)
- Area
- 1,285,216 sq km
- Government
- presidential republic
- Religions
- Catholic 76%, Evangelical Christian 15.7%, no religion 5.1%, other religions 3.2% (2017 est.)
- Ethnic Groups
- Mestizo (mixed Indigenous and White) 60.2%, Indigenous 25.8%, White 5.9%, African descent 3.6%, other (includes Chinese and Japanese descent) 1.2%, unspecified 3.3% (2017 est.)
- Currency
- nuevo sol (PEN)
- Life Expectancy
- 68.9 years (2024 est.)
- Internet Domain
- .pe
- Climate
- varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west; temperate to frigid in Andes
- Terrain
- western coastal plain (costa), high and rugged Andes in center (sierra), eastern lowland jungle of Amazon Basin (selva)
- Natural Resources
- copper, silver, gold, petroleum, timber, fish, iron ore, coal, phosphate, potash, hydropower, natural gas
- Major Exports
- copper ore, gold, refined copper, refined petroleum, grapes (2023)
Source: CIA World Factbook (public domain)
Overview
Ancient Peru was the seat of several prominent Andean civilizations, most notably that of the Incas whose empire was captured by Spanish conquistadors in 1533. Peru declared its independence in 1821, and remaining Spanish forces were defeated in 1824.