Peru - Geography
Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Peru.
note 1: shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake, with Bolivia; a remote slope of Nevado Mismi, a 5,316 m peak, is the ultimate source of the Amazon River
note 2: Peru is one of the countries along the Ring of Fire, a belt of active volcanoes and earthquake epicenters bordering the Pacific Ocean; up to 90% of the world's earthquakes and some 75% of the world's volcanoes occur within the Ring of Fire
note 3: on 19 February 1600, Mount Huaynaputina in the southern Peruvian Andes erupted in the largest volcanic explosion in South America in historical times; intermittent eruptions lasted until 5 March 1600 and pumped an estimated 16 to 32 million metric tons of particulates into the atmosphere, reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the earth's surface and affecting weather worldwide; over the next two and a half years, millions died around the globe in famines from bitterly cold winters, cool summers, and the loss of crops and animals
note 4: the southern regions of Peru and the extreme northwestern part of Bolivia are considered to be the place of origin for the common potato
Geographical data of Peru
| Location | Western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Chile and Ecuador |
|---|---|
| Geographic coordinates | 10 00 S, 76 00 W |
| Map references | South America |
| Tarrain | 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 |
| Natural Hazards | earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, landslides, mild volcanic activity volcanism: volcanic activity in the Andes Mountains; Ubinas (5,672 m), which last erupted in 2009, is the country's most active volcano; other historically active volcanoes include El Misti, Huaynaputina, Sabancaya, and Yucamane; see note 2 under "Geography - note" |
| Irrigated Land | 25,800 sq km (2012) |
| Major rivers (by length in km) | Amazon river source (shared with Brazil [m]) - 6,400 km note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth |
| Major aquifers | Amazon Basin |
| Land Boundaries | 7,062 km |
| Border Countries | Bolivia 1,212 km; Brazil 2,659 km; Chile 168 km; Colombia 1,494 km; Ecuador 1,529 km |
| Coastline | 2,414 km |
| Climate | varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west; temperate to frigid in Andes |
| Area | |
| Total Area | |
| Land Area | 1,279,996 sq km |
| Water Area | 5,220 sq km |
| comparative Area | almost twice the size of Texas; slightly smaller than Alaska |
| Maritime Claims | |
| Territorial sea | 200 nm; note: the US does not recognize this claim |
| Exclusive economic zone | 200 nm |
| Continental shelf | 200 nm |
| Elevations | |
| Highest point | Nevado Huascaran 6,746 m |
| Lowest point | Pacific Ocean 0 m |
| Mean elevation | 1,555 m |
| Land Use | |
| Agricultural land | 19.1% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: arable land | arable land: 3.1% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent crops | permanent crops: 1.8% (2022 est.) |
| Agricultural land: permanent pasture | permanent pasture: 14.2% (2022 est.) |
| Forest | 56.2% (2022 est.) |
| Other | 24.7% (2022 est.) |
Population Distribution
Approximately one-third of the population resides along the desert coastal belt in the west, with a strong focus on the capital city of Lima; the Andean highlands, or sierra, which is strongly identified with the country's Amerindian population, contains roughly half of the overall population; the eastern slopes of the Andes, and adjoining rainforest, are sparsely populated
People and Society
In Peru, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: 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.)
| Population | |
|---|---|
| Pop growth rate | 0.48% (2024 est.) |
| Birth rate | 16.7 births/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Death rate | 10.9 deaths/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Health expenditure | 6.2% of GDP (2021) |
| Physicians Density | |
| Hospital bed Density | 1.6 beds/1,000 population (2017) |
| Total fertility rate | 2.15 children born/woman (2024 est.) |
| Gross reproduction rate | 1.05 (2024 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | 77.4% (2020) |
| Est married women (ages 15-49) | 51.2% (2023 est.) |
| Literacy | age 15 and over can read and write |
| Education expenditures | 4% of GDP (2021 est.) |
| Net Migration rate | -1 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2024 est.) |
| Nationality | Peruvian | Peruvian(s) |
| Languages | |
| Religions | Roman Catholic 66.4%, Protestant 22.4% (Evangelical 19.6%, other Protestant 1.3%), other 1.9%, agnostic/atheist none 6.8%, unspecified 1.2% (2023 est.) |
| Age Structure | |
| 0-14 years | 25.8% (male 4,293,229/female 4,119,269) |
| 15-64 years | 66.2% (male 10,546,502/female 11,041,106) |
| 65 years and over | 8% (2024 est.) (male 1,112,825/female 1,487,318) |
| Dependency Ratios | |
| Total dependency ratio | 53 |
| Youth dependency ratio | 37.1 |
| Elderly dependency ratio | 13.1 |
| Potential support ratio | 7.9 (2021 est.) |
| Median Age | |
| Total | 30.2 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 29.1 years |
| Female | 31.3 years |
| Urbanization | |
| Urban population | 78.9% of total population (2023) |
| Rate of urbanization | 1.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
| Major urban areas (Pop) | 11.204 million LIMA (capital), 959,000 Arequipa, 904,000 Trujillo (2023). |
| Sex Ratio | |
| At birth | 1.05 male(s)/female |
| 0-14 years | 1.04 male(s)/female |
| 15-64 years | 0.96 male(s)/female |
| 65 years and over | 0.75 male(s)/female |
| Total population | 0.96 male(s)/female (2024 est.) |
| Infant Motality | |
| Total | 10.8 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.) |
| Male | 11.9 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Female | 9.7 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life Expectancy at birth | |
| Total population | 68.9 years (2024 est.) |
| Male | 65.4 years |
| Female | 72.7 years |
| Drinking Water Sources | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 97.2% of population |
| Improved: rural | rural: 82.4% of population |
| Improved: total | total: 94% of population |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 2.8% of population |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 17.6% of population |
| Unimproved: total | total: 6% of population (2020 est.) |
| Sanitation facility acess | |
| Improved: urban | urban: 93.6% of population |
| Improved: rural | rural: 65.3% of population |
| Improved: total | total: 87.4% of population |
| Unimproved: urban | urban: 6.4% of population |
| Unimproved: rural | rural: 34.7% of population |
| Unimproved: total | total: 12.6% of population (2020 est.) |
| Alcohol consumption per capita | |
| Total | 5.74 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Beer | 3.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Wine | 0.46 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Spirits | 2.26 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Other alcohols | 0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.) |
| Tobacco use | |
| Total | 8.1% (2020 est.) |
| Male | 13.2% (2020 est.) |
| Female | 3% (2020 est.) |
| Child marriage | |
| Women married by age 15 | 2% |
| Women married by age 18 | 14.1% (2020 est.) |
Demographic profile
All Important Facts about Peru
Want to know more about Peru? Check all different factbooks for Peru below.
