PeruPart 1

By Randi Pongo

Geography

• Peru is located in western South America and stretches for about 1,500 miles along the Pacific Ocean.

• Peru has a combination of tropical areas, mountain ranges and arid lands.

• The Andes shelter the largest variety of climates in the country. Semi-arid in the valleys and moist in higher elevations.

Geografía

• The central and southern coast of Peru consists of mainly subtropical desert climate composed of sandy or rocky shores.

• The Andes are the world’s longest continental mountain range.

• The eastern portions of Peru includes the Amazon Basin which represents 60% of Peru’s national territory.

People

• Peru is a multiethnic country

• Amerindians constitute about 45% of the population, mostly found in the extreme southern Andes.

• Amerindians - indigenous peoples of the Americas that are pre-Columbian inhabitants.

• Mestizos (about 37%) traditionally denotes European ancestry.

Gente

• European descendants (about 15%). They are the descendants of the Spanish colonizers and other Europeans.

• There is also a large presence of Asian Peruvians, primarily Chinese and Japanese. They constitute for about 3% of the population.

• Afro-Peruvians, a legacy of Peru’s history as an importer of slaves during the colonial period.

Culture

• Popular celebrations are the product of every town’s traditions and legends. An example, is the Marinera which is one of the main dances found in Peru.

• The Marinera is called the “National Dance of Peru”.

• Historians believe that the dance goes as far back as to the Inca Empire.

Cultura

• Some typical Peruvian dishes are ceviche, cuy and lomo saltado.

• Peruvian cuisine combines many different cultures including American, European and Chinese.

• Peruvians eat cuy or guinea pig. They also celebrate the guinea pig by having a festival every year.

History• In pre-Columbian America,

the Incas created a vast dynasty they stretched from northern Ecuador to the northern half of Chile and Argentina.

• The empire’s administrative, political, and military center was located in Cuzco.

• Quechua was the official language.

• Machu Picchu - “Lost City of the Incas” is a well preserved Inca ruin.

Historia• Francisco Pizarro landed in

Peru in 1532 and was able to take over the Inca city of Cuzco as a new Spanish colony.

• On January 18, 1535, Pizarro founded the city of Lima and considered this one of his greatest accomplishments in life.

• Spain later instituted an ecomienda system in which colonists were granted land together with its Indian inhabitants.