Peru
Republic of Peru
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About Peru
Peru, or the ‘Land of the Incas’, offers one of the most diverse South American destinations with a desert coastline, tropical rainforest and soaring mountains offering travellers to experience a variety of landscapes, an abundance of wildlife, a rich history and archaeological heritage, and taste of true native cultures. You can also enjoy the colonial cities that have preserved the legacy of the Spanish conquistadors.
The Amazon Basin takes up half of Peru and is an ecologically rich area of tropical rainforest that encompasses some of the world’s most remote and least explored areas. Separating the coastal desert from the jungle is the magnificent Andes mountain rangewith peaks over 7,000m, and home to millions of indigenous highland people, speaking the ancient Inca language of Quechua, and living in traditional villages, with their wandering herds of llamas and alpacas.
Legacies left by the imperial Inca Empire can be admired, particularly the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco. Beside the famous Inca trail to Machu Picchu, a hiker's Mekka is Huaraz, where you can find a lot of agencies that offer guided tours and/or equipment to borrow. The thin vegetation in the higher Sierra makes off-trail hiking easy. When hiking in higher altitude, good acclimatisation is absolutely necessary. Take a good sleeping bag with you, since nights in the Sierra may become bitterly cold (-10 degrees Celsius in 4,500m altitude are normal, sometimes still colder).
Top destinations in Peru
Cities in Peru
General information
- Capital: Lima
- Language: Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara, and a large number of minor Amazonian languages.
- Climate: Varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west; temperate to frigid in Andes.
- Timezone: UTC -5
- Currency: The official currency is Nuevo Sol (PEN) divided into 100 céntimos
- Electricity plugs: a b c (show)
- No. of inhabitants: 27,925,628 (July 2005 est.)
- Interl. accesscode +51
- Toplevel domain .pe
- Travel alert: EnjoyYourWorld strongly advises you to take necessary precautions for a safe travel. For more info please follow this link
Good to know
Spanish renaissance culture can be seen in many mansions, churches and monasteries. Urban architecture has been influenced over time by native Indian culture as can be admired in the typical mestizo style.
Religion: Roman Catholic 81%, Seventh Day Adventist 1.4%, other Christian 0.7%, other 0.6%, unspecified or none 16.3% (2003 est.)
National holidays: Independence Day, 28 July (1821)
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