Peru Cusco Travel Guide - Peru Hotels - Cusco Hotels - Machu Picchu Tours

Peru covers 1,285,220 km² (496,193 sq mi). It neighbors Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil to the east, Bolivia to the southeast, Chile to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west.

The Andes mountains run parallel to the Pacific Ocean, dividing the country into three geographic regions. The costa (coast), to the west, is a narrow plain, largely arid except for valleys created by seasonal rivers. The sierra (highlands) is the region of the Andes; it includes the Altiplano plateau as well as the highest peak of the country, the 6,768 m (22,205 ft) Huascarán. The third region is the selva (jungle), a wide expanse of flat terrain covered by the Amazon rainforest that extends east. Almost 60% of the country's area is located within this region,(70 million hectares) giving Peru the fourth largest area of tropical forest in the world after Brazil, Congo and Indonesia.

Peru is located in western South America (UTM N7970840.422; E552505.422; AREA 19) between the equator line and the Tropic of Capricorn. Borders on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, east by Brazil, southeast by Bolivia, Chile to the south, and west by the Pacific Ocean. The Peruvian territory covers an area of 1,285,215.60 km², representing 0.87% of the planet.

Weather of Peru:

Due to the presence of the Andes and the flow El Niño Peru has a variety of climates in different regions. On the coast during the summer the temperature reaches 28 or 29A° C (Celsius) while winter - which is wet and rainy - has temperatures around 14 º C.

Meanwhile in the mountains the climate is generally cold and dry. Temperatures range between 9 and 18 °C and for much of the year the days are sunny in the mountains, but at night the temperature drops to 5 °C or lower.

The jungle has a tropical climate, warm, humid and rainy with temperatures between 25 and 28 °C. The rainy season in the jungle - and in the mountains - begins in December and ends in April.

Population of Peru

According to the census conducted in 2007, Peru has a population of 28,220,764 inhabitants. With this population, Peru is located fourth in the ranking of most populous countries in South America.

The Peruvian population is divided as follows: 54.6% of the population lives along the coast, 32.0% in the highlands, and 13.4% in the jungle. The population density is 22 inhabitants per km² and its annual growth rate is 1.6%.

The most populated cities in Peru are located on the coast and are Piura, Chiclayo, Trujillo, Chimbote, Lima, Ica. In the mountains the most populated are Arequipa, Cajamarca, Ayacucho, Cusco and Huancayo while in the jungle they are Iquitos and Pucallpa.

Political Division of Peru

Peru is divided into 24 regions are: Amazonas, Ancash, Apurimac, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Cusco, Huancavelica, Huanuco, Ica, Junin, Lambayeque, La Libertad, Lima, Loreto, Madre de Dios, Moquegua, Pasco, Piura, Puno , San Martín, Tacna, Tumbes and Ucayali and the Constitutional Province of Callao that becomes the most important port in the country.

Lima is the capital city of the Republic of Peru and the department of Lima. It is located on the central coast of Peru, along the Pacífico Ocean, in the valleys of the Chillon, Rimac and Lurin.

Besides the capital city, the country's major cities are Cusco, Trujillo, Arequipa, Chiclayo, Cajamarca, Iquitos, Piura, Juliaca, Huancayo.