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Peru (Quechua: Piruw, Aymara: Piruw), officially the Republic of Peru is a country located on the western side of South America. Is limited to the north by Ecuador and Colombia to the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, Chile to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean. It has a complex geography dominated by elevations of the Andes and the Pacific currents, which set widely different climates and landscapes as varied as the coastal desert, the high altitude of the Andes or the rainforests of the Amazon basin, all environments that make up the country as a land of great variety of natural resources.

The heterogeneity of harsh geography and climate of the country led the first settlers to the Peruvian XII millennium a. C. adapted to develop a wider range of cultural traditions, as the oldest civilization of Caral, on the production cycles of each region, many of whom became theocratic state is at a regional level. At the beginning of the second century a. C., states started to dispute the control periods of the peoples of the Andes. By the sixteenth century, the latest and comprehensive mastery of these states, the Inca Empire was annexed by Spanish conquistadors to support ethnic discidentes andalusia Inca. The Spanish Crown and established a viceroyalty that included most of its South American colonies. In 1821, the country became independent, found a state that was immersed in internal and external conflict periods alternating periods of economic prosperity.

The Peruvian population, estimated at more than 28 million (2008), is of mixed ethnic and indigenous important substrate which has joined European descent, African and Asian mix of cultural traditions has resulted in a wide range of expressions in fields such as art, literature, music and cuisine. The main language spoken is Spanish, although a significant number of Peruvians speak different languages such as Quechua language, with the largest number of speakers. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index half higher economic inequality that has seen their incomes and improve their level of poverty decreased in recent years. Its main economic activities include agriculture, fisheries, mining and manufacturing of products such as textiles.

Politically, the country is organizing a democratic presidential republic with a multiparty political system structured under the principles of separation of powers and decentralization. In 25 constituencies were dividide department (24 departments and the Constitutional Province of Callao) and the headquarters of the provincial capital.