Peru is a Spanish-language country in South America. It is located on the west coast of the continent and has a wide outlet to the Pacific Ocean. It borders by Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil to the east, Bolivia in the south-east and Chile in the south. The geographic occupation of the country is really very interesting and it has enormous tourist potential. Peru is located entirely in the southern hemisphere. The equator is located adjacent to the northern boundary of the country, but do not cross it, despite it goes about 5 kilometers north, into the territory of Colombia. Along the Pacific coast run the longest mountain chain in the world – the Andes.
It occupies about 1/2 from the area of the country. Here you can find also the highest peak of Peru. This is the extinguished volcano of Huascaran. It is located in the north of the capital Lima.
Its height is 6768 meters. It is part of a group of peaks (about 20 in number) with a height of more than 6000 meters. Beyond the Andes are extend the thick and inaccessible rain forests of Amazonia. The area of Peru is 1 285 220 sq. km. It has a population of approximately 28.5 million people.
Climate. Peru gets into the borders of the equatorial, subequatorial and tropical climate zones. The influence of the Andes mountain chain is crucial. Their considerable altitude makes the passing of air masses over it almost impossible and so it is a climatic barrier.
The climate is very dry in the narrow strip between the Pacific and the Andes, because the cold Peruvian stream creates quite insignificant rainfalls.
Between the mountains and the ocean there are two types of climate. Subequatorial in the north near the border with Ecuador and dry, tropical in all other coastal zone in the south.
In the subequatorial climate zone, which occupies the northern end of the country has two seasons – winter, which is very warm and very dry with average daytime temperatures around 25°C and summer, which is even warmer with daytime temperatures around 30°C and a little damper, but also comparatively dry.
About 60 millimeters of rain fall during the most humid months of January and February. Chiclayo City is one of the larger cities, which are located in that subequatorial area.
Most of the coast line in south of Chiclayo has very dry tropical climate. The capital Lima is situated just in the heart of the Peruvian tropics. Here the rain is unbelievable.
Only during the winter months from June to September there is little likelihood of low precipitation, but not more than 2 millimeters. The cold Peruvian current very strong influence to the local climate.
Maintain the daily temperatures of around 25 – 26°C to about 30°C during the summer months and around 18-19°C in winter. Traditionally, the summer semester is very sunny, while the winter is pretty foggy.
The night temperatures are between 15 and 20°C all year around. The hottest month is taken February, and the coolest – August.
Typically, the tourists who visit the coastal areas of Peru avoid the winter semester from May to November, because the mists in this part of the year are frequent, though in the most northern parts of the country, the days with fog are less and there the summer is perennial.
In the southern-most parts of the country, in the coastal town of Takna, the climate does not differ from that of Lima – 25 to 30°C in the summer and around 18°C daily average during the winter.
On the other side of the snowy peaks of the Andes everything is so different that one would have thought that is on the other end of the world.
Here the climate is equatorial, with heavy rain and high temperatures throughout the year. The difference between day and night temperatures is insignificant. The same is true for the temperatures in the different parts of the year.
The planes, which are located east of the Andes are part of the Amazon rain forest. They receive their rainfall under the influence of the moist air masses caused by the remote in almost three thousand kilometers Atlantic Ocean.
Along the east coast of South America pass warm ocean currents that give significant vapor in the atmosphere. For this reason, the Amazon rain forests are among the rainiest places on the planet.
In Iquitos, which is one of the largest and most important centers in Peru, the daily temperatures ranged from 31 to 32°C throughout the year. The night temperatures are also constant 23 – 24°C from January to December.
The precipitation moving in the range of 300 to 800 millimeters. This means that they are very plentiful throughout the year. The rainiest month is January, and the driest (if it can be called dry) is July.
Nature. The nature of Peru is unique beauty. Dominate the large contrasts, namely the difference between semi-arid coast, equatorial jungles and the inaccessible inside of the Andes.
In this mountain range are the sources of many rivers that flow their waters in the high-water Amazon river. Tributaries are nourished all year-round by the covered with snow and ice mountains.
Here are not only unique landscapes, but also flora and fauna. What is the kangaroos for Australia, it is the lama for Peru. This is a very interesting peaceful herbivores, which is an integral part of the local typical mountain landscape.
In southern Peru, on the border with Bolivia is the highest floating lake on our planet – Titicaca Lake. It is situated at more than 3800 meters above sea level.
People who live on its shores, use it for fishing, but also as a transport corridor. Reed that grows on its shores of the lake, they turn into reed boats with which to float.
In the northern part of the country near the border with Ecuador you can find beaches, on the golden sand of which are grown coconut palms. This makes the beaches to be exotic, but what is more attractive, the beaches are fell with visitors 365 days a year (without being crowded).
Economy. The economy of Peru is developing. The country is poor and big part of the population lives in poverty with minimum income.
The economy is largely based to the extraction of minerals (of which the country is very rich) and agriculture. It extract significant quantities of zinc, petroleum, lead, silver, gold, iron and other metals, some of them rare.
The country is first in world at the production of bismuth. The agriculture producing coffee, but also industrial crops such as cotton and sugar cane. The fishing is very important for the Peruvian economy.
In the recent years the Peruvians hold out hopes for strong economic growth, based to the development of the tourist industry. Peru has many attractions that just waiting to be seen, because they really deserve.
This is a great chance for a country, where almost half of the population is still engaged mainly in the agriculture. The tourism is a real chance for this beautiful country that has suffered so much by military regimes and dictatorships.
Landmarks. Peru has many attractions, which could attract huge numbers of tourists. Local culture is an incredible mystery. One mystery has become a global attraction and a magnet for foreign visitors.
In Nazca desert, which is located on the Pacific coast in southern Peru have strange shapes of unknown origin, depicted on the ground that provoke curiosity and attract the attention of scientists for decades.
These large-sized paintings attract the attention with their mysteriousness.
One theory is that the ancient Nazca tribe, which has begun to develop in these areas even 200 years before Christ, is depicted the drawings on the stony ground to give any sign to visitors from alien civilization.
In fact, these strange shapes can be seen clearly only by the bird’s eye view, making their use even more mysterious. This is, of course, just theories, but the fact is that these paintings are difficult to make logical explanation of its existence.
Another very important landmark in Peru is Machu Picchu. This is an ancient Inca fortress that was built directly on the steep cliffs at an altitude of 2045 meters above the sea level.
It is believed that it was built here to close the religious Inca to the sky and thus to the sun god, which they so respected. The mountain fortress was built in the 15th century.
It astounds with its originality. Such a construction would be a real challenge even today in the current advanced technology.
We can imagine how much effort and difficulty estimates that construction during those times when everything was based on human power and skill, without relying on sophisticated equipment and machinery.
One of the most interesting elements in this ancient alpine town is that on the slopes have built terraces, which had multifunctional role.
On the one hand protect the earth from landslides, on the other hand allow to be processed, which in other circumstances would be totally impossible because of the relief. There are many parts of buildings of public importance such as temples for example.
Cities. The largest city in the country is the capital Lima. It is home to more than 7 000 000 people, or about ¼ of the population. It is a major educational, cultural and financial center.
Other major cities are Iquitos, located among the Amazon rain forest along the Amazon River itself, Piura, located near the Pacific Ocean and the border with Ecuador, Chiclayo, Trujillo, Cuzco and Arequipa. Calao city is also great, but is located in the urban agglomeration of the capital Lima.