Peru Facts
Peru is known for its incredible archaeological heritage. The land is full of Inca treasures and new discoveries are still being made. On the way to Peru, one must see at least Machu Picchu, the lost city of the Incas.
Capital: Lima
Official language: Spanish
Currency: Peruvian Nuevo sol
Passport and visa: Finns do not need a Peruvian visa if they are in the country for less than 180 days. Passport must be valid after 6 months of travel.
Time difference to Finland: In summer: – 8 hours In winter: – 7 hours
Agriculture and fishing
The arable land amounts to only a few percent of the land area. New agricultural land is conquered mainly in the rainforest and through increased irrigation on the coast. In the mountainous regions the soils are often meager, and large areas at high altitudes can only be used as pastures for sheep, llamas and alpacas.
- CountryAAH: Comprehensive import regulations of Peru. Covers import prohibitions and special documentation requirements for a list of prohibited items.
Traditional export crops from coastal agriculture, such as cotton and sugar, are still important but have been partially replaced by profitable cultivation of a variety of fruits and vegetables, including asparagus, peppers, mangoes and citrus fruits.
Modern export-oriented agriculture on the coast is in stark contrast to the small-scale agriculture carried out by small farmers in the Andes valleys. In addition to livestock management, maize, potatoes, barley and wheat are grown here primarily for their own consumption. The subtropical climate on the eastern slope of the Andes is suitable for growing coffee, tea and cabbage leaves.
In the rain forest, cassava, rice, bananas, oranges, tea and cocoa are grown. Coffee, the most important export crop after asparagus, has long been grown in parts of the Amazon. Natural rubber and palm oil are also extracted in the rain forest. For Peru defense and foreign policy, please check themotorcyclers.
Coca cultivation
Since ancient times, cookware has been used as a stimulant by the locals. Tea on cookie leaves is considered to help against both hunger and cold. In the 1970s, coca leaves began to be used to produce the drug cocaine that was fashionable in Europe and the United States.
Peru is the world’s second largest producer of cooks and for a couple of years was around 2012 even at the top, before Colombia. Cocoa cultivation for domestic use is permitted in some areas but most of the cultivation that occurs is illegal. The cultivation occurs mainly in the upper Huallaga valley in central Peru and in the south-east in an area called Vraem (an abbreviation interpreted as Valle de los Ríos Apurímac, Ene y Mantaro or Dalgången on the rivers Apurímac, Ene and Mantaro). rivers included). (See also Modern History.)
The illegal activity is being fought by the authorities who destroy the crops and try to encourage the farmers to switch to other crops. But the high prices of boil make farmers difficult to persuade, and when a cultivation is destroyed it is often replaced by a new one in a more difficult to access area.
In addition, garbage from the guerrilla Sendero Luminoso still mixes in the game and offers the cooks farmers protection, mainly in Vraem. In the areas where the cook is grown, Colombian producers have also established themselves since being driven away from Colombia. The trade itself is handled by, among other Mexican drug cartels.
Forestry
About half of the land area consists of forests that become denser the farther east you come. To the northeast lies part of the Amazon basin and its rich rainforest. In parts of the rainforest, new cultivation projects and road construction are under way, an exploitation criticized by environmental groups.
Cedar, mahogany and oak are felled, but official forestry is not a major industry. Some of the wood used for domestic use must be imported. However, large quantities of forests are harvested illegally and are sold to the furniture industry in the USA.
Fishing
The sea off the coast of Peru is usually very rich in fish, due to the cold Humboldt stream that favors the growth of plankton. The most important catch is anchovetan (Peruvian anchovy) which is ground into fishmeal, which is used mainly in animal feed.
Peru was one of the world’s largest fishing nations in the early 1990s, but over-fishing for many years and the weather phenomenon of El Niño (see Geography and climate) threatened the populations of anchoveta. Nowadays fishing is limited by quotas, and the fishing industry has invested more in sardines, shrimp and cultivated mackerel. Thus, the anchovetane has partially recovered.
FACTS – AGRICULTURE
Agriculture’s share of GDP
6.7 percent (2017)
Percentage of land used for agriculture
18.5 percent (2016)
- Abbreviationfinder.org: Offers how the 3-letter acronym of PER stands for the state of Peru in geography.
2013
December
President’s wife becomes party leader
President Humala’s wife Nadine Heredia takes over as party leader of the Nationalist Party, which intensifies speculation that she is aiming to succeed her husband in 2016. Heredia herself denies all such plans. The opposition is critical and believes that a president’s wife should not have such a prominent political role.
Oil companies can be partially privatized
An energy reform adopted by Parliament means that 49 percent of the state oil company Petroperú can be sold to private stakeholders. 5 percent should be offered to the public.
Guerrilla conductor is arrested
Security forces seize the new Sendero Luminoso leader in the upper Huallaga Valley, Alexander Dimas Fabián Huamán (“Camarada Héctor”). He is said to have tried to rebuild the guerrillas in the area.
November
The government survives distrust
The government manages a distrustful vote with a good margin. Chief Minister Villanueva is then mandated to create a body to monitor the government in order to curb corruption.
Ministers and several others may go after disclosure
President Humala dismisses Interior Minister Wilfredo Pedraza as well as an adviser on security and defense issues after it was revealed that the police provided protection to a close associate of Vladimiro Montesinos, spy chief under Alberto Fujimori’s rule in the 1990s. Montesinos is in prison convicted of corruption, and the person who received police protection is convicted of interference. The scandal also forces six senior police officers to leave their posts.
October
Another new Chief Minister
President Humala dismisses Chief Minister Jiménez who has been heavily criticized and is considered to have contributed to the government’s weak figures of opinion. César Villanueva, who is appointed as successor, becomes the fourth chief minister during Humala’s more than two years in power.
September
Continued protests against employment conditions
Strikes are taking place in several parts of the country in protest of the government’s labor market policy. The manifestations are particularly aimed at the law that was adopted in July and which is considered to reduce job security.
July
High appointments are canceled
Withdraws a number of appointments of senior civil servants following widespread protests against the partitioning of services by the political parties and appointing persons without sufficient qualifications; The appointments of six judges in the Supreme Court, three executives at the central bank and a chief of the Ombudsman are canceled.
Changed labor law triggers protests
A law is passed which means that civil servants and university teachers must be evaluated once a year to increase the quality of their services and to enable the state to dispose of incompetent employees. Critics believe that the law means restricted union rights. Demonstrations against the law are being held in several quarters and degenerates in Lima in clashes with the police.
June
New left front towards Humala
Six left parties dissatisfied with President Humala’s policies form the Alliance Broad Patriotic Front (Frente Amplio Patriótico, FAP). They criticize Humala for not being radical enough.
May
The Foreign Minister is allowed to go
Foreign Minister Rafael Roncagliolo resigns, officially for health reasons. The opposition claims that a statement following the disputed election in Venezuela is behind the resignation. Roncagliolo urged President Nicolás Maduro to open for “dialogue, tolerance and mutual respect”, which led Maduro to the ceiling. He threatened to call his ambassador and said that Roncagliogo had made the mistake of his life. Humala appoints Justice Minister Eda Rivas as new foreign minister, which means that Peru has a woman in office for the first time.
February
Consultation with indigenous peoples on oil recovery
The authorities are launching a consultation process with local Indian groups on a project to extract oil in the Loreto region. This is the first time the law on consultation with indigenous peoples has been applied since it was adopted in September 2011.
January
New Commission Against Corruption
President Humala installs a new body to fight corruption. The new Commission will have a heavy composition with the President of Parliament, several ministers and a number of high judges.