Peru is the richest archaeological country in South America. Although pre-Columbian people never left us written sources, ceramics, textiles and metalwork designs have greatly helped scientists to learn more about their culture, as well as the chronicles written after the conquest of the fabulous Inca Empire.
The oldest remains of human presence have been found in the Piquimachay cave with a date of 20,000-10,000 BC. The starting point of agriculture was by 4,000-5,000 BC with crops of cotton, beans, corn, chili and squash. Since 1,300 BC advanced cultures appeared, such as Chavín, Paracas, Mochica, Nazca, Tiahuanaco, Wari and the regional states of Chimú, Chincha and Chanka. This period lasted until the 15th century where the Inca Empire reached its highest expansion.
From his base in Cusco, the Inca Tupac Yupanqui managed to expand the Tahuantisuyo Empire till the areas of actual Ecuador, Colombia, Bolivia, Argentina and Chile, over an area of approximately 2 million sq. km.
In 1532 the Spaniards led by Francisco Pizarro met the Incas in Cajamarca, in Peru's northern sierra. Pizarro captured, deceived and executed Atahualpa. Although Incas resisted for nearly 40 years, Spaniards finally defeated them and put an end to Inca Empire. The reign of the divine Children of the Sun had thus ended. Cusco was occupied, and Pizarro founded his new capital Lima, "the City of King", which became the center of all political, social and commercial events in the continent.
Peru's importance did not decline, even with the fall of the Tahuantisuyo Empire. Spanish America was organized along feudal lines. The King of Spain was the sovereign and was represented by viceroys. However, Creoles (children of Spaniards born in America) occupied positions of authority.
This system continued for nearly 300 years, until the beginning of the 19th century, when independence movements emerged all over South America. The continent's two great freedom fighters, Jose de San Martin and Simon Bolivar, figured in Peru's struggle for independence, which San Martin proclaimed in 1821.
The Republic of Peru was established, with an elected president and parliament. The beginning of this century was marked by the Peru's recovery after the long war held with Chile between 1879-1883, which in fact was a matter of Bolivia and Chile, but Peru helped Bolivians and ended loosing territory. After this, governments were alternated several times between coup d'états and dictatorships to civil rules. Peru had also to face economic problems due to the heavy debts. This situation helped to the appearing of terrorist groups (formerly guerrillas) like Sendero Luminoso and Movimiento Revolucionario Túpac Amaru. They fought against the central government since the 80´s and caused more than 23,000 deaths.
Alberto Fujimori was elected as president in 1990 and he managed to put in jail almost all the guerilla leaders and broke down both groups. This president oriented the fast-growing economy to the market and privatized the major Peruvian companies. His rule also reduced inflation and signed peace with Ecuador from a long border conflict, which began in 1941. |
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Name: Peru |
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Area: 1.285.216 sq.Km (496,225 sq. miles) |
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Capital City: Lima |
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Population: 23,531,701 |
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Language: Spanish, Quechua |
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Currency: nuevo sol |
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Time Zone: GMT - 6 hours |
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Religion: 90% Roman Catholic |
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