By
its surface (1 285 215 km2), Peru is the third country of
South America after Brazil and Argentina. Located between
the Ecuador and the 18th degree of southern latitude, it belongs
to the intertropical zone. It cuts out in three great geographical
areas: in the west, on the Peaceful coast, a narrow desert
tape strewn with urbanized oases, a central mountainous area,
the sierra of the Andes (approximately 30 % of the territory),
composed of cordilleras culminating with more 6.000m and of
a vast plate, Altiplano; finally, in the east, the forest
plains and the hills of the Amazonian basin which occupy 60
% of the territory.
The
mass of the Andes and the currents coastal induce great variations
of the atmospheric conditions from one area to another and
the words "winter" and "summer" lose their
direction somewhat. Actually, the seasons are marked by differences
in precipitations. Liméniens, for example, call be
December to April, heats and shone upon, and winter the remainder
of the year, where the fog settles. In the sierra, the winter
is the rain season (from October at May). Although the eternal
snow covers the highest tops, the falls of snow are not very
frequent in the inhabited areas. In the Amazonian forest,
finally, the weather is hot and wet all during the year.
Peru
counts 22,5 million inhabitants, of which 7 million live in
the capital, Lima. Approximately 45 % of the Peruvians are
Indian, 37 % mestizos (mongrel of White and Indians), 15 %
of European origin and 3 % kill black slaves or Japanese and
Chinese immigrants.
The two official languages are Spanish and the quechua. According
to estimates', 92 % of the Peruvians are catholic, even if
the religion whom they practise is still marked by the worships
précolombiens. Peru has 2000 km of coasts, the length
of which one extends from the most arid deserts of the world.
It is however cut by the rivers descended from the Andes,
whose irrigated valleys shelter about half of the population.
