Getting Informed about Peru...

Peru, located in the central and western part of South America, is the home of ancient civilizations, rich traditions, jungle paradises & welcoming people.

Natural Environment: A country privileged with a vast and varied geography unparalleled in the world, Peru features 84 of the 103 recognized ecological zones existing on Earth. It is one of only 12 countries in the world that rank as areas of biological mega-diversity; there are almost 25,000 species of plants, 30% of which are found only in Peru. In wildlife, it ranks first in diversity of fish, birds and butterflies and third in amphibians and mammals. It also ranks second in the world for its variety of primates, with 35 species, including the unique woolly yellow-tailed monkey.
Additionally, the oceans of Peru are one of the world's seven major fish habitats, with the largest biomass and diversity of fish resources available anywhere.

Weather: Peru’s geographical regions and location close to the Equatorial Line make for varied macroclimates particular to each area. As it is in the Southern hemisphere, summer is from December to April (the wet season) and winter is from May to October (the dry season).
- On the Coast it is hot (25 – 35°C) and dry, with little or no rain during the summer; in the winter the temperatures drop and blankets of sea mist engulf the land.
- In the Mountain Highlands, during the winter you will enjoy sunny days and cold nights (just above freezing). In the summer the mornings are clear and dry with outbursts of heavy rain in the afternoons and moderate daily temperatures.
- The dry season is the best time to visit thejungle regions, when the rivers are low and there are fewer mosquitoes. In the wet season, the weather is hot and humid, and it rains heavily for a few hours everyday.

Population: There are nearly 28 million inhabitants in Peru and the population is primarily mixed, with a notable indigenous majority (55% of total population) that lives mainly in the Andean south and the Amazon. 

Languages: Two principal languages, Spanish and Quechua, are spoken in Peru, but in addition, there are 55 Amazon Jungle languages and in the high plateau near Bolivia, Aymara is spoken.

Cultural Expression: Peru’s cultural heritage gives rise to many forms of artistic expression. For example, there are quite a few dance and music forms here, many of which emerged as a result of the blending of the Indigenous, European and African cultures. Some of these are: the Marinera, Peru’s National Dance, el Vals Criollo, el Tondero and Huayno, an indigenous form dating back to pre-Inca times.

Peruvian cuisine has lately come to be considered one of the richest and most varied in the world, owing to a great diversity of cultural influences, such as the Pre-Inka, Inka, Spanish, Chinese and Japanese. Peru offers a variety of dishes that can be boasted by few other countries on earth, including more than 2000 different soups. In the International Fusion Gastronomical Summit of Madrid in 2006, Lima was declared to be the gastronomical capital of Latin America. Ceviche and the Andean Pachamanca are two of the most important Peruvian dishes and are great when accompanied by pisco (a type of grape brandy), the Peruvian national drink.