Peru (2001) | Guinea-Bissau (2004) | |
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Administrative divisions | 24 departments (departamentos, singular - departamento) and 1 constitutional province* (provincia constitucional); Amazonas, Ancash, Apurimac, Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Callao*, Cusco, Huancavelica, Huanuco, Ica, Junin, La Libertad, Lambayeque, Lima, Loreto, Madre de Dios, Moquegua, Pasco, Piura, Puno, San Martin, Tacna, Tumbes, Ucayali
note: the 1979 constitution mandated the creation of regions (regiones, singular - region) to function eventually as autonomous economic and administrative entities; so far, 12 regions have been constituted from 23 of the 24 departments - Amazonas (from Loreto), Andres Avelino Caceres (from Huanuco, Pasco, Junin), Arequipa (from Arequipa), Chavin (from Ancash), Grau (from Tumbes, Piura), Inca (from Cusco, Madre de Dios, Apurimac), La Libertad (from La Libertad), Los Libertadores-Huari (from Ica, Ayacucho, Huancavelica), Mariategui (from Moquegua, Tacna, Puno), Nor Oriental del Maranon (from Lambayeque, Cajamarca, Amazonas), San Martin (from San Martin), Ucayali (from Ucayali); formation of another region has been delayed by the reluctance of the constitutional province of Callao to merge with the department of Lima; because of inadequate funding from the central government and organizational and political difficulties, the regions have yet to assume major responsibilities; the 1993 constitution retains the regions but limits their authority; the 1993 constitution also reaffirms the roles of departmental and municipal governments |
9 regions (regioes, singular - regiao); Bafata, Biombo, Bissau, Bolama, Cacheu, Gabu, Oio, Quinara, Tombali; note - Bolama may have been renamed Bolama/Bijagos |
Age structure | 0-14 years:
34.41% (male 4,803,464; female 4,654,890) 15-64 years: 60.8% (male 8,408,210; female 8,302,943) 65 years and over: 4.79% (male 603,309; female 711,048) (2001 est.) |
0-14 years: 41.7% (male 288,760; female 289,975)
15-64 years: 55.4% (male 367,728; female 400,996) 65 years and over: 2.9% (male 17,570; female 23,334) (2004 est.) |
Agriculture - products | coffee, cotton, sugarcane, rice, wheat, potatoes, plantains, coca; poultry, beef, dairy products, wool; fish | rice, corn, beans, cassava (tapioca), cashew nuts, peanuts, palm kernels, cotton; timber; fish |
Airports | 233 (2000 est.) | 28 (2003 est.) |
Airports - with paved runways | total:
46 over 3,047 m: 6 2,438 to 3,047 m: 18 1,524 to 2,437 m: 13 914 to 1,523 m: 8 under 914 m: 1 (2000 est.) |
total: 3
over 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | total:
187 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 1,524 to 2,437 m: 25 914 to 1,523 m: 65 under 914 m: 95 (2000 est.) |
total: 25
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 4 under 914 m: 20 (2004 est.) |
Area | total:
1,285,220 sq km land: 1.28 million sq km water: 5,220 sq km |
total: 36,120 sq km
land: 28,000 sq km water: 8,120 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly smaller than Alaska | slightly less than three times the size of Connecticut |
Background | After a dozen years of military rule, Peru returned to democratic leadership in 1980. In recent years, bold reform programs and significant progress in curtailing guerrilla activity and drug trafficking have resulted in solid economic growth. | Since independence from Portugal in 1974, Guinea-Bissau has experienced considerable upheaval. The founding government consisted of a single party system and command economy. In 1980, a military coup established Joao VIEIRA as president and a path to a market economy and multiparty system was implemented. A number of coup attempts through the 1980s and early 1990s failed to unseat him and in 1994 he was elected president in the country's first free elections. A military coup attempt and civil war in 1998 eventually led to VIERA's ouster in 1999. In February 2000, an interim government turned over power when opposition leader Kumba YALA took office following two rounds of transparent presidential elections. YALA was ousted in a bloodless coup in September 2003, and Henrique ROSA was sworn in as President. Guinea-Bissau's transition back to democracy will be complicated by its crippled economy, devastated in the civil war. |
Birth rate | 23.9 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 38.03 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Budget | revenues:
$8.5 billion expenditures: $9.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $2 billion (1996 est.) |
revenues: NA
expenditures: NA, including capital expenditures of NA |
Capital | Lima | Bissau |
Climate | varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west; temperate to frigid in Andes | tropical; generally hot and humid; monsoonal-type rainy season (June to November) with southwesterly winds; dry season (December to May) with northeasterly harmattan winds |
Coastline | 2,414 km | 350 km |
Constitution | 31 December 1993 | 16 May 1984, amended 4 May 1991, 4 December 1991, 26 February 1993, 9 June 1993, and 1996 |
Country name | conventional long form:
Republic of Peru conventional short form: Peru local long form: Republica del Peru local short form: Peru |
conventional long form: Republic of Guinea-Bissau
conventional short form: Guinea-Bissau local long form: Republica da Guine-Bissau local short form: Guine-Bissau former: Portuguese Guinea |
Currency | nuevo sol (PEN) | Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States; previously the Guinea-Bissau peso (GWP) was used |
Death rate | 5.78 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) | 16.57 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Debt - external | $31 billion (2000 est.) | $941.5 million (2000 est.) |
Diplomatic representation from the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador John HAMILTON embassy: Avenida La Encalada, Cuadra 17s/n, Surco, Lima 33 mailing address: P. O. Box 1995, Lima 1; American Embassy (Lima), APO AA 34031-5000 telephone: [51] (1) 434-3000 FAX: [51] (1) 434-3037 |
the US Embassy suspended operations on 14 June 1998 in the midst of violent conflict between forces loyal to then President VIEIRA and military-led junta; US embassy Dakar is responsible for covering Guinea-Bissau: telephone - [221] 823-4296; FAX - [221] 822-5903 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | chief of mission:
Ambassador Alfonso RIVERO Monsalve chancery: 1700 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036 telephone: [1] (202) 833-9860 through 9869 FAX: [1] (202) 659-8124 consulate(s) general: Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Paterson (New Jersey), San Francisco |
chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Henrique Adriano DA SILVA
chancery: 1511 K Street NW, Suite 519, Washington, DC 20005 telephone: [1] (202) 347-3950 FAX: [1] (202) 347-3954 |
Disputes - international | none | attempts to stem refugees and cross-border raids, arms smuggling, and political instability from a separatist movement in Senegal's Casamance region |
Economic aid - recipient | $895.1 million (1995) | $115.4 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | The Peruvian economy has become increasingly market-oriented, with major privatizations completed since 1990 in the mining, electricity, and telecommunications industries. Thanks to strong foreign investment and the cooperation between the FUJIMORI government and the IMF and World Bank, growth was strong in 1994-97 and inflation was brought under control. In 1998, El Nino's impact on agriculture, the financial crisis in Asia, and instability in Brazilian markets undercut growth. And 1999 was another lean year for Peru, with the aftermath of El Nino and the Asian financial crisis working its way through the economy. Political instability resulting from the presidential election and FUJIMORI's subsequent departure from office limited economic growth in 2000. | One of the 10 poorest countries in the world, Guinea-Bissau depends mainly on farming and fishing. Cashew crops have increased remarkably in recent years, and the country now ranks sixth in cashew production. Guinea-Bissau exports fish and seafood along with small amounts of peanuts, palm kernels, and timber. Rice is the major crop and staple food. However, intermittent fighting between Senegalese-backed government troops and a military junta destroyed much of the country's infrastructure and caused widespread damage to the economy in 1998; the civil war led to a 28% drop in GDP that year, with partial recovery in 1999-2002. Before the war, trade reform and price liberalization were the most successful part of the country's structural adjustment program under IMF sponsorship. The tightening of monetary policy and the development of the private sector had also begun to reinvigorate the economy. Because of high costs, the development of petroleum, phosphate, and other mineral resources is not a near-term prospect. However, unexploited offshore oil reserves could provide much-needed revenue in the long run. The inequality of income distribution is one of the most extreme in the world. The government and international donors continue to work out plans to forward economic development from a lamentably low base. Government drift and indecision, however, have resulted in low growth in 2002-03 and dim prospects for 2004. |
Electricity - consumption | 17.565 billion kWh (1999) | 51.15 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - imports | 1 million kWh (1999) | 0 kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production | 18.886 billion kWh (1999) | 55 million kWh (2001) |
Electricity - production by source | fossil fuel:
23.04% hydro: 76.43% nuclear: 0% other: 0.53% (1999) |
- |
Elevation extremes | lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Nevado Huascaran 6,768 m |
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location in the northeast corner of the country 300 m |
Environment - current issues | deforestation (some the result of illegal logging); overgrazing of the slopes of the costa and sierra leading to soil erosion; desertification; air pollution in Lima; pollution of rivers and coastal waters from municipal and mining wastes | deforestation; soil erosion; overgrazing; overfishing |
Environment - international agreements | party to:
Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol |
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Law of the Sea, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | Amerindian 45%, mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 37%, white 15%, black, Japanese, Chinese, and other 3% | African 99% (Balanta 30%, Fula 20%, Manjaca 14%, Mandinga 13%, Papel 7%), European and mulatto less than 1% |
Exchange rates | nuevo sol per US dollar - 3.5230 (January 2001), 3.4900 (2000), 3.383 (1999), 2.930 (1998), 2.664 (1997), 2.453 (1996) | Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 581.2 (2003), 696.988 (2002), 733.039 (2001), 711.976 (2000), 615.699 (1999)
note: as of 1 May 1997, Guinea-Bissau adopted the XOF franc as the national currency; since 1 January 1999, the XOF franc is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF francs per euro |
Executive branch | chief of state:
President Alejandro TOLEDO (since 28 July 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government; additionally two vice presidents are provided for by the Constitution, First Vice President Raul DIEZ Conseco (since 28 July 2001) and Second Vice President David WAISMAN (since 28 July 2001) head of government: President Alejandro TOLEDO (since 28 July 2001); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government; additionally two vice presidents are provided for by the Constitution, First Vice President Raul DIEZ Conseco (since 28 July 2001) and Second Vice President David WAISMAN (since 28 July 2001) note: Prime Minister Roberto DANINO (since 28 July 2001) does not exercise executive power; this power is in the hands of the president cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the president elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; special presidential election held 8 April 2001 with runoff election 3 June 2001); next to be held NA 2006 election results: President TOLEDO elected in runoff election; percent of vote - Alejandro TOLEDO 53.1%, Alan GARCIA 46.9% |
chief of state: President Henrique ROSA (interim; since 28 September 2003); note - a September 2003 coup overthrew the elected government of Kumba YALA; General Verissimo Correia SEABRA served as interim president from 14 to 28 September 2003
head of government: Prime Minister Carlos GOMES Junior (since 9 May 2004) cabinet: NA elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term; election last held 28 November 1999 and 16 January 2000 (next to be held NA 2004); prime minister appointed by the president after consultation with party leaders in the legislature election results: Kumba YALA elected president; percent of vote, second ballot - Kumba YALA (PRS) 72%, Malan Bacai SANHA (PAIGC) 28% note: a bloodless coup led to the dissolution of the elected government of Kumba YALA in September 2003; General Verissimo Correia SEABRA served as interim president from 14 September 2003 until stepping aside on 28 September 2003 with the establishment of a caretaker government |
Exports | $7 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA (2001) |
Exports - commodities | fish and fish products, copper, zinc, gold, crude petroleum and byproducts, lead, coffee, sugar, cotton | cashew nuts, shrimp, peanuts, palm kernels, sawn lumber |
Exports - partners | US 29%, EU 25%, Andean Community 6%, Japan 4%, Mercosur 3% (1999) | India 76.8%, Nigeria 12.1%, Italy 5.1% (2003) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | calendar year |
Flag description | three equal, vertical bands of red (hoist side), white, and red with the coat of arms centered in the white band; the coat of arms features a shield bearing a llama, cinchona tree (the source of quinine), and a yellow cornucopia spilling out gold coins, all framed by a green wreath | two equal horizontal bands of yellow (top) and green with a vertical red band on the hoist side; there is a black five-pointed star centered in the red band; uses the popular pan-African colors of Ethiopia |
GDP | purchasing power parity - $123 billion (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $1.063 billion (2003 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture:
15% industry: 42% services: 43% (1999) |
agriculture: 62%
industry: 12% services: 26% (1999 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $4,550 (2000 est.) | purchasing power parity - $800 (2003 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | 3.6% (2000 est.) | -7% (2003 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 10 00 S, 76 00 W | 12 00 N, 15 00 W |
Geography - note | shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake, with Bolivia | this small country is swampy along its western coast and low-lying further inland |
Highways | total:
72,900 km paved: 8,700 km unpaved: 64,200 km (1999 est.) |
total: 4,400 km
paved: 453 km unpaved: 3,947 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%:
1.9% highest 10%: 34.3% (1994) |
lowest 10%: 0.5%
highest 10%: 42.4% (1991) |
Illicit drugs | until 1996 the world's largest coca leaf producer, Peru reduced the area of coca under cultivation by 64% to 34,200 hectares between 1996 and the end of 2000; much of the cocaine base is shipped to neighboring Colombia for processing into cocaine for the international drug market; increasing amounts of finished cocaine, however, are being shipped to Europe or to Brazil and Bolivia for use in the Southern Cone or transshipped to world markets | - |
Imports | $7.4 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) | NA (2001) |
Imports - commodities | machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum, iron and steel, chemicals, pharmaceuticals | foodstuffs, machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products |
Imports - partners | US 32%, EU 21%, Andean Community 6%, Mercosur 8%, Japan 5% (1999) | Senegal 18.1%, India 14.6%, Portugal 14.6%, China 9.7%, Italy 9%, Spain 4.9% (2003) |
Independence | 28 July 1821 (from Spain) | 24 September 1973 (unilaterally declared by Guinea-Bissau); 10 September 1974 (recognized by Portugal) |
Industrial production growth rate | 8.5% (2000 est.) | 2.6% (1997 est.) |
Industries | mining of metals, petroleum, fishing, textiles, clothing, food processing, cement, auto assembly, steel, shipbuilding, metal fabrication | agricultural products processing, beer, soft drinks |
Infant mortality rate | 39.39 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) | total: 108.72 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 119.37 deaths/1,000 live births female: 97.74 deaths/1,000 live births (2004 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.7% (2000 est.) | 4% (2002 est.) |
International organization participation | ABEDA, APEC, CAN, CCC, ECLAC, FAO, G-11, G-15, G-19, G-24, G-77, IADB, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO (correspondent), ITU, LAES, LAIA, MONUC, NAM, OAS, OPANAL, OPCW, PCA, RG, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNTAET, UPU, WCL, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO | ACCT, ACP, AfDB, AU, ECOWAS, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ITU, NAM, OIC, OPCW (signatory), UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WADB (regional), WAEMU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | 10 (2000) | - |
Irrigated land | 12,800 sq km (1993 est.) | 170 sq km (1998 est.) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (judges are appointed by the National Council of the Judiciary) | Supreme Court or Supremo Tribunal da Justica (consists of nine justices who are appointed by the president and serve at his pleasure; final court of appeals in criminal and civil cases); Regional Courts (one in each of nine regions; first court of appeals for Sectoral Court decisions; hear all felony cases and civil cases valued at over $1,000); 24 Sectoral Courts (judges are not necessarily trained lawyers; they hear civil cases under $1,000 and misdemeanor criminal cases) |
Labor force | 7.6 million (1996 est.) | 480,000 (1999) |
Labor force - by occupation | agriculture, mining and quarrying, manufacturing, construction, transport, services | agriculture 82% (2000 est.) |
Land boundaries | total:
5,536 km border countries: Bolivia 900 km, Brazil 1,560 km, Chile 160 km, Colombia 1,496 km (est.), Ecuador 1,420 km |
total: 724 km
border countries: Guinea 386 km, Senegal 338 km |
Land use | arable land:
3% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 21% forests and woodland: 66% other: 10% (1993 est.) |
arable land: 10.67%
permanent crops: 8.82% other: 80.51% (2001) |
Languages | Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara | Portuguese (official), Crioulo, African languages |
Legal system | based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction | NA |
Legislative branch | unicameral Democratic Constituent Congress or Congresso Constituyente Democratico (120 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: last held 9 April 2000 (next to be held 8 April 2001) note: many congressmen defected to and then from former President FUJIMORI's coalition in 2000 election results: percent of vote by party - Peru 2000 42.16%, Peru Possible 23.34%, FIM 7.56%, Somos Peru 7.2%, APRA 5.5%, others 14.24%; seats by party - Peru 2000 52, Peru Possible 29, FIM 9, others 30 |
unicameral National People's Assembly or Assembleia Nacional Popular (100 seats; members are elected by popular vote to serve a maximum of four years); note - President YALA dissolved the National People's Assembly in November 2002, elections for a new legislature were scheduled to fall in February 2003 but were then postponed to April, then July, then September, and were last scheduled to occur in March 2004
elections: last held 28 March 2004 (next to be held NA 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - PAIGC 31.5%, PRS 24.8%, PUSD 16.1%, UE 4.1%, APU 1.3%, 13 other parties 22.2% ; seats by party - PAIGC 45, PRS 35, PUSD 17, UE 2, APU 1 |
Life expectancy at birth | total population:
70.3 years male: 67.9 years female: 72.81 years (2001 est.) |
total population: 46.98 years
male: 45.09 years female: 48.92 years (2004 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 88.7% male: 94.5% female: 83% (1995 est.) |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 42.4% male: 58.1% female: 27.4% (2003 est.) |
Location | Western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Chile and Ecuador | Western Africa, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, between Guinea and Senegal |
Map references | South America | Africa |
Maritime claims | continental shelf:
200 NM territorial sea: 200 NM |
territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm |
Merchant marine | total:
6 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 40,623 GRT/61,769 DWT ships by type: cargo 5, petroleum tanker 1 (2000 est.) |
none |
Military branches | Army (Ejercito Peruano), Navy (Marina de Guerra del Peru; includes Naval Air, Marines, and Coast Guard), Air Force (Fuerza Aerea del Peru), National Police (Policia Nacional) | People's Revolutionary Armed Force (FARP; includes Army, Navy, and Air Force), paramilitary force |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | $1 billion (FY00) | $8.4 million (2003) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | 1.9% (FY00) | 2.8% (2003) |
Military manpower - availability | males age 15-49:
7,205,675 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 326,864 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | males age 15-49:
4,847,250 (2001 est.) |
males age 15-49: 185,801 (2004 est.) |
Military manpower - military age | 20 years of age | - |
Military manpower - reaching military age annually | males:
276,458 (2001 est.) |
- |
National holiday | Independence Day, 28 July (1821) | Independence Day, 24 September (1973) |
Nationality | noun:
Peruvian(s) adjective: Peruvian |
noun: Guinean(s)
adjective: Guinean |
Natural hazards | earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, landslides, mild volcanic activity | hot, dry, dusty harmattan haze may reduce visibility during dry season; brush fires |
Natural resources | copper, silver, gold, petroleum, timber, fish, iron ore, coal, phosphate, potash, hydropower | fish, timber, phosphates, bauxite, unexploited deposits of petroleum |
Net migration rate | -1.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 est.) | -1.57 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Pipelines | crude oil 800 km; natural gas and natural gas liquids 64 km | - |
Political parties and leaders | American Popular Revolutionary Alliance or APRA [Alan GARCIA]; Andean Rebirth [Ciro GALVEZ Herreria]; Avancemos [leader NA]; Democratic Cause [Jorge SANTISTEVAN]; Independent Moralizing Front or FIM [Fernando OLIVERA Vega]; National Solidarity or SN [Luis CASTANEDA Lossio]; National Unity [Lourdes FLORES Nano]; Peru 2000 [leader NA]; Peru Posible or PP [Alejandro TOLEDO Maniquez]; Popular Action or AP [leader NA]; Popular Agrarian Front of Peru or Frepap [leader NA]; Popular Solution [Carlos BOLONA Behr]; Project Country [Mario Antonio ARRUNATEGUI]; Somos Peru or SP [Alberto ANDRADE]; Union for Peru or UPP [leader NA]; Vamos Vecinos or VV [Absalon VASQUEZ] | African Party for the Independence of Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde or PAIGC [Carlos GOMES Junior]; Front for the Liberation and Independence of Guinea or FLING [Francois MENDY]; Guinea-Bissau Resistance-Ba Fata Movement or RGB-MB [Helder Vaz LOPES]; Guinean Civic Forum or FCG [Antonieta Rosa GOMES]; International League for Ecological Protection or LIPE [Alhaje Bubacar DJALO, president]; National Union for Democracy and Progress or UNDP [Abubacer BALDE, secretary general]; Party for Democratic Convergence or PCD [Victor MANDINGA]; Social Renovation Party or PRS [Kumba YALA]; Union for Change or UM [Jorge MANDINGA, president, Dr. Anne SAAD, secretary general]; United Platform or UP [coalition formed by PCD, FDS, FLING, and RGB-MB]; United Social Democratic Party or PUSD [Francisco Jose FADUL] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | leftist guerrilla groups include Shining Path [Abimael GUZMAN Reynoso (imprisoned), Gabriel MACARIO (top leader at-large)]; Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement or MRTA [Victor POLAY (imprisoned), Hugo AVALLENEDA Valdez (top leader at-large)] | NA |
Population | 27,483,864 (July 2001 est.) | 1,388,363 (July 2004 est.) |
Population below poverty line | 49% (1994 est.) | NA |
Population growth rate | 1.7% (2001 est.) | 1.99% (2004 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Callao, Chimbote, Ilo, Matarani, Paita, Puerto Maldonado, Salaverry, San Martin, Talara, Iquitos, Pucallpa, Yurimaguas
note: Iquitos, Pucallpa, and Yurimaguas are all on the upper reaches of the Amazon and its tributaries |
Bissau, Buba, Cacheu, Farim |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 472, FM 198, shortwave 189 (1999) | AM 1 (transmitter out of service), FM 4, shortwave 0 (2002) |
Radios | 6.65 million (1997) | - |
Railways | total:
1,988 km standard gauge: 1,608 km 1.435-m gauge narrow gauge: 380 km 0.914-m gauge |
- |
Religions | Roman Catholic 90% | indigenous beliefs 50%, Muslim 45%, Christian 5% |
Sex ratio | at birth:
1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.85 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2001 est.) |
at birth: 1.03 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.92 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.75 male(s)/female total population: 0.94 male(s)/female (2004 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment:
adequate for most requirements domestic: nationwide microwave radio relay system and a domestic satellite system with 12 earth stations international: satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean); Pan American submarine cable |
general assessment: small system
domestic: combination of microwave radio relay, open-wire lines, radiotelephone, and cellular communications international: country code - 245 |
Telephones - main lines in use | 1.509 million (1998) | 10,600 (2003) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 504,995 (1998) | 1,300 (2003) |
Television broadcast stations | 13 (plus 112 repeaters) (1997) | NA (1997) |
Terrain | western coastal plain (costa), high and rugged Andes in center (sierra), eastern lowland jungle of Amazon Basin (selva) | mostly low coastal plain rising to savanna in east |
Total fertility rate | 2.96 children born/woman (2001 est.) | 5 children born/woman (2004 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 7.7%; extensive underemployment (1997) | NA (1998) |
Waterways | 8,808 km
note: 8,600 km of navigable tributaries of Amazon system and 208 km of Lago Titicaca |
4 largest rivers are navigable for some distance; many inlets and creeks give shallow-water access to much of interior (2004) |