Southern Ocean (2006) | Peru (2001) | |
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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 |
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.) |
Agriculture - products | - | coffee, cotton, sugarcane, rice, wheat, potatoes, plantains, coca; poultry, beef, dairy products, wool; fish |
Airports | - | 233 (2000 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.) |
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.) |
Area | total: 20.327 million sq km
note: includes Amundsen Sea, Bellingshausen Sea, part of the Drake Passage, Ross Sea, a small part of the Scotia Sea, Weddell Sea, and other tributary water bodies |
total:
1,285,220 sq km land: 1.28 million sq km water: 5,220 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly more than twice the size of the US | slightly smaller than Alaska |
Background | A large body of recent oceanographic research has shown that the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (ACC), an ocean current that flows from west to east around Antarctica, plays a crucial role in global ocean circulation. The region where the cold waters of the ACC meet and mingle with the warmer waters of the north defines a distinct border - the Antarctic Convergence - which fluctuates with the seasons, but which encompasses a discrete body of water and a unique ecologic region. The Convergence concentrates nutrients, which promotes marine plant life, and which in turn allows for a greater abundance of animal life. In the spring of 2000, the International Hydrographic Organization decided to delimit the waters within the Convergence as a fifth world ocean - the Southern Ocean - by combining the southern portions of the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, and Pacific Ocean. The Southern Ocean extends from the coast of Antarctica north to 60 degrees south latitude, which coincides with the Antarctic Treaty Limit and which approximates the extent of the Antarctic Convergence. As such, the Southern Ocean is now the fourth largest of the world's five oceans (after the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Indian Ocean, but larger than the Arctic Ocean). It should be noted that inclusion of the Southern Ocean does not imply recognition of this feature as one of the world's primary oceans by the US Government. | 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. |
Birth rate | - | 23.9 births/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Budget | - | revenues:
$8.5 billion expenditures: $9.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $2 billion (1996 est.) |
Capital | - | Lima |
Climate | sea temperatures vary from about 10 degrees Celsius to -2 degrees Celsius; cyclonic storms travel eastward around the continent and frequently are intense because of the temperature contrast between ice and open ocean; the ocean area from about latitude 40 south to the Antarctic Circle has the strongest average winds found anywhere on Earth; in winter the ocean freezes outward to 65 degrees south latitude in the Pacific sector and 55 degrees south latitude in the Atlantic sector, lowering surface temperatures well below 0 degrees Celsius; at some coastal points intense persistent drainage winds from the interior keep the shoreline ice-free throughout the winter | varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west; temperate to frigid in Andes |
Coastline | 17,968 km | 2,414 km |
Constitution | - | 31 December 1993 |
Country name | - | conventional long form:
Republic of Peru conventional short form: Peru local long form: Republica del Peru local short form: Peru |
Currency | - | nuevo sol (PEN) |
Death rate | - | 5.78 deaths/1,000 population (2001 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $31 billion (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 |
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 |
Disputes - international | Antarctic Treaty defers claims (see Antarctica entry), but Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, NZ, Norway, and UK assert claims (some overlapping), including the continental shelf in the Southern Ocean; several states have expressed an interest in extending those continental shelf claims under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to include undersea ridges; the US and most other states do not recognize the land or maritime claims of other states and have made no claims themselves (the US and Russia have reserved the right to do so); no formal claims exist in the waters in the sector between 90 degrees west and 150 degrees west | none |
Economic aid - recipient | - | $895.1 million (1995) |
Economy - overview | Fisheries in 2003-04 landed 136,262 metric tons, of which 87% (118,166 tons) was krill and 8% (11,182 tons) Patagonian toothfish, compared to 142,555 tons in 2002-03 of which 83% (117,728 tons) was krill and 12% (16,479 tons) Patagonian toothfish (estimated fishing from the area covered by the Convention of the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), which extends slightly beyond the Southern Ocean area). International agreements were adopted in late 1999 to reduce illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, which in the 2000-01 season landed, by one estimate, 8,376 metric tons of Patagonian and Antarctic toothfish. In the 2004-05 Antarctic summer 28,202 tourists, most of them seaborne (approximately 97%), visited the Southern Ocean and Antarctica, compared to 14,762 in 1999-2000. | 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. |
Electricity - consumption | - | 17.565 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - exports | - | 0 kWh (1999) |
Electricity - imports | - | 1 million kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production | - | 18.886 billion kWh (1999) |
Electricity - production by source | - | fossil fuel:
23.04% hydro: 76.43% nuclear: 0% other: 0.53% (1999) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: -7,235 m at the southern end of the South Sandwich Trench
highest point: sea level 0 m |
lowest point:
Pacific Ocean 0 m highest point: Nevado Huascaran 6,768 m |
Environment - current issues | increased solar ultraviolet radiation resulting from the Antarctic ozone hole in recent years, reducing marine primary productivity (phytoplankton) by as much as 15% and damaging the DNA of some fish; illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing in recent years, especially the landing of an estimated five to six times more Patagonian toothfish than the regulated fishery, which is likely to affect the sustainability of the stock; large amount of incidental mortality of seabirds resulting from long-line fishing for toothfish
note: the now-protected fur seal population is making a strong comeback after severe overexploitation in the 18th and 19th centuries |
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 |
Environment - international agreements | the Southern Ocean is subject to all international agreements regarding the world's oceans; in addition, it is subject to these agreements specific to the Antarctic region: International Whaling Commission (prohibits commercial whaling south of 40 degrees south [south of 60 degrees south between 50 degrees and 130 degrees west]); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (limits sealing); Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (regulates fishing)
note: many nations (including the US) prohibit mineral resource exploration and exploitation south of the fluctuating Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) which is in the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current and serves as the dividing line between the very cold polar surface waters to the south and the warmer waters to the north |
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 |
Ethnic groups | - | Amerindian 45%, mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 37%, white 15%, black, Japanese, Chinese, and other 3% |
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) |
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% |
Exports | - | $7 billion (f.o.b., 2000 est.) |
Exports - commodities | - | fish and fish products, copper, zinc, gold, crude petroleum and byproducts, lead, coffee, sugar, cotton |
Exports - partners | - | US 29%, EU 25%, Andean Community 6%, Japan 4%, Mercosur 3% (1999) |
Fiscal 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 |
GDP | - | purchasing power parity - $123 billion (2000 est.) |
GDP - composition by sector | - | agriculture:
15% industry: 42% services: 43% (1999) |
GDP - per capita | - | purchasing power parity - $4,550 (2000 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | 3.6% (2000 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 60 00 S, 90 00 E (nominally), but the Southern Ocean has the unique distinction of being a large circumpolar body of water totally encircling the continent of Antarctica; this ring of water lies between 60 degrees south latitude and the coast of Antarctica and encompasses 360 degrees of longitude | 10 00 S, 76 00 W |
Geography - note | the major chokepoint is the Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica; the Polar Front (Antarctic Convergence) is the best natural definition of the northern extent of the Southern Ocean; it is a distinct region at the middle of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current that separates the very cold polar surface waters to the south from the warmer waters to the north; the Front and the Current extend entirely around Antarctica, reaching south of 60 degrees south near New Zealand and near 48 degrees south in the far South Atlantic coinciding with the path of the maximum westerly winds | shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake, with Bolivia |
Highways | - | total:
72,900 km paved: 8,700 km unpaved: 64,200 km (1999 est.) |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%:
1.9% highest 10%: 34.3% (1994) |
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.) |
Imports - commodities | - | machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum, iron and steel, chemicals, pharmaceuticals |
Imports - partners | - | US 32%, EU 21%, Andean Community 6%, Mercosur 8%, Japan 5% (1999) |
Independence | - | 28 July 1821 (from Spain) |
Industrial production growth rate | - | 8.5% (2000 est.) |
Industries | - | mining of metals, petroleum, fishing, textiles, clothing, food processing, cement, auto assembly, steel, shipbuilding, metal fabrication |
Infant mortality rate | - | 39.39 deaths/1,000 live births (2001 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | - | 3.7% (2000 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 |
Internet Service Providers (ISPs) | - | 10 (2000) |
Irrigated land | - | 12,800 sq km (1993 est.) |
Judicial branch | - | Supreme Court of Justice or Corte Suprema de Justicia (judges are appointed by the National Council of the Judiciary) |
Labor force | - | 7.6 million (1996 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | - | agriculture, mining and quarrying, manufacturing, construction, transport, services |
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 |
Land use | - | arable land:
3% permanent crops: 0% permanent pastures: 21% forests and woodland: 66% other: 10% (1993 est.) |
Languages | - | Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara |
Legal system | - | based on civil law system; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
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 |
Life expectancy at birth | - | total population:
70.3 years male: 67.9 years female: 72.81 years (2001 est.) |
Literacy | - | definition:
age 15 and over can read and write total population: 88.7% male: 94.5% female: 83% (1995 est.) |
Location | body of water between 60 degrees south latitude and Antarctica | Western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Chile and Ecuador |
Map references | Antarctic Region | South America |
Maritime claims | - | continental shelf:
200 NM territorial sea: 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.) |
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) |
Military expenditures - dollar figure | - | $1 billion (FY00) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1.9% (FY00) |
Military manpower - availability | - | males age 15-49:
7,205,675 (2001 est.) |
Military manpower - fit for military service | - | males age 15-49:
4,847,250 (2001 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) |
Nationality | - | noun:
Peruvian(s) adjective: Peruvian |
Natural hazards | huge icebergs with drafts up to several hundred meters; smaller bergs and iceberg fragments; sea ice (generally 0.5 to 1 meter thick) with sometimes dynamic short-term variations and with large annual and interannual variations; deep continental shelf floored by glacial deposits varying widely over short distances; high winds and large waves much of the year; ship icing, especially May-October; most of region is remote from sources of search and rescue | earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, landslides, mild volcanic activity |
Natural resources | probable large and possible giant oil and gas fields on the continental margin, manganese nodules, possible placer deposits, sand and gravel, fresh water as icebergs; squid, whales, and seals - none exploited; krill, fishes | copper, silver, gold, petroleum, timber, fish, iron ore, coal, phosphate, potash, hydropower |
Net migration rate | - | -1.08 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2001 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] |
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)] |
Population | - | 27,483,864 (July 2001 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | 49% (1994 est.) |
Population growth rate | - | 1.7% (2001 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 |
Radio broadcast stations | - | AM 472, FM 198, shortwave 189 (1999) |
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% |
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.) |
Suffrage | - | 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 |
Telephones - main lines in use | - | 1.509 million (1998) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | - | 504,995 (1998) |
Television broadcast stations | - | 13 (plus 112 repeaters) (1997) |
Terrain | the Southern Ocean is deep, 4,000 to 5,000 meters over most of its extent with only limited areas of shallow water; the Antarctic continental shelf is generally narrow and unusually deep, its edge lying at depths of 400 to 800 meters (the global mean is 133 meters); the Antarctic icepack grows from an average minimum of 2.6 million square kilometers in March to about 18.8 million square kilometers in September, better than a sixfold increase in area; the Antarctic Circumpolar Current (21,000 km in length) moves perpetually eastward; it is the world's largest ocean current, transporting 130 million cubic meters of water per second - 100 times the flow of all the world's rivers | western coastal plain (costa), high and rugged Andes in center (sierra), eastern lowland jungle of Amazon Basin (selva) |
Total fertility rate | - | 2.96 children born/woman (2001 est.) |
Transportation - note | Drake Passage offers alternative to transit through the Panama Canal | - |
Unemployment rate | - | 7.7%; extensive underemployment (1997) |
Waterways | - | 8,808 km
note: 8,600 km of navigable tributaries of Amazon system and 208 km of Lago Titicaca |