Peru is full of reminiscences of the first Native American cultures, the Inca culture and the Spanish colonial era. Cuzco, the Inca capital, the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu and the living Indian cultures on Lake Titicaca cannot fail to fascinate. The varied nature includes dry sandy deserts, snow-capped mountain peaks, rushing rivers and evergreen Amazon rainforest.
30,4 Millones
Sol Peruano
Spanish, Quechua and Aymara are official languages, Spanish is the largest, largest Native American languages are Quechua
Religion Catholicism, small minorities of Protestants and practitioners of traditional religious religions
Peru is located in western South America along the Pacific coast and borders Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Bolivia and Chile. The duck chain stretches across the country, dividing the dry, desert-like coastline from the moist Amazon rainforest. In northern Peru lies the country's highest mountain, Huascaran at 6,768 meters. This soaring mountain is not alone. Over a stretch of 160 km, over a thousand mountains rise more than 6,000 meters in the air. Many of these are volcanoes. In the high mountains, numerous rivers spring up into the jungle region to the east or down through the desert-like coastline and out into the Pacific Ocean. The fertile oases around the rivers in the otherwise arid coastal area are the country's best agricultural areas. Cotton and sugar cane are grown here, while the highlands' agricultural areas are used for maize, beans and as grazing for cattle and llamas. The domestic animals in the mountain area must share space and food with wild llamas such as guanaco and vicuna, in the rainforest monkeys, tapirs, armadillos and jaguars live, and air and water are everywhere filled with quantities of respectively. birds and fish.
Peru has throughout the ages been populated by well-known Native American cultures such as the Mochica, Nazca and Tiahuanaco cultures, but it is the Inca Empire that most people fall into with the idea of Peru. The first sod for the legendary Inca Empire was taken in Cuzco around the year 1100. When the Spaniards came to Peru in the early 16th century, the Inca Empire was at its height and stretched over almost all of Peru as well as parts of Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina. Peru came under Spanish rule when the conquistador Francisco Pizarro in 1532 went ashore with the express desire to conquer the state. This was no problem as the Inca Empire at that time was divided by protracted civil war. The Spanish conquerors also destroyed the other Native American cultures and founded Lima as the capital of Peru, which at the time included almost all of Spanish South America.
A trip to Peru does not have to stick to a single theme. The sizzling capital of Lima, the living greenhouse of the Amazon rainforest, the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco, the unique Machu Picchu and the living Indians of Lake Titicaca can each - or together - make up a holiday in Peru. With its 3,800 meters above sea level, the huge Lake Titicaca is the world's highest lake. Its shores and islands are home to small Native American communities, where life is lived as it has been for centuries, even on floating islands built of reeds. Cuzco is an ancient Inca capital and Spanish colonial city in one and is with its history, charm and many sights one of the continent's cultural highlights. Here you enjoy sun temples, Inca fortresses, colonial buildings and the view of the majestic Andes Mountains. In the mountains of southern Peru, Arequipa, called the White City, lies at the foot of El Misti volcano. Here, the large, old convent of Santa Catalina, the cathedral and the fine colonial houses are among the best sights. At the same time, over the low roofs you can see the cone-shaped 5,822 meter high volcano on the horizon.
