Peru

1 Chapter Basic Knowledge

    • Basic knowledge

      Peru Basic Knowledge

       

       

       

      Official Name: Republic of Peru (República del Perú)

       

      National Flag:




       

       

      National Land/ Area:

       

      According to the World Bank Peru´s national land is 1,280,000 square Km´s (2016).

       

       

      Capital

       

      The capital is the city of Lima but historically the capital has been Cusco. Is the largest city in the country, the estimated population is 10,554,712. The city was founded in 1535, and by 1925 its population grew to almost a quarter of million people, and doubled in 1940. The city is divided in 43 districts the seaport of Callao is part of the metropolitan area of Lima and has its own six districts with its own mayor and municipality.

       

       

      Climate.

       

      There are 3 different climate zones in the country:

       

      - In the desert coastal strip called la Costa, there is a mild climate, cloudy and foggy in winter and warm in the summer.

       

      - In the Andean zone, called la Sierra, it is mostly cold depending on the altitude.

       

      - And the large eastern area covered by the Amazonian forest with a hot and humid climate throughout the year.

       

      The average precipitation in depth is 1738 mm per year.

       

       

      Time Difference.

       

      The whole country has the same time zone, it´s abbreviation is PET for Peru Time, UTC-5, Peru has no daylight saving time.

       

       

      Population

       

      Has a population of 32,165,485 million people.

       

       

      Ethnicity.

       

      Peru has one of the highest amounts of indigenous people in America. the main ethnic groups are the Amerindians, the ethnic group that occupied the country before europeans. Mestizos a group formed between amerindian and european descent, white europeans and the other groups that are the 3% of the population. Asians, Afro-peruvian, mulatto, zambo and other.

       

       

      Language.

       

      Peru is a multilingual country, the most spoken language is Spanish, officially has three languages Spanish, Aymara and Quechua. But all indigenous or native languages that were used before Spanish are also recognized as official. There are 47 original languages that are spoken by more than 4 million people, of which 47 are Amazonian and the remaining 4 are Andean.

       

       

      Currency.

       

      The official currency is the Peruvian Sol, PEN.

       

       

      Religion.

       

      The 2017 Census showed that 76% of the population is Catholic, 14.1% is evangelical, those who do not have religion are 5.1% of the population and other religions are 4.8%.

       

       

      Political System.

       

      Peru is a democratic, social, independent and sovereign republic, with a representative and decentralized unitary government. It is organized according to the principle of the separation of powers, Executive Power, Judicial Power and Legislative Power. The President and members of the congress are elected every five years by universal vote. The Political Constitution of Peru is the basis of the legal system of the country. It rests on the pillars of law, justice and the rules of the country. The local government has organs such as the provincial and district municipalities, which have political, economic, and administrative autonomy. The mayors and aldermen are elected by direct suffrage for a period of 4 years and may be re-elected.

       

       

      History

       

       

      Pre-Columbian Era (11,000 BC-1532)

       

      The first settlers were hunter-gatherers in the lithic period, their descendants developed the horticulture and the domestication of animals, thus began the first villages. The civilization arose with the call Caral in the Peruvian coast that vanished in 1800 BC. Before the arrival of the Spanish conquistadors, in Peru the Incas, a warlike and militaristic people from the 15th century, lived from Colombia to Chile.The capital of the empire was in Cuzco.

       

       

      Conquest of Peru (1532-1572)

       

      There were several explorations before the conquest of Peru by Francisco Pizarro and Diego Almagro. At that time the Inca Empire was in crisis, which facilitated the conquest in Cajamarca in 1532. But officially the Spanish authority was entrenched until 1569, since there were rebellions, like the one led by Manco Inca, who visited Cuzco by surrounding Spaniards and indigenous allies. Also the dramatic decrease in population during the years of the Conquest and the first colonial regime due to epidemics by diseases brought by the Spanish, favored the conquest.

       

       

      Viceroyalty (1542-1824)

       

      In 1542, the Spanish Crown created the Viceroyalty of Peru, which was reorganized after the arrival of Viceroy Francisco de Toledo in 1572. He subdued the Inca Empire by putting an end to  the indigenous Neo-Inca state in Vilcabamba and executed Tupac Amaru I. The first Ascents were in Cuzco, on the part of Francisco Pizarro. The Viceroyalty experienced forty years of administrative chaos, due to differences between conquerors and the unequal distribution of land. It was Francisco de Toledo who managed to channel the situation and established a stable administrative framework, with tributary censuses, census of the native inhabitants and the realization of a record of the natural and human resources of Peru. Thus, a work system could be established.

       

       

      Independence (1810-1824)

       

      It began about the year 1810 with the first revolts, movements that were quickly put down.To prevent future uprisings, the curacazgos were replaced by the alcaldes de indios; the use of Inca costumes was forbidden, the portraits of the Incas were ordered destroyed, and Quechua writings were prohibited. On July 28, 1821, the declaration of the independence of Peru took place by General José de San Martin in Lima, who met the City Council and drafted the Act of Independence of Peru. The Protectorate was established as a form of government, headed by San Martin where it was sought that in Spain a prince would take over the throne of Peru. But in July 1822 General José de San Martín traveled to Guayaquil to meet with Venezuelan General Simón Bolívar, at this meeting, he decided to leave Peru. Simón Bolívar arrived in Peru on September 1, 1823, who organized the Peruvian army to fight in the pampas of Chacamarca, Junín, where the Peruvian army won its first victory, on August 6, 1824. The Spaniards were defeated thanks to the surprise appearance of the regimental battalion known as Hussars of Peru, commanded by General Guillermo Miller. The viceroy was wounded and captured and proceeded to sign the capitulation on the battlefield.

       

       

      Republic

       

      The constituent congress was established, but there was still a social-economic inequality in the population, at this stage the search for markets for capital and goods began, large loans were requested from abroad. In 1879 the country faced a war with Chile in which Peru lost, this led the country to fall into bankruptcy that led to military governments.Thus began the period called the "Aristocratic Republic" where the economy was based on a landowning elite- After this, the peak of rubber exploitation in the jungle started and opened the gap between the elite and the population, who lived mainly from agriculture.

       

       

      In the decade of the 70's Peru was governed by a military dictatorship, where the oil was nationalized, the media and the agrarian bases were reformed. It was until the decade of the 80's that the democratic governments returned but the country was already submerged in a strong economic crisis with great hyperinflation. At this time two terrorist movements emerged that for 20 years violently shook the country. In 1990 Alberto Kenya Fujimori was elected as president to fight inflation, adopting neoliberal austerity measures dictated by the IMF. With the support of the army, he gave a coup d'état in April 1992, dissolved the Parliament and announced a new Constitution.His government was authoritarian and lasted a decade, had to resign for acts of corruption and fled to Japan.

       

       

      Current era.

       

      There was a period of political crisis between 2017 and 2018, where there was a break with the state, on the one hand was the so-called "Officialism" led by President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and the other group was controlled by the Congress in its majority by the party fujimorista Fuerza Popular, self-described "opposition". This led to the resignation of the president Pedro Pablo Kuczynsk, Martín Vizcarra took his place as president.

       

       

      Education

       

      The Ministry of Education is the authority in charge of overwatching all the educational levels in this country and setting a federal curriculum. An education reform that took place in 1996, extended free educational programs, the first one is “educación básica” (general stream), the other is “técnico productiva” (technical). Public education is free, however there are private schools for every level in the education system, all schools are obliged to follow the national curriculum, this is overseen by local education authorities. The country is still facing difficulties to provide equal educational opportunities. There a four education level, two of which are basic and the last one is university.

       

       

      Educación Inicial

       

       

      This is like kindergarten, this educational level has two modalities, one for children with less than three years old, called “cunas” (cribs), the other is offered for children in between three to five years old, through non-escolar programs, this programs are intended for disadvantaged children from rural and urban-marginal areas, the last year in this level is obligatory.

       

       

      Educación Primaria

       

       

       

      A six years educational program divided into three two-years cycles, with six teaching hours per day, which is set for students to acquire general knowledge of science and environment, mathematics, communications, art, personal development, physical education, religious education and languages, this program uses a vigesimal evaluation system, the minimum grade to approve is 11.  

       

       

      Educación Secundaria

       

       

      This educational program is divided in two cycles: the first one is general, obligatory for all the students and with the primary educations forms the basic obligatory education, “Assistant Technician” Title is awarded after finishing this cycle, there is no admission requirement; the second has a three years duration and it is diversified, this one contains science, humanist and technic options, this one is offered in tho modes, one for adolescents and the other for adults. “Technician” title is awarded after completing 2,000 hours of training and achieving the competencies required. Admission is based on completion of lower secondary school, completion in some instances provides access to postsecondary vocational training. This title is equivalent to completing the secondary school; however this does not grant access to university.

       

       

      Educación Superior

       

      It includes higher institutes, postgraduate centers and universities, high school degrees, teacher and doctor, certificates and professional degrees are awarded. Its objective is to train qualified professionals, technicians and experts who, in their preparation, combine the appropriate humanistic and scientific training



       

      References:

       

      Peru Land Area, Trading economics, 2019

       

      https://tradingeconomics.com/peru/land-area-sq-km-wb-data.html

       

       

       

      Climate Peru, 2019

       

      https://www.climatestotravel.com/climate/peru

       

       

       

      ¿Qué lenguas se hablan en el Perú?, 2019

       

      https://peru.info/es-pe/talento/noticias/6/24/-que-lenguas-se-hablan-en-el-peru-

       

       

       

      Constitución y Gobierno, Embajada del Peru en Argentina, 2019

       

      http://www.embajada.pe/sites/Argentina/elperu/Paginas/Constitucion-y-gobierno.aspx

       

       

       

      Perú, Sistema Político Electoral,

       

      https://oig.cepal.org/es/paises/52/system

       

       

       

      Peru, Time and date, 2019

       

      https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/peru

       

       

       

      Major Ethnic Group of Peru.

       

      https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/major-ethnic-groups-of-peru.html

       

       

       

      La Vanguardia, Perú se hunde en una grave crisis politica e institucional. 2018

       

      https://www.lavanguardia.com/internacional/20180323/441836301441/peru-dimision-kuczynski-crisis-vizcarra.html

       

       

       

      Historia General de Peru, Lima 2009, Edition

       

      http://shemer.mslib.huji.ac.il/lib/W/ebooks/001531298.pdf

       

       

       

      Cristóbal Aljovín de Losada y Marcel Velásquez Castro. Las voces de la modernidad. Perú, 1750-1870. Lenguajes de la Independencia y la República. Lima: Fondo Editorial del Congreso del Perú.

       

      Education in Peru, April 6, 2015, Nick Clark, Editor, World Education News & Reviews, WENR.

       

      https://wenr.wes.org/2015/04/education-in-peru

       

       

       

      Alfonso W. Quiróz. Crédito, inversión y políticas en el Perú entre los siglos XVIII y XX. Lima: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos.

       

       

       

      Estructura del Sistema Educativo, Universia 2019

       

      http://www.universia.es/estudiar-extranjero/peru/sistema-educativo/estructura-sistema-educativo/2778