A Little Peruvian History

Peru is a South American country that is bordered by Ecuador and Colombia in the north, east by Brazil, and south by Bolivia and Chile.  Before being settled by Francisco Pizarro and other Spanish settlers in the early 16^th century, the country was home to some of the oldest untouched ancient civilizations.  The Incan Empire occupied much of the South American countries surrounding the Andean mountain ranges, although much of its history can be seen in Peru.  Remains can be seen in Cuzco and most notably at Machu Picchu and the Nazca Lines, highlighting their ingenious knowledge of infrastructure, spirituality, and the sciences.

 Peru is what is called a representative democratic republic which has elements of both the parliamentary and presidential system of government, and is divided into 25 regions.  The country’s capital is in Lima which is on the southern coast is the most developed.  It is a beautiful city with a lot of history, and a lot of tourist attractions.  Even with such beauty, poverty can be seen on the mountainside in shanty towns.  It is estimated that the Peruvian poor that live in the urban environment have a 20% higher mortality rate.  The Lima shanty towns are rampant with cocaine and the cheaper alternative of base cocaine, and diseases there spread like wildfire.

The most notable region to me is the Loreto region, or the jungle region which containing a large portion of the Amazon basin.  This is a mostly unsettled region of the country where Iquitos, the largest jungle city, and the sixth largest city in the country.  It is nicknamed the ‘Capital of the Peruvian Amazon.’  The most notable thing about the city is that it is the largest city in the world which cannot be reached by road, only airplane or boat.  There is one road to the small town of Nauta, which is about 60 miles south.  Let me tell you, that road cannot be considered a road in American standards.  It is very rocky, hilly, and dusty, which makes carsickness common.  Yeah, not all that fun when there is a small bus packed full, hip to hip, with people.  There aren't many cars in Iquitos because of the expense of shipping them there, but they mostly use moto-taxis which are motorcycles with carts built on the back.  These are fun, but very dangerous.

Peru is considered a developing country meaning that it is relatively poor.  And it is a melting pot of ethnicities.  The first time I went to Peru I was confused because there is a ‘Chifa’ or Chinese restaurant on every street corner.  The high prevalence of ethnic groups is because they were shipped in during the rubber boom to chop down trees and work the silver and copper mines.  The major economic activities include agriculture, fishing, mining, and textiles.  Most of the men in the jungle do a lot of logging which contributes largely to the destruction of the Peruvian jungle.  Another thing that led to destruction of the jungle started during the rubber boom, the Amazon was one place natural rubber grew. 

Peru is 496, 225 square miles of beauty.  It contains the Andean mountain region which defines the regions of coastal, mountain, and jungle.  This is what gives the country varying climates which varies from tropical in the jungle to desert in the west. 

The official languages include Spanish and Quechua.  Quechua is more of a jungle language and one that was spoken by the ancient Incas.  There are also a variety of other jungle and rural languages that are spoken. 

Ok that is about all the information that I could quickly put together into one post.  Stay tuned for more information about the people, travels, and research.