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Republic of Peru
National name: República del Perú
President: Alberto Fujimori (1990)
Prime Minister: Alberto Bustamante Belaúnde (1999)
Area: 496,222 sq. mi. (1,285,220 sq. km)
Population (1999 est.): 26,624,582 (average annual rate of natural increase: 2.04%); birth rate: 26.1/1000; infant mortality rate: 39.0/1000; density per sq. mi.: 54
Capital and largest city : Lima: city proper (1993 est.) 5,681,941; metro. area (1995 est.) 7,452,000
Other large cities: Arequipa, 939,800; Callao, 648,000; Trujillo, 1,287,000; Chiclayo, 951,000
Monetary unit: Nuevo Sol (1991)
Languages: Spanish, Quéchua, Aymara, and other native languages
Ethnicity/race: Indian 45%, mestizo (mixed Indian and European ancestry) 37%, white 15%, black, Japanese, Chinese, and other 3%
Religion: Roman Catholic
Literacy rate: 85%
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (1998 est.): $111.8 billion; $4,300 per capita. Real growth rate: 1.8%. Inflation: 6.7% (1997). Unemployment: 8.2%, extensive underemployment (1996). Arable land: 3%. Agriculture: coffee, cotton, sugarcane, rice, wheat, potatoes, plantains, coca; poultry, beef, dairy products, wool; fish. Labor force: 7.6 million (1996 est.); agriculture, mining and quarrying, manufacturing, construction, transport, services. Industries: mining of metals, petroleum, fishing, textiles, clothing, food processing, cement, auto assembly, steel, shipbuilding, metal fabrication. Natural resources: copper, silver, gold, petroleum, timber, fish, iron ore, coal, phosphate, potash. Exports: $6.8 billion (f.o.b., 1997): copper, zinc, fishmeal, crude petroleum and byproducts, lead, refined silver, coffee, cotton. Imports: $10.3 billion (c.i.f., 1997): machinery, transport equipment, foodstuffs, petroleum, iron and steel, chemicals, pharmaceuticals. Major trading partners: U.S., Japan, U.K., China, Germany, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela.
