Peru Geography - 2024

Location

Western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Chile and Ecuador

Geographic coordinates

10 00 S, 76 00 W

Map references

South America

Area

total: 1,285,216 sq km

land: 1,279,996 sq km

water: 5,220 sq km

Area - comparative

almost twice the size of Texas; slightly smaller than Alaska

Area comparison map:

Land boundaries

total: 7,062 km

border countries (5): Bolivia 1,212 km; Brazil 2,659 km; Chile 168 km; Colombia 1,494 km; Ecuador 1,529 km

Coastline

2,414 km

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 200 nm; note: the US does not recognize this claim

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

continental shelf: 200 nm

Climate

varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west; temperate to frigid in Andes

Terrain

western coastal plain (costa), high and rugged Andes in center (sierra), eastern lowland jungle of Amazon Basin (selva)

Elevation

highest point: Nevado Huascaran 6,746 m

lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m

mean elevation: 1,555 m

Natural resources

copper, silver, gold, petroleum, timber, fish, iron ore, coal, phosphate, potash, hydropower, natural gas

Land use

agricultural land: 18.8% (2018 est.)

arable land: 3.1% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 1.1% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 14.6% (2018 est.)

forest: 53% (2018 est.)

other: 28.2% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land

25,800 sq km (2012)

Major lakes (area sq km)

fresh water lake(s): Lago Titicaca (shared with Bolivia) - 8,030 sq km

Major rivers (by length in km)

Amazon river source (shared with Brazil [m]) - 6,400 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Amazon (6,145,186 sq km)

Major aquifers

Amazon Basin

Population distribution

approximately one-third of the population resides along the desert coastal belt in the west, with a strong focus on the capital city of Lima; the Andean highlands, or sierra, which is strongly identified with the country's Amerindian population, contains roughly half of the overall population; the eastern slopes of the Andes, and adjoining rainforest, are sparsely populated

Natural hazards

earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, landslides, mild volcanic activity

volcanism: volcanic activity in the Andes Mountains; Ubinas (5,672 m), which last erupted in 2009, is the country's most active volcano; other historically active volcanoes include El Misti, Huaynaputina, Sabancaya, and Yucamane; see note 2 under "Geography - note"

Geography - note

note 1: shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake, with Bolivia; a remote slope of Nevado Mismi, a 5,316 m peak, is the ultimate source of the Amazon River

note 2: Peru is one of the countries along the Ring of Fire, a belt of active volcanoes and earthquake epicenters bordering the Pacific Ocean; up to 90% of the world's earthquakes and some 75% of the world's volcanoes occur within the Ring of Fire

note 3: on 19 February 1600, Mount Huaynaputina in the southern Peruvian Andes erupted in the largest volcanic explosion in South America in historical times; intermittent eruptions lasted until 5 March 1600 and pumped an estimated 16 to 32 million metric tons of particulates into the atmosphere reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the earth's surface and affecting weather worldwide; over the next two and a half years, millions died around the globe in famines from bitterly cold winters, cool summers, and the loss of crops and animals

note 4: the southern regions of Peru and the extreme northwestern part of Bolivia are considered to be the place of origin for the common potato