Country · Americas
Peru
Republic of Peru
Peru is a country in South America. About 32 million people live there, in an area of 1 285 216 square kilometres. Its capital city is Lima.
Picture credit: Thomas Fuhrmann (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Arabsalam (CC BY-SA 4.0) · sam777ys@gmail.com (CC BY 3.0) · JulioKuLu (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Ciudades (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Peru?
Peru lies in South America, on the continent of Americas.
It sits in the southern half of the world, roughly 1 113 km from the equator.
Its coastline is about 2 414 km long.
It shares a border with 5 countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Ecuador.
How big is Peru?
Peru covers 1 285 216 square kilometres.
That is about 12 times the size of Iceland.
Among the world's countries that makes it the 19th largest.
Spread everybody out evenly and you get about 24.9 people on every square kilometre.
That is emptier than the world average of roughly 60 people per square kilometre.
Who lives in Peru?
About 32 million people live in Peru.
That is the 43rd biggest population in the world.
People here speak Aymara, Quechua and Spanish.
They pay with the Peruvian sol (S/.).
On average, people born here can expect to live about 70 years.
The land of Peru
The land of Peru sits on average 1 555 metres above sea level — high enough that much of it counts as mountain country.
Its coast runs for about 2 414 km. Walking it end to end, at twenty kilometres a day, would take roughly 121 days.
It lies inside the tropics, which is the single biggest reason its weather is the way it is.
What makes Peru different?
A dish the country is known for: Ceviche.
Websites from here often end in .pe.
Peru and the rest of the world
Out of every thousand people alive on Earth, about 4 live in Peru.
It takes up about 0.96 % of all the land that countries stand on.
Within Americas the country ranks 6th of 35 by size, and 7th by population.
Peru and its neighbours
Brazil, its largest neighbour, is about 6.6 times bigger.
Brazil has more people: 209.5 million against 32 million.
Nature and animals
Of the animals on this site, 19 live wild in Peru: Jaguar, Llama, Alpaca, Scarlet macaw, Guinea pig, Capybara and more. The highest mountain in the country is Huascarán, at 6 768 metres. The longest river in the country is the Ucayali River. The largest lake in the country is Lake Titicaca. And one of the wonders of the world stands here: Machu Picchu.
Jaguar
Llama
Alpaca
Scarlet macaw
Guinea pig
Capybara
Puma
Red-bellied piranha
Electric eel
Green anaconda
Giant anteater
Lowland tapir
Photographs from Wikimedia Commons under free licences — every credit is on the page itself and in the picture credits.
Where this country lands in the record lists
How big is Peru compared with the United States?
- The United States is about 7.3 times as big as Peru: 9 372 610 km² against 1 285 216 km². See both on one map
- Peru is about 5.3 times as big as the United Kingdom: 1 285 216 km² against 242 900 km².
Questions children ask
What is the capital of Peru?
The capital of Peru is Lima. It is the city where the country's government works from.
How many people live in Peru?
About 32 million people live in Peru, which makes it the 43rd most populated country in the world. (Source: World Bank, 2018.)
Which countries border Peru?
How big is Peru?
Peru covers 1 285 216 square kilometres, making it the 19th largest country in the world. That is about 12 times the size of Iceland.
What is the highest mountain in Peru?
The highest mountain in Peru is Huascarán, 6 768 metres above sea level. It is the country's highest point.
What is the longest river in Peru?
The longest river in Peru is the Ucayali River, about 1 771 kilometres long.
What is the largest lake in Peru?
The largest lake in Peru is Lake Titicaca. The whole lake covers about 8 372 km², and part of it belongs to neighbouring countries.
Which continent is Peru in?
Peru is in Americas, in the part called South America.
Where these numbers come from
Borders and outlines: Natural Earth. Names, capitals, areas, languages and currencies: ISO 3166 data (world-countries). Population: World Bank, 2018. Every derived figure on this page (ranks, density, distance from the equator) is calculated from those values.
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