Pre-Trip Information

 

Peru's population numbers well in excess of 27 million. According to recent  estimates, the population growth rate is 1.3 percent; the infant mortality rate is 29.96  deaths per 1,000 live births, and the life expectancy rate is 70  years of age.

 

 

 

Peru has two official languages, Spanish and the foremost native tongue, Quechua. Spanish is used by the government, the media, and in other official capacities. Indigenous peoples who live in the Andean highlands speak Quechua and Aymara and are ethnically distinct from the diverse indigenous groups who live on the eastern side of the Andes and in the tropical lowlands adjacent to the Amazon basin.

 

Roughly 90 percent of Peruvians are Roman Catholic. Clearly, as in other parts of Latin America, Catholicism is a legacy of the Spanish colonial heritage.

 

In terms of ethnicity, most Peruvians are of indigenous background, making up about 45 percent of the total population base. Another 37 percent are mestizo -- a term that refers to a mixture of Amerindian and European descent. About 15 percent of the population is of European descent, with persons of African, Japanese and Chinese descent making up the remainder of the population.

 

 

 

Culturally, Peru's distinct geographical regions are mirrored in a socioeconomic divide between the coast's mestizo-Hispanic culture and the more diverse, traditional Andean cultures of the mountains and highland areas. Many of these groups still adhere to traditional customs and lifestyles, while others have almost completely assimilated into the mestizo-Hispan ic culture.

 

 

 

Socioeconomic and cultural indicators are increasingly important as identifiers of ethnicity in Peru. For example, Peruvians of Amerindian decent who have adopted aspects of Hispanic culture are considered mestizo. With economic development, access to education, intermarriage and large-scale migration from rural to urban areas, a more homogeneous national culture is developing, mainly along the more prosperous coast. In the past decade, Peruvians of Asian heritage have made significant advancements in business and political fields, with individuals of Japanese or Chinese descent occupying positions such as the presidency, cabinet ministries, and Congressional seats.

 

 

 

The relationship be tween Hispanic and Native American cultures determines much of the nation's cultural expression. During pre-Columbian times, Peru was one of the major centers of artistic expression in America. Pre-Inca cultures, such as the Chavin, Paracas, Nazca, Chimu, and Tiahuanaco, developed high quality pottery, textiles and sculpture. Drawing upon earlier cultures, the Incas continued to maintain these crafts but made even more impressive achievements in architecture. The mountain town of Machu Picchu and the buildings at Cuzco are excellent examples of Inca architectural design.

Peru has passed through various intellectual stages since the Spanish conquest, from colonial Hispanic culture to European Romanticism after independence. During the colonial period, Spanish baroque fused with the rich Inca tradition to produce mestizo or creole art. The Peruvian (Cuzco) school followed the Spanish baroque tradition with influence from the Italian, Flemish and French schools. P ainter Francisco Fierro made a distinctive contribution with his portrayals of typical events, manners and customs of mid-19^th century Peru. Francisco Lazo, forerunner of the indigenous school of painters, also achieved fame for his portraits, as did others. Peru's 20^th century art is widely known for its extraordinary variety of styles and originality.

 

The early 20^th century brought "indigenismo," expressed in a new awareness of Native Peruvian culture. Since World War II, Peruvian writers, artists and intellectuals have participated in worldwide intellectual and artistic movements, drawing especially on American (from the United States) and European trends.

 

 

 

Under the 1993 constitution, primary education in Peru is free and compulsory. The system is highly centralized, with the Ministry of Education app ointing all public school teachers. A widening educational effort by the government and a growing school-age population has contributed to a significant rise in school enrollment in the past two decades. Recent studies show that 84 percent of Peru's students attend public schools at the primary, secondary and university levels. In the 1990s, elementary and secondary school enrollment was approximately 6.l million, and Peru's 65 universities, roughly divided between public and private institutions, enrolled about 380,000 students. Peru's literacy rate is approximately 88 percent.

 

 

 

One notable measure used to determine a country's quality of life is the Human Development Index (HDI), which has been compiled annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achieve ments in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a ranking of 169 countries recently, the HDI placed Peru in the high human development category, at 63rd place.

Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.

 

 

Written  by Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman, Editor in Chief at CountryWatch; see Bibliography for list of  research sources.