PERU

city, seat (1834) of Miami county, north-central Indiana, U.S. The city lies on the Wabash River near its juncture with the Mississinewa, midway between South Bend (70 miles north) and Indianapolis. Founded in 1826 as Miamisport on the site of a Miami Indian village and apparently renamed for the South American country, Peru is now a transportation, industrial, and agricultural trading centre. Its manufactures include electrical and heating equipment, plastics, and paper, wood, and fabricated metal products. Pioneer, circus, and Indian relics are displayed in the Miami County Historical Museum. Songwriter Cole Porter was born and is buried in Peru. The Circus City Festival Museum commemorates Peru's former fame as one of the nation's foremost circus winter quarters. Grissom Air Reserve Base and Mississinewa Lake are nearby. Inc. town, 1848; city, 1867. Pop. (1990) 12,843; (1994 est.) 13,048. officially Republic of Peru, Spanish Repblica del Per country in South America. Except for the Lake Titicaca basin in the southeast, its borders lie in sparsely populated zones. The boundaries with Ecuador to the northwest, Bolivia to the southeast, and Chile to the south run across the high Andes, whereas the borders with Colombia to the northeast and Brazil to the east traverse lower ranges or tropical forests. Peru's land area of 496,225 square miles (1,285,216 square kilometres) is supplemented by territorial waters, reaching 200 miles (320 kilometres) into the Pacific, on the west, that are claimed by Peru. Peru is essentially a tropical country, with its northern tip nearly touching the Equator. Despite its tropical location, a great diversity of climate, of way of life, and of economic activity is brought about by the extremes of altitude and by the southwest winds that sweep in across the cold Peru, or Humboldt, Current, which flows along its Pacific shoreline. The immense difficulties of travel posed by the Andes have long impeded national unity. Iquitos, on the upper Amazon, lies only about 600 miles northeast of Lima, the capital, but before the airplane travelers between the cities often chose a 7,000-mile trip via the Amazon, the Atlantic and Caribbean, the Isthmus of Panama, and the Pacific, rather than the shorter mountain route. The name Peru is derived from a Quechua Indian word implying land of abundance, a reference to the economic wealth produced by the highly organized Inca civilization that ruled the region for centuries. The nation's vast mineral, agricultural, and marine resources long have served as the economic foundation of the country. officially Republic of Peru, Spanish Repblica del Per third largest nation in South America. The country extends 1,327 miles (2,135 km) from its northernmost to southernmost points and about 570 miles (917 km) at its widest unbroken point from west to east. Peru is bounded on the northwest by Ecuador, on the northeast by Colombia, on the east by Brazil and Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The capital is Lima. Area 496,225 square miles (1,285,216 square km). Pop. (1993) 22,639,443; (1995 est.) 23,489,000. A brief summary of Peru follows. For full treatment, see Peru. Additional reading Geography An overview of Peru is provided by Richard F. Nyrop (ed.), Peru, A Country Study, 3rd ed. (1981). An analysis of the geography is Gran geografa del Per: naturaleza y hombre, 8 vol. (1986). Other useful studies include David A. Robinson, Peru in Four Dimensions (1964, reprinted 1971); Carlos Peaherrera del Aguila, Geografa general del Per: sintesis, vol. 1, Aspectos fsicos (1969); and Claude Collin Delavaud, Les Rgions ctieres du Prou septentrional: occupation du sol, amnagement rgional (1968), available also in Spanish, Las regiones costeas del Peru septentrional (1984). Peru's natural regions and vegetation are discussed in Javier Pulgar Vidal, Geografa del Per: las ocho regiones naturales del Per, 8th ed. (1981).Notable works on the topic of Indians and peasants include Hildebrando Castro Pozo, Nuestra comunidad indgena, 2nd ed. (1979); and Moiss Senz, Sobre el indio peruano y su incorporacin al medio nacional (1933), both early classics; Thomas M. Davies, Jr., Indian Integration in Peru: A Half Century of Experience, 1900-1948 (1974); Paul L. Doughty, Huaylas: An Andean District in Search of Progress (1968), an anthropological study; Wilfredo Kapsoli E., Los movimientos campesinos en el Per, 1879-1965, 2nd ed. (1982), the best study of peasant uprisings; and Pierre L. van den Berghe and George P. Primov, Inequality in the Peruvian Andes: Class and Ethnicity in Cuzco (1977), a study of Indian domination by the "urban mestizo elite." Good ethnographies include Stephen B. Brush, Mountain, Field, and Family: The Economy and Human Ecology of an Andean Valley (1977); and Susan C. Bourque and Kay Barbara Warren, Women of the Andes: Patriarchy and Social Change in Two Peruvian Towns (1981).General economic studies include Rosemary Thorp and Geoffrey Bertram, Peru, 1890-1977: Growth and Policy in an Open Economy (1978); and E.V.K. Fitzgerald, The Political Economy of Peru, 1956-78: Economic Development and the Restructuring of Capital (1979). The economic geography of Peru is discussed in Emilio Romero, Geografa econmica del Per, 5th ed. (1966). Labour studies include David Chaplin, The Peruvian Industrial Labor Force (1967); and Denis Sulmont S., Historia del movimiento obrero en el Per, de 1890 a 1977 (1977). Studies on agriculture and fishing include Baltazar Caravedo Molinari, Estado, pesca y burguesa, 1939-1973: teora y realidad (1979); and Arthur J. Coutu and Richard A. King, The Agricultural Development of Peru (1969).Samplings and discussions of Peruvian literature can be found in Luis Alberto Snchez, La literatura peruana: derrotero para una historia cultural del Per, 5th ed., 5 vol. (1981); and Lynn A. Darroch (ed.), Between Fire and Love: Contemporary Peruvian Writing (1980). On the political role of the Roman Catholic Church and popular religiosity, see Jeffrey L. Klaiber, Religion and Revolution in Peru, 1824-1976 (1977). See also Gustavo Gutirrez, A Theology of Liberation: History, Politics, and Salvation (1973; originally published in Spanish, 1972), by a leading theoretician of the liberation theology movement. James S. Kus Thomas M. Davies, Jr. History Jorge Basadre, Historia de la repblica del Per, 1822-1933, 6th rev. ed., 17 vol. (1968-70), is the basic point of departure for any study of Peru. Henry F. Dobyns and Paul L. Doughty, Peru: A Cultural History (1976), is a sensitive treatment of Peru's historical tradition, with particular emphasis on race relations and ecological adaptation. Fredrick B. Pike, The Modern History of Peru (1967, reprinted 1969), is competent and comprehensive, while his United States and the Andean Republics: Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador (1977), is a brilliant synthesis of the incompatability of Hispanic and Anglo cultures. David Scott Palmer, Peru: The Authoritarian Tradition (1980), treats Peruvian history within the context of Latin-American development.The best accounts of Peru's pre-conquest peoples are Edward P. Lanning, Peru Before the Incas (1967); Luis G. Lumbreras, The Peoples and Cultures of Ancient Peru (1974; originally published in Spanish, 1969); John V. Murra, Formaciones econmicas y polticas del mundo andino (1975); and Franklin Pease G.Y., Del Tawantinsuyu a la historia del Per (1978), which emphasizes the indigenous origins of modern Peruvian culture. Superb ethnohistorical accounts of the impact of conquest and of the early colonial period are Nathan Wachtel, The Vision of the Vanquished: The Spanish Conquest of Peru Through Indian Eyes, 1530-1570 (1977; originally published in French, 1971); Karen Spalding, Huarochir: An Andean Society Under Inca and Spanish Rule (1984); and Steve J. Stern, Peru's Indian Peoples and the Challenge of Spanish Conquest: Huamanga to 1640 (1982). See also James Lockhart, Spanish Peru, 1532-1560: A Colonial Society (1968); and Noble David Cook, Demographic Collapse: Indian Peru, 1520-1620 (1981), which treats the devastating loss of Indian life due to European contact.Treatments of Spanish colonial institutions and economy include J.R. Fisher, Government and Society in Colonial Peru: The Intendant System, 1784-1814 (1970), and Silver Mines and Silver Miners in Colonial Peru, 1776-1824 (1977); Robert G. Keith, Conquest and Agrarian Change: The Emergence of the Hacienda System on the Peruvian Coast (1976); and Nicholas P. Cushner, Lords of the Land: Sugar, Wine, and Jesuit Estates of Coastal Peru, 1600-1767 (1980). Leon G. Campbell, The Military and Society in Colonial Peru, 1750-1810 (1978), studies the origins of Peruvian civil-military relations. Timothy E. Anna, The Fall of the Royal Government in Peru (1979), views independence as an accidental occurrence; while Heraclio Bonilla et al., La independencia en el Per, 2nd ed. (1981), argues that Peru had to be conquered. Heraclio Bonilla, Guano y burguesa en el Per, 2nd ed. (1984), analyzes the rise of the guano industry and its impact on capitalist development. Florencia E. Mallon, The Defense of Community in Peru's Central Highlands: Peasant Struggle and Capitalist Transition, 1860-1940 (1983), treats nascent Peruvian capitalism from a rural perspective. Robert N. Burr, By Reason or Force: Chile and the Balancing of Power in South America, 1830-1905 (1965, reprinted 1974), remains the best diplomatic history of the War of the Pacific.Excellent political analyses of the 20th century include Franois Bourricaud, Power and Society in Contemporary Peru (1970; originally published in French, 1967); Carlos A. Astiz, Pressure Groups and Power Elites in Peruvian Politics (1969); and Julio Cotler, Clases, estado y nacin en el Per, 2nd ed. (1982). The best studies of the crucial period 1919-40 are Steve Stein, Populism in Peru: The Emergence of the Masses and the Politics of Social Control (1980); and Baltazar Caravedo Molinari, Clases, lucha poltica y gobierno en el Per, 1919-1933 (1977). APRA, one of the most important political movements in Latin America, is the subject of Robert J. Alexander (ed. and trans.), Aprismo: The Ideas and Doctrines of Vctor Ral Haya de la Torre (1973); Peter F. Klarn, Modernization, Dislocation, and Aprismo: Origins of the Peruvian Aprista Party, 1870-1932 (1973); and Fredrick B. Pike, The Politics of the Miraculous in Peru: Haya de la Torre and the Spiritualist Tradition (1986). Economic analyses of Belande's first term include Pedro-Pablo Kuczynski, Peruvian Democracy Under Economic Stress: An Account of the Belande Administration, 1963-1968 (1977); and Richard C. Webb, Government Policy and the Distribution of Income in Peru, 1963-1973 (1977). Guerrilla movements are discussed by members of the movements in Hugo Blanco, Land or Death: The Peasant Struggle in Peru (1972); and Hector Bjar, Peru 1965: Notes on a Guerrilla Experience (1970; originally published in Spanish, 1969).Civil-military relations are treated in Vctor Villanueva, Ejrcito peruano: del caudillaje anrquico al militarismo reformista (1973), and his seminal study of the Center for High Military Studies, El CAEM y la revolucin de la fuerza armada (1972); and in Brian Loveman and Thomas M. Davies, Jr. (eds.), The Politics of Antipolitics: The Military in Latin America (1978). The most important literature on the 1968-80 military government includes Abraham F. Lowenthal (ed.), The Peruvian Experiment: Continuity and Change Under Military Rule (1975), an overly optimistic account; Cynthia McClintock and Abraham F. Lowenthal (eds.), The Peruvian Experiment Reconsidered (1983), a scathing postmortem; Cynthia McClintock, Peasant Cooperatives and Political Change in Peru (1981); Alfred Stepan, The State and Society: Peru in Comparative Perspective (1978), a study of authoritarian rule; George D.E. Philip, The Rise and Fall of the Peruvian Military Radicals 1968-1976 (1978), an analysis of the reforms undertaken by Velasco; and Stephen M. Gorman (ed.), Post-Revolutionary Peru: The Politics of Transformation (1982), an analysis of the successes, failures, and legacy of the military government. Thomas M. Davies, Jr. Administration and social conditions Government Peru has a long history of unstable political life that has been punctuated by numerous military coups and changes of constitution. The 1979 Peruvian constitution decrees a government headed by a popularly elected president who serves as the chief of state and commander of the armed forces. The prime minister, appointed by the president, presides over the Council of Ministers (Cabinet), also appointed by the president. The council approves all presidential law decrees and draft bills sent to the legislature. The bicameral legislature consists of a Senate and Chamber of Deputies. Members of the legislature are elected to five-year terms, running concurrently with the term of the president. All judges are appointed by the president from lists of nominees submitted by the National Justice Council. Appointments are confirmed by the Senate, and, once confirmed, judges may serve until age 70. The Supreme Court has nationwide jurisdiction and hears appeals from lower-court decisions; it also investigates the conduct of lower-court judges. The country has been politically divided into 24 departments and one constitutional province, Callao; the departments are further divided into provinces and districts. The 1979 constitution calls for each department to be governed by a regional assembly. Considerable powers were given to local governments by the 1979 constitution. In 1987 legislation was passed that provided for the reorganization of departments into 12 regions. A wide spectrum of political parties, ranging from right-wing conservative to left-wing socialist and communist, participate in the political process. Education Peru's educational problems are complicated by the steadily increasing percentage of young people in its population. Thus the state must spend a disproportionate share of its resources on education, which is free and compulsory for all children between six and 15. Compulsory education is difficult to enforce, however, especially outside urban centres. Because of extremely large class sizes, inadequate facilities, and poorly trained teachers, the quality of education received by children in public schools is regarded as low. As a result, most middle- and upper-class parents send their children to private schools. Universities in Peru include such large, high-calibre institutions as the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, the University of Lima, and the National University of San Marcos, which was founded in 1551 and claims to be the oldest university in South America. There are also a number of provincial universities. Cultural life The complex ethnic and cultural mixture of Peru presents an entwining of aboriginal pantheism, Spanish mysticism, and African religious practices manifested in the nation's music, literature, textiles, handicrafts, gold and silver work, and bounteous cuisine. Heritage Peru's cultural past is best known in such Inca remains as Machu Picchu, a "lost city" discovered in 1911 at an elevation of 7,710 feet (2,350 m) northwest of Cuzco. Surrounded by lush, green, forested hills and snow-capped peaks that rise as high as 8,858 feet (2,700 m), Machu Picchu comprises hundreds of well-built agricultural terraces, a multitude of small stone houses, and several ceremonial temples constructed of carved rock. Research suggests that Machu Picchu was a royal estate of the Inca emperor Pachacuti. Hundreds of archaeological ruins dot the Peruvian countryside, but they are especially impressive around Cuzco, in the region known as the Sacred Valley. Archaeologists have uncovered thousands of decorated jugs and bowls and embroidered textiles; the weavings of the Paracas culture and the ceramics of the Mochica are especially distinguished. The dryness of the coast has preserved many pre-Incan remains.