Geography of Peru

Where is the country of Peru located on world map? According to COUNTRYAAH.COM, Peru is an independent nation located in South America. The independence day of Peru is celebrated on July 28th, and is known as ‘Independence Day’. This marks the day in 1821 when Peru declared its independence from Spain. The formal name of the country is ‘Republic of Peru’, and the symbols associated with it are the Flag, Coat of Arms, and National Anthem. The Flag of Peru consists of a red background with a white stripe in the centre. Inside this stripe are two vertical stripes representing the sun and mountains within the country. The Coat of Arms displays a shield featuring a vicuña surrounded by laurels, flanked by two Peruvian flags. Finally, the national anthem is called ‘Himno Nacional del Perú’, which translates to ‘National Anthem of Peru’. See historyaah for Peru history.

Nature

Terrain shapes and bedrock

Peru consists of three main geographical regions, all extended in the northwest – southeast direction.

The westernmost is the coastal plain, which is a narrow, 40-50 km wide, dry and desert coastal strip with the desert of Sechura at the far north-west, tapered to the southeast. The coastal plain has a large number of oases and is crossed by a large number of short rivers, where, however, only the ten largest, e.g. Santa, has something so when smooth water flow. However, the river sludge has created the most fertile soils in all of Peru.

The mountainous region of central Peru is part of the Andes’ long mountain range, where earthquakes and volcanism occur. Granite solid, lavor and tough form high areas over areas with sedimentary rocks. However, the highest peaks are usually volcanic cones, e.g. Huascarán, Peru’s highest point, 6,768 m above sea level. Peru’s highland region consists of three parallel mountain ranges, the West, Central and Eastern Cordillera. Along these, the large rivers Marañón, Huallaga and Ucayali flow north and unite in the Amazon River. In southern Peru’s mountainous land lies Puna, a plateau with several high peaks such as Coropuna, 6,425 m above sea level, and the volcano Misti, 5,822 m above sea level. At the far south-east is Lake Titicaca, which is the highest lake in the world with boat traffic, 3,812 m above sea level.

In northeastern Peru, a wooded lowland, which is the largest region, forms part of the Amazon basin of 100–400 m above sea level. The lowlands are permeated by many rivers that all flow into the Amazon River.

  • AbbreviationFinder: Offer a full list of commonly used abbreviations, acronyms, and initialisms related to the state of Peru.

Climate

Elevation conditions and winds give very different climatic conditions in the west and east. The coastal plain is dry with a rainfall of about 50 mm per year and average temperatures of 15–20 °C in July and 20–25 °C in January. The cold Humboldt stream from the south prevents hot, humid air from entering overland.

In the mountain region, the average temperature in January is 14 °C and in July 1–8 °C. Snow falls in the mountains.

The lowland in the east has humid tropical climate with 27 °C as average temperature and a precipitation of 2,000–3,000 mm per year with a maximum in December – March.

An occasional water movement, El Niño, can affect the normally rich fishing waters off Peru’s northern coastline and severely damage plant and animal life.

Plant Life

Along the coast of southern and central Peru, where the sea fogs sweep in, one of the herb-dominated vegetation known as loma is spreading. In drier areas, cactus and pineapple plants dominate. The western slopes of the Andes have a varied dryland vegetation. At lower altitudes there are semi-deserts with pillar cacti and deciduous shrubs and in their places also vegetation-free desert areas. Instead, at higher altitude, evergreen shrubs or extensive heaths, puna or jalca, which in the north form a transition to páramo, dominate. The most extreme environments in the highest mountain areas have a rich flora of low, creeping or pillow-shaped plants from many different plant families, which in many cases have strikingly thick hair cover.

On the eastern side of the Andes the vegetation is even more varied, with everything from evergreen shrub vegetation and grasslands to tropical rainforest rich in. palm trees, banana plants and cold plants such as monsters and philodendrons. Along the rivers and at times flooded ground occurs matral, a type of vegetation characterized by scattered trees and dense, tall undergrowth of grass and herbs.

Wildlife

Peru Wildlife

The fauna is extremely rich because of the very diverse biotopes. Among other things, there are more than 1,700 species of birds (the richest country in the world) and about 340 species of mammals.

The cold, nutritious Humboldt stream makes the sea very rich in fish. Previously, many millions of tons of anchoveta were caught annually. There are large colonies of brown pelicans, cormorants and perusula (Suʹla peruviaʹna) on coastal islands, including. The Ballesta Islands at Paracas, and there are also South American fur seals and South American sea lions.

In the Andes, nesting condor, and in the south there are rare guanaco and vikunja. The lakes in the Andes have a very rich bird life with, among other things, several species of ducks, coots and dopings. Juniper (Poʹdiceps taczanoʹwskii) is endemic to Lake Junin. Glasses bear are found in the mountain forests on the eastern side of the Andes.

The rainforest is rich in, among other things. monkeys (about 25 species), sloths, marshes, belts, jaguars and navel pigs. All bird groups typical of South America are represented; macaw parrots, trogons and toucans are common locally. There are a large number of snakes, among others. land snakes and kingsboa. Among the amphibians are leaf frogs, arrow poison frogs and worm amphibians. In the rivers there are the glasses caiman, many species of moths as well as arapaima and arowana, in larger rivers also amazon manate (Tricheʹchus inuʹnguis) and amazonian dolphin (Iʹnia geoffreʹnsis).

Nature conservation

In 2010, there were nine national parks in Peru. The largest were Alto Purus (formed in 2004 for its great biodiversity, diverse ecosystems, extremely beautiful places and a harmonious relationship between man and nature), Manú (encompasses everything from high-end Puna to rainforest and belongs to the world’s richest areas), Bahuaja-Sonene (wild flora and fauna with many endangered animals) and Huascarán (in the Andes with interesting highland flora). About 14% of the country’s area is under some form of nature protection.

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