Peru is a country in South America with a population of over 33 million people. It was home to the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Columbian America, and has many natural and cultural attractions that contribute to its tourism industry today. Key points include Machu Picchu being a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, Lake Titicaca being the highest navigable lake in the world, and the Amazon River originating in Peru as the longest river in the world.

1. PERU
Presented
by
SUSITRA
ANANDAN
Tourism
Management

2. Introduction
Peru is a country in South America.
The capital is Lima. The ruins of Machu
Picchu, the Andes mountains, and the
of the Amazon River are all found in Peru.
Peru is bordered to the north
by Ecuador and Colombia, to the east
by Brazil, to the south by Chile, and to the
southeast by Bolivia. Peru is a representative
democratic republic divided into 25 regions
and over 33 million people live in it.
Peruvian territory was home to the Norte
Chico civilization, one of the oldest in the
world, and to the Inca Empire, the largest
state in Pre-Columbian America. The
Empire conquered the region in the 16th
century and established a Viceroyalty, which

3. DEMOGRAPHICS
The population of Peru is apprx. 30 million. The ethnic
composition of Peru is like the following:
• 44.0%: Mestizo
• 31.0%: Native American
• 15.0%: European
• 7.0%: Mulatto
• 2.0%: Black
• 1.0%: Asians

4. RIVERS

5. HISTORY
Peru was the home of the Inca Empire. The Incas were a well-
organized Indian civilization that began the city of Cuzco (now
called Cusco).
Beginning in the 1400s, they defeated many nearby tribes and
built an empire in the Andes. The Inca forced the people to work
for the king for a certain number of days every year. They used
this "work tax" to build roads and terraces on the sides of the
mountains to grow crops, and huge cities with rich palaces for the
rulers and their queens. Records were kept on quipa, knotted
ropes, since the Incas never invented writing.
These could be quickly sent anywhere in the empire by a series
of relay runners set up along the roads. Heavier loads were sent
by llamas, the pack animals of the Andes. The Incas were rich
in gold and silver which could be found in the mountains. The
Spanish wanted that treasure when they discovered the nation in
the 1500s.
Francisco Pizarro, a Spanish man, kidnapped and killed the Inca
ruler in 1532, even after his people paid a huge amount of
treasure for his release. The Incas fought the Spanish for many

6. GDP contribution by tourism

7. Forget the Sahara Desert, Peru actually has the
highest sand dune in the World!
Cerro Blanco sand dune, located in the Sechura Desert in the south of
Peru, measures 3,860 feet from the base to the summit.
It towers over the quaint desert oasis town, Huacachina, and the best
part of all is that you can ride dune buggies for hours and up to the top
of the dunes and then strap a board to your feet and sand board down
it all the way to the town below!

10. There are over 3,000 different varieties of
Potato grown in Peru
The potato is originally from Peru, and there are over 3,000 different
varieties. Proud Peruvians use the phrase “Soy mas Peruano que la
papa” (I am more Peruvian than the potato).
Modern scientists are even reverting back to Ancient Peruvian planting
methods in order to prevent strains of genetically modified potatoes
from losing their resistance to famine.

12. Spanish is not the only language spoken in
Peru
There are 3 official languages in Peru: Spanish, Quechua and Aymara,
but east of the Andes in Amazon jungle regions it is thought that
natives speak 13 different indigenous languages.

14. Machu Picchu is of the New Seven Wonders of
the World
The Lost city of Machu Picchu, one of the most famous landmarks in Peru, was
voted in 2007 as one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.
Rediscovered in 1911 by explorer, professor, and archaeologist Hiram Bingham,
the site of the historic Incan civilization rests on a mountain ridge almost 8,000
feet above sea level in the Sacred Valley.
You can only hike in or take a train and then a bus, but there is no easy way to
get there which makes it even more impossible to believe that the whole site
was built by hand over a mile up in the mountains when most people struggle
to merely walk up the stairs carrying only a camera and a water bottle.
This may be the most magical place on Earth, forget Disneyland. It takes your
breath away to be in the presence of such an unbelievable testament of human
capability.

16. The Largest Flying Bird on Earth can be found
in Peru, The Giant Andean Condor
If you really want to see landscapes that look like the moon, take a
quick jumper flight to Arequipa and then a bus ride over the towering
Andes Mountains to Colca Canyon. You will see huge volcanoes, wild
llamas grazing, and the largest bird on Earth, the Giant Andean condor.
Colca Canyon is home to the largest bird in the world, standing up to 4
feet high with a wingspan of up to 14 feet! Despite weighing up to 27
pounds, the bird can fly for hours without using its wings. Native to the
Andes, it was considered a sacred bird by the Incas, but is now listed as
“vulnerable” by the World Conservation Union.

18. Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in
the world with an elevation of 11,436 feet
Straddling the border of Bolivia and Peru, Lake Titicaca is the world’s
highest lake, but not the largest.
Lake Titicaca is significantly smaller than the lakes in Great Lakes in
North America, but what makes it so unique is that underneath the
surface, Jacques Cousteau discovered ruins of an ancient city, and
descendants of the Quechua People still live on islands in the lake
today!

20. The Amazon River is the longest river in the
world and it starts in Peru!
The Amazon river starts up high in the Peruvian Andes near Machu
Picchu and ends in the Atlantic Ocean over 3,278 miles from its source.
At its mouth, it is a massive 186 miles wide.
It has two seasons; the wet and the dry, and water levels can fluctuate
30 feet between the two seasons.
This mighty river was named by Spanish explorer Francisco de Orellana
during his epic voyage in 1542

22. Peru grows more than 55 varieties of corn
When you go to a market in Peru, you can just about find corn in
any color including yellow, purple, white and black. Famous for their
giant kernels, most restaurants and bars served roasted corn to munch
on at the table when you first sit down.

24. There are 10 million alpacas in the world, and
three-quarters of them live in Peru

25. THANKYOU