Location Western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Chile and Ecuador

Geographic coordinates 10 00 S, 76 00 W

Map references South America

Area
total: 1,285,220 sq km
water: 5,220 sq km
land: 1.28 million sq km

Area - comparative slightly smaller than Alaska

Land boundaries
total: 5,536 km
border countries: Bolivia 900 km, Brazil 1,560 km, Chile 160 km, Colombia 1,496 km (est.), Ecuador 1,420 km

Coastline 2,414 km

Maritime claims
continental shelf: 200 NM
territorial sea: 200 NM

Climate varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west; temperate to frigid in Andes

Terrain western coastal plain (costa), high and rugged Andes in center (sierra), eastern lowland jungle of Amazon Basin (selva)

Elevation extremes
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Nevado Huascaran 6,768 m

Natural resources copper, silver, gold, petroleum, timber, fish, iron ore, coal, phosphate, potash, hydropower, natural gas

Land use
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
other: 97% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land 11,950 sq km (1998 est.)

Natural hazards earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, landslides, mild volcanic activity

Environment - current issues deforestation (some the result of illegal logging); overgrazing of the slopes of the costa and sierra leading to soil erosion; desertification; air pollution in Lima; pollution of rivers and coastal waters from municipal and mining wastes

Environment - international agreements
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol

Geography - note shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake, with Bolivia; remote Lake McIntyre is the ultimate source of the Amazon River

NOTE: The information regarding Peru on this page is re-published from the 2002 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Peru Geography 2002 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Peru Geography 2002 should be addressed to the CIA.