Peru - Geography

Here, let us take a look at the Geography of Peru. note 1: shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake, with Bolivia; a remote slope of Nevado Mismi, a 5,316-m (17,441-ft) peak, is the ultimate source of the Amazon River

note 2: Peru is one of the countries along the Ring of Fire, which is a belt bordering the Pacific Ocean that contains about 75% of the world's volcanoes and up to 90% of the world's earthquakes

note 3: on 19 February 1600, Mount Huaynaputina in the southern Peruvian Andes erupted in the largest volcanic explosion in South America in historical times; intermittent eruptions lasted until 5 March 1600 and pumped an estimated 16 to 32 million metric tons of particulates into the atmosphere, reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the earth's surface and affecting weather worldwide; over the next two-and-a-half years, millions died around the globe in famines from bitterly cold winters, cool summers, and the loss of crops and animals. Mother's mean age at first birth is N/A , whereas, the Maternal mortality ratio is N/A.

Population Distribution

Approximately one third of the population resides along the desert coastal belt in the  west, with a strong focus on the capital city of Lima; the Andean highlands, or sierra, contain roughly half of the population; the eastern slopes of the Andes and adjoining rainforest are sparsely populated

People and Society

In Peru, the different Ethnic groups are such that we have: Mestizo (mixed Indigenous and White) 60.2%, Indigenous 25.8%, White 5.9%, African descent 3.6%, other (includes Chinese and Japanese descent) 1.2%, unspecified 3.3% (2017 est.)

Population N/A
Pop growth rate 0.55% (2025 est.)
Birth rate 16.43 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate 9.79 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Current health expenditure N/A
Physicians Density N/A
Hospital bed Density 1.6 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate 2.12 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate 1.04 (2025 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate N/A
Est married women (ages 15-49) N/A
Literacy N/A
Education expenditures N/A
Net Migration rate N/A
Nationality Peruvian | Peruvian(s)
Languages N/A
Religions N/A
Age Structure
0-14 years 25.8% (male 4,293,229/female 4,119,269)
15-64 years 66.2% (male 10,546,502/female 11,041,106)
65 years and over 8% (2024 est.) (male 1,112,825/female 1,487,318)
Dependency Ratios
Total dependency ratio 50.4 (2025 est.)
Youth dependency ratio 38.4 (2025 est.)
Elderly dependency ratio 12 (2025 est.)
Potential support ratio 8.3 (2025 est.)
Median Age
Total 30.4 years (2025 est.)
Male 29.1 years
Female 31.3 years
Urbanization
Urban population 78.9% of total population (2023)
Rate of urbanization 1.33% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas (Pop) 11.204 million LIMA (capital), 959,000 Arequipa, 904,000 Trujillo (2023).
Sex Ratio
At birth 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years 1.04 male(s)/female
15-64 years 0.96 male(s)/female
65 years and over 0.75 male(s)/female
Total population 0.96 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
Infant Motality
Total 10.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
Male 11.9 deaths/1,000 live births
Female 9.7 deaths/1,000 live births
Life Expectancy at birth
Total population 68.9 years (2024 est.)
Male 65.4 years
Female 72.7 years
Drinking Water Sources
Improved: urban urban: 97.5% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: rural rural: 84.9% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: total total: 94.8% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: urban urban: 2.5% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: rural rural: 15.1% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: total total: 5.2% of population (2022 est.)
Sanitation facility acess
Improved: urban urban: 94.1% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: rural rural: 65.9% of population (2022 est.)
Improved: total total: 88.1% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: urban urban: 5.9% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: rural rural: 34.1% of population (2022 est.)
Unimproved: total total: 11.9% of population (2022 est.)
Major Infectious diseases
Alcohol consumption per capita
Total 5.74 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Beer 3.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Wine 0.46 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Spirits 2.26 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Other alcohols 0.01 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Tobacco use
Total 5.7% (2025 est.)
Male 9.5% (2025 est.)
Female 2.1% (2025 est.)
Child marriage
Women married by age 15 2% (2020)
Women married by age 18 14.1% (2020)
Demographic profile
No additional profile data available.
All Important Facts about Peru

Want to know more about Peru? Check all different factbooks for Peru below.

Peru is found in South America