Peru: Geography

Geography

Peru

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: 2.85% permanent crops: 0.38% other: 96.77% (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; a remote slope of Nevado Mismi, a 5,316 m peak, is the ultimate source of the Amazon River