Country profilesPeru

Humanitarian profile

Peru returned to democratic leadership in 1980 after a long period of military rule, but it experienced economic problems and the growth of a violent insurgency. About 69,000 people were killed during the 1980–2000 conflicts between rebel groups and the government. It is one of South America's biggest producers of coca - the raw material for cocaine. The UN children's fund, UNICEF, says most coca pickers are children.

Country snapshot

Home to the ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, Peru is the world's sixth-largest gold producer and a leading exporter of zinc and copper. It is also the No. 3 producer of coca and has come close in recent years to overtaking Colombia as the world's No. 1 cocaine exporter.

After lengthy periods of military rule, Peru turned to democracy in 1980 when it faced an insurgency by Shining Path Maoist rebels that lasted into the 1990s. The guerrillas mostly disbanded when their leader was captured in 1992 but remnants of the group are involved in running drugs.

Despite its mineral wealth and an economy that is one of the best-run in Latin America, Peru's progress has been hampered by corruption and inequality among its population, half of whom are Indians and half mixed race.

Government

The head of state and head of the government is the president who is elected by popular vote for a five year term and eligible for non-consecutive re-election. The legislature is the 120 seat Congress of the Republic of Peru whose members are elected by popular vote for five-year terms.

Economy

Peru's economy is one of the most successful in Latin America. Growth averaged more than 4 percent between 2002 and 2006, rising to 9 percent in 2007 and 2008 due to high world commodity prices and the government's trade liberalisation policies.

The mining industry is the second largest in Latin America after Chile and accounts for over 60 percent of its export earnings.

It is the world's biggest silver producer, second in zinc, third in copper and tin and sixth in gold. Small quantities of crude oil and natural gas are also produced.

The services and manufacturing sectors make up an increasing part of the economy, but agriculture still accounts for nearly one-tenth of gross domestic product (GDP).

The main cash crops are coffee, cotton, sugarcane, rice and potatoes. The potato originated in Peru. All varieties of the modern tuber can be traced back to a single potato grown in Peru over 7,000 years ago. The country is home today to almost 4,000 spud varieties.There are also important timber and fishing industries.

Traditionally one of the world's largest producers of coca leaves, the government took action to sharply cut production in the 1990s. But output has steadily risen in recent years.

More than half the population live below the national poverty line.

History

Peru declared independence from Spain in 1821 but it was not until 1826 that the Spanish recognised Peru's independence, giving up their attempts to regain their former colony.

In 1980, Fernando Belaunde was elected president, returning Peru to constitutional rule after 13 years of military government. Shortly afterwards, two leftist groups, the Maoist Shining Path and the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement (MRTA) launched guerrilla attacks aimed at overthrowing the government. In the ensuing insurgency, some 70,000 people were killed, many of them civilians, in one of the bloodiest periods of Peruvian history.

In 1985, Alan Garcia of the centre-left Aprista Party succeeded Belaunde. Garcia's rule was marked by a deep economic crisis including hyperinflation, which reached more than 2 million percent in his five-year term.

In 1990, Alberto Fujimori, an agricultural engineer and university professor, came from nowhere to beat renowned novelist Mario Vargas Llosa in a presidential election. The son of Japanese immigrants, he touted himself as an alternative to the white Peruvian elite, and gained overwhelming support from the country's large indigenous and mixed race populations.

Inheriting a country on the brink of economic collapse, Fujimori implemented a severe austerity programme and returned the country to the world financial community after it became a pariah during the 1980s due to Garcia's debt policies.

Fujimori instituted free-market policies in a bid to attract foreign investment and restore business confidence. His government slashed inflation from more than 7,000 percent in 1990 to 3.7 percent in 1999.

But Fujimori aroused international criticism when he closed Congress in April 1992, saying he needed a stronger hand to crush leftist guerrillas and implement economic reforms. Months later, Fujimori won praise when government forces captured Shining Path leader Abimael Guzman, while on the economic front, a sweeping privatisation programme began in 1993.

In 2000, Fujimori resigned as president as a corruption scandal enveloped his government. In 2007 he was extradited from Chile in 2007 to face a raft of charges. It was a rare case of a former head of state being put on trial in his own country on human rights crimes.

In April 2009, Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison for ordering a death squad to carry out two massacres that killed two dozen people in the early 1990s. He was later sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison for giving a $15 million bribe to his spy chief, Vladimiro Montesinos and six years in prison for wiretapping and paying bribes to lawmakers and publishers.

The election of Alejandro Toledo as president in 2001 consolidated Peru's return to democracy and he was succeeded by 2006 by Alan Garcia.

Legal snapshot

The judiciary is headed by a Supreme Court which presides over Superior courts in departmental capitals, responsible for reviewing appeals by courts of first instance in regional capitals.

It is the institution most distrusted by Peruvians, according to Transparency International in 2007. Bribes are used to influence the outcome and speed of judicial procedures. Many foreign companies regard the judicial system as unfair and untrustworthy.

Reforms intended to strengthen the independence of the judiciary have been unsuccessful, according to the Bertelsmann Foundation.

A National Anti-corruption Office set up in 2007 was disbanded in 2008.

Corruption was blamed in part for the slow pace of reconstruction after a 2007 earthquake in Pisco which killed more than 500 people.

Peru was ranked 75 out of 180 in Transparency International's 2009 Corruption Perceptions Index (1st position is perceived as least corrupt).