The official languages are Spanish and Quechua, although the State also recognizes all other native languages and dialects. The Roman Catholic Church has a favored status but the State guarantees full religious freedom. English is generally spoken by people who work in the travel industry, such as tour guides and staff at travel agencies and hotels.

The Peruvian currency is the Nuevo Sol (S/.) Most shops and restaurants take US dollars at the daily exchange rate; travelers should have local currency and especially small notes (10 Soles notes are the best). Most hotels and business in major cities take credit cards like: Visa, Master Card, Diners and American Express. Travel checks are not widely used; check if they are accepted before. There are exchange places at the airports and in main destinations.

The rate is about 3 Nuevos Soles per 1 US dollar. To find the latest rate, please check: Money exchange

Tipping
In restaurants, it is a Peruvian custom to leave about 5 -10 %, depending of the service and food. You might also want to tip to the staff involved in the organization of the trip. These tips are not compulsory and they usually given to the staff that had a great performance.

Internet access and phone calls
There is internet service in some hotels; there are Internet booths in almost the entire country and are very cheap at around 1 Nuevo Sol per hour. Many offer cheap international calls too.

Peru is mainly known as the heart of the Inca Empire but it was home to several civilizations centuries before the Incas arrived. Also, Peru is one of the great original centers of ancient civilizations like: Mexico, Mesopotamia, India and China . The oldest evidence of developed villages of hunter-gatherers date from 6,000 B.C. Farming settlements began to form around 2,500 B.C., planting yuca, broad beans, quinoa, potatoes, cotton and corn. Before the arrival of the Spaniards, Peruvian history can be divided into five stages:

•  First Stage (2,500 B.C. - 200 B.C.): Small states were formed, with the elite holding economic and religious power. Caral is considered the oldest city in the Americas (2,500 B.C), also Chavin de Huantar (Ancash) belongs to this stage, with its temple of underground passages that include monochromatic pottery and megalithic art.

•  Second Stage (200 B.C. - 600 A.D.): Here appears the regional development. The main civilizations are Tiahuanaco (Puno), Mochica and Lambayeque (Lambayeque and La Libertad), Nasca and Paracas (Ica). Tiahuanaco is known for its Chullpas or funeral towers at Sillustani; the Mochica are famous for the Royal Tombs of the Lord of Sipan; the Lambayeque built the pyramids of Tucume; the Nazcas made remarkable pottery and made the mysterious Lines in the desert; and the Paracas wove wonderful textiles.

•  Third Stage (600 A.D. – 900 A.D.): Wari civilization spread throughout the Andean region. Evidence lies in the citadels of Wari (Ayacucho) and Pikillacta (Cuzco).

•  Fourth Stage (900 A.D. - 1,400 A.D.): This period is marked by a group of regional states with well defined cultural features. This civilizations are Chimu and Chincha on the coast; Cajamarca and Huanta in the highlands; and Chachapoyas in the north jungle. The structures representative of this period are the Chimu citadel of Chan Chan (La Libertad),

the funeral center of the Windows of Otuzco in Cajamarca, and the Chachapoyan citadel of Kuelap (in Amazonas).

•  Fifth Stage (1,400 A.D- 1,532 A.D.): This is the period ruled by the Incas, who built an empire in the Andean world. Their main legacy is their architecture in Cuzco . This period concludes in 1532 with the Spanish Conquest.

The Colonial period developed between 1532 and 1821. The i ndependence was declared on July 28, 1821 and later consolidated with the victory of the Battle of Ayacucho on December 9,1824 .

Peru has a population of 28 million inhabitants. The coast is home to 52% of the total population, while 36% live in the highlands and 12% in the amazon. The population is predominantly mestizo or racially mixed, and most speak Spanish, although there are two important minorities: the Quechua and Aymara, and the native population of Amazonia, which is subdivided into 14 linguistic families and 42 ethnic groups.

Peru is politically divided into 25 regions or departamentos. Peru is a democracy whose public powers are the Executive, headed by the President of the Republic; the Legislature, which is a one-chamber congress; and the Judiciary. General elections, to elect a new president and congress are every five years.

Geography and weather

There are three main regions: the Coastal zone (Costa), the highlands (Andes or Sierra) and the Peruvian Amazon (Selva).

•  The Coastal zone: Is an arid, misty, humid and flat area, it's located between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes. The main cities are in the valleys, these are formed by the rivers that flow from the Andes interrupting the desert, and the agricultural fields are actually oases in the desert environment.

The central and southern coast consists mainly of a subtropical desert climate composed of sandy or rocky shores and inland cutting valleys. The drizzle or fog is common during winter months and sometimes during summer days; rain is light-to-moderate drizzle that is known locally as garúa. Temperatures rarely fall below 14° C and do not go over 30° C. An exception is the southern coast, where it goes a bit warmer and drier during daytime, and where it can also get colder during winter nights (8 to 9° C).

The northern coast is a lot warmer and can be unbearable during summer months, where rainfall is also present. The region differs from the southern coast by the presence of nice beaches, equatorial dry forests, mangrove forests, tropical valleys near rivers such as the Chira and the Tumbes, and sunny skies for most of the year. The average temperature is 25° C.

The Coastal zone represents the 12 % of the Peruvian territory.

•  The Highlands: These are consisted in two parallel ranges, the Cordillera Occidental and the Cordillera Oriental, both ranges have high peaks over the 6000 m / 20000 ft but they are not continues, the highest is Mount Huascaran at 6768 m / 22200 ft. It includes the Colca Canyon and Cotahuasi the deepest in the world. Volcanoes, active and dormant, are mainly in southern part of the highlands. The Valleys are crossed by the rivers formed in the Cordillera Occidental which is the source of the Amazon River. The Altiplano or High Plateau is a high lever surface, and includes Lake Titicaca which is shared with Bolivia.

The valley and basins, where historically the Peru's population has concentrated, are located at altitudes of 3000 m / 10000 ft to 4500 m / 15000 ft; these areas are broad and covered with a mantle of sediment washed down from the close mountains. Only the lower basins and valleys are suitable for agriculture, but very limited for some crops as potatoes, barley, corn and native cereals as kiwicha and quinoa.

The climate is dry and temperate. The rainy season starts in October and ends in April, rainfall varies from 200 to 1500 mm per year. The rainiest months are January through March where travel can be sometimes affected. Between 2500 and 3500 meters the temperatures vary from 0 to 12 °C in the night and from 15 to 25 °C during the day. At higher elevations from 3500 to 4500 meters, the temperature varies from -10 to 8° C during the night versus 15°C during the day.

The highlands represent the 28 % of the Peruvian Territory.

• The Peruvian Amazon: it's divided in the selva alta, the higher hilly areas at the foot of the Andes , and the selva baja, the lower areas farther east. The selva alta is dominated by low gently sloping spurs of the Andes with a broad valleys that have potentially arable land. There is a gradual transition to the selva baja, a much lower undulating plain where the relief is dominated by a dense network of rivers. The Amazon is covered by a dense tropical rain forest; in some areas the access is possible only by rivers.

The climate is tropical and humid. There are two well-defined seasons: the summer or dry season (April to October) with sunny days and temperatures above 30° C 86 F, and the rainy season from November to March, with frequent heavy showers and high river levels.

The Amazon represents the 60 % of the Peruvian territory.