| We provide you with the most comprehensive guide about Peru.
Everything you need to know about this country, and specially before you
travel here. Explore hotels, attractions, maps, pictures, cities and
more relevant information on Peru and its people. Peru covers
1,285,216 km2 (496,225 sq mi). It borders Ecuador and Colombia to the
north, Brazil to the east, Bolivia to the southeast, Chile to the south,
and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The Andes Mountains run parallel to
the Pacific Ocean; they define the three regions traditionally used to
describe the country geographically. The costa (coast), to the west, is
a narrow plain, largely arid except for valleys created by seasonal
rivers. The sierra (highlands) is the region of the Andes; it includes
the Altiplano plateau as well as the highest peak of the country, the
6,768 m (22,205 ft) Huascarán.The third region is the selva (jungle), a
wide expanse of flat terrain covered by the Amazon rainforest that
extends east. Almost 60% of the country's area is located within this
region.
Left: Alpamayo, a mountain peak in the Huascarán National Park.
Right: Manú National Park, a biosphere reserve, depicts the Peruvian
rainforest.
Most Peruvian rivers originate in the peaks of the Andes and drain into
one of three basins. Those that drain toward the Pacific Ocean are steep
and short, flowing only intermittently. Tributaries of the Amazon River
are longer, have a much larger flow, and are less steep once they exit
the sierra. Rivers that drain into Lake Titicaca are generally short and
have a large flow. Peru's longest rivers are the Ucayali, the Marañón,
the Putumayo, the Yavarí, the Huallaga, the Urubamba, the Mantaro, and
the Amazon.
Peru, unlike other equatorial countries, does not have an exclusively
tropical climate; the influence of the Andes and the Humboldt Current
cause great climatic diversity within the country. The costa has
moderate temperatures, low precipitations, and high humidity, except for
its warmer, wetter northern reaches. In the sierra, rain is frequent
during summer, and temperature and humidity diminish with altitude up to
the frozen peaks of the Andes.[
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