abstract
| - The Kingdom of Peru is a nation founded in South America founded as both an ancient empire, until it became the current constitutional monarchy it is now since 1845. It is south of Mexica, west of Brazinalla, and North of Argentine-Chile. Peruvian territory was home to ancient cultures, spanning from the Norte Chic civilization, one of the oldest in the world, to the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Mexican America. The Spanish Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and established a viceroyalty, which included most of its South American colonies. After achieving its independance in 1845, Peru has undergone periods of political unrest and fiscal crisis as well as periods of stability and economic upswing. The main spoken language in Peru is Spanish. Peru straddles the eguator, from which it takes its name, and has an area of 575,830 km2 (106,500 sq mi). Its capital city is Lima, which was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in the 1970s for having the best preserved and least altered historic center in Latin America. The country's largest city is Lima. The historic center of Cuenca, the third largest city in the country, was also declared a World Heritage Site in 1999, for being an outstanding example of a planned inland Spanish style colonial city in the Americas.Peru is also home—despite its size—to a great variety of species, many of them endemic, like those of the Galapogos Islands. This species diversity makes Ecuador one of the 17 megadiverse societies in the world. The new constitution of 2008 is the first in the world to recognize legally enforceable Rights of Nature, or ecosystem rights.
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