okay so you've probably heard of Peru there's a popular one you know llamas Machu Picchu ceviche the Incans or you probably don't see too often it's the larger scope of what Peru has become in modern times it's this desert II Mountain II jungly Asian fused West Coast business oriented chef of the Latin world yeah chef no one cooks like Peruvians and they'll prove it to you yeah there you go that's my pun for the episode everyone I'm your host Barb's geography Jorge Carlos says Peru is a beggar sitting on a gold bench there's lots of stuff to deal with yet so many riches they have and now it's time to open the treasure map and find the pot of gold shall we in South America location matters everybody wants two things resources and ocean and if you can have both plus some really cool straw hats you're probably gonna do well first of all the country is located on the west coast of South America bordered by five countries the nation is further divided into 24 departments each with their own flag and seal the capital and largest city of the country is Lima which also acts as its own Department within the large Lima city limits though lies a special administrative division and the smallest one known as the constitutional province of Keio this little guy actually holds the biggest and busiest airport Jorge Chavez International which even though technically is not part of Lima is considered Leamas Airport just a skip away you can also find the largest and busiest shipping port the port of Keio where most major cargo ships dock and transport traded goods speaking of the coast down at the bottom of Peru they have a slight maritime dispute with Chile which kind of looks like this but it doesn't really cause too much trouble just a few fishing vessels might have a skirmish or two peru doesn't really have many islands off its coast however the largest one is actually not too far off from Lima San Lorenzo Islands which is actually closed off to the public and controlled by the Peruvian Navy after Lima though the second largest city is arequipa down south and a bit inland which holds the third busiest airport Rodriguez biown International and then through Hyo makes up the third largest city further up north along the coast you might be wondering what's the second busiest airport well due to high numbers of tourists flocking in to see the ancient Incan sites like Machu Picchu it's actually Cusco Alejandro Velasco estate the international airport otherwise about 86% of the population lives either within the coast or mountains and only about 10% in the rainforest to the east this means that the road network is built accordingly and many of the secluded areas inland like Iquitos the capital of the Loretto department have no Land Transport and they are only accessible by air travel or painstakingly long river boat journey and that's the funny thing Peru is incredibly lush and green on the interior but most people prefer to live in the dry desert eCos s that's good though I mean less people means less deforestation for what it's worth though there's another way can look at Peru historically Peru was the epicenter of the Incan Empire which had quite a wide network of roadways about twenty five thousand miles long that connected the entire domain that extended all the way from Ecuador to Argentina spanning about a hundred and seventy seven thousand square miles these paths followed the Andes mostly and were built in a unique system that allowed porters called Chucky's to literally run and relay items or information or messages to other tchotchkes from coast to mountain along the way they would sometimes take pit stops at small houses known as tombos that provided shelter and food to rest soon the next choice Keys would have to keep running and fulfill the delivery this Porter system could sometimes cover over 150 miles a day all without a single wheeled vehicle or even horse the wheel had never even been invented at this time and the only animal of burden was the llama which could not carry adult humans let alone run with them yet a wealthy or royal family living in Cusco could still have fresh fish caught from the ocean delivered to them all within two days not bad yeah literally just people running on foot it worked somehow and speaking of Cusco Peru has quite a lot of cool places to check out in case if you decide to visit twelve of which are UNESCO heritage sites yeah yeah we've all heard about most of the cusco and machu picchu stuff and these other ones that have too many tourists however in addition there are these lesser known but equally fascinating sites this one's you're kind of supposed to pronounce it like sexy woman socks a woman there's also so many famous cathedrals and museums like these there's also the Lake Titicaca floating village shared with Bolivia the Sky Lodge adventure Suites the last Incan grass bridge saltpans of Madras Rinconada which claims to be the highest city in the world there's even a statue dedicated to Paddington Bear and the giant hat building in Saladin and there's so many natural wonders in Peru as well for crying out loud they have a rainbow mountain the world's tallest sand dune third tallest waterfall in the world the largest left-handed wave in the world and a boiling River we're getting ahead of ourselves stuff that belongs in the next section the first clean water the rest animals resources or whatever with your powers combined I am captain Perot and you guys remain that show nineties kids no yeah whatever first of all the country sits right at the Ring of Fire at the convergence of the Nazca plate under the South America plate this convergence is essentially how the Andes Mountains were formed the second-tallest range on earth after the Himalayas in addition it creates the Peru Chile Trench just off the coast which also makes the country pretty susceptible to earthquakes and some volcanic activity the nation is generally divided into three physical zones the Costa Sierra and Selva the coast is mostly dry and desert like with arid vegetation in fact the driest desert in the world the atacama hugs the southernmost tip of peru the next part the mountains or Sierra takes up about 30 percent of the land and of course is made up of the highest parts of elevation including the tallest peak of the nation Mount huascaran with its two majestic peaks just to skip south you find the largest lake not only in Peru but all of South America the highest navigable lake in the world Lake Titicaca shared with Bolivia it is also in this region that the longest river not only improved but also all of South America begins the famous Amazon which branches out into thousands of other tributaries and streams but surveyors claim that the source of the Amazon are the headwaters of the Montero River which is sourced at Lake winning or Chincha kocha the last physical region the Selva or rainforest makes up about 60% of Peru's land makeup and is sparsely populated and filled with all that lush green humid tropical forest stuff that you can imagine as we explained in the Chile episode a long time ago the reason why the country is like this is essentially because of the rain shadow effect the winds carrying moisture are trapped in by the mountain ranges leaving all the leftover dry air to blow out westward on the other side parching the land and leaving it to form a depleted arid landscape in contrast to the adjacent region oh and one more thing the warm waters off the coast are also the source of El Nino the crazy weather pattern in the Pacific that causes all the tropical storms and whatnot and with that being said it's time for my triple shot espresso break which means now it's time for Noah to finish off this segment with the physical composition of Peru all in a day's work as mentioned Peru is home to a wide range of flora fauna and overall physical contrast they are classified as a mega diverse nation with nearly 6,000 endemic species they have about 1800 bird species including the largest flying bird in the world that giant andean condor in addition there's also 500 species of man will including the national animal the llama and about 300 species of reptiles and over 15,000 plant species including the Puyo raya Maundy the world's tallest flowering plant and speaking of plants the potato originated here in Peru and they come in over 4,000 different varieties colors and shapes Peru is world's largest quinoa and maca producer they also produce the world's most expensive coffee kawauti dung coffee which is made from the partially fermented coffee beans that pass through the digestive system of a kawauti wait so you're saying this whole time my espresso breaks could have been quality poop coffee breaks I want that how much is it well once a limited supply of beans are harvested and produced I mean come on Kylie's only poops so much Megan so for up to 1,400 dollars per kilogram worth it otherwise resources have always been a key player in Peru's economy specifically in the mineral mining industry they are the world's sixth largest gold producer in which in itself makes up over a fifth of their exports service sector jobs have greatly increased especially in the transport category largest company in Peru is actually Aero condor and finally time to bring this segment to a close like we always do food in Latin world Peru is a culinary powerhouse often some of the top ranking restaurants in the world are found in Peru like central or mido some top modal dishes that you guys suggest we mentioned include things like Lomo saltado arroz con Pato anticuchos rocoto relleno aji de Gallina alpaca and llama meat lucuma and Calma Calma fruits Papa Sala Juan keine and the national dishes ceviche most of you may have heard of this in a lesser-known Qui which is roasted guinea pig yep guinea pigs that's also a native animal you know what else is native the people which brings us to thank you Noah this great poop coffee when you think of proving people you think Poncho's pan flutes and those hats they wear yeah there are some people like that in the country but that's only one fraction Peru is pretty much like all the other nations in the Americas it has a story rooted in both native and foreign fusion today Peru much like its cuisine has a little bit of everything blended into it but never compromising the foundation of where everything got started and it's gotten pretty asian first of all the country has about 33 million and is the fourth most populous nation in South America coming up with the exact numbers for ethnic breakup is a little tricky because not all the census data seems to match up exactly however according to CIA World Factbook the highest percentage of the largest group mestizos numbers at about 60% and the Amerindian community population is supposedly at around 25% however some estimates I've encountered claimed as high as around 46% so the exact number may vary either way the largest groups of this category are Quechua and Aymara around 6% of the population are white around 4% are black a little around 3% are Asian mostly Japanese and Chinese and the remainder are unspecified groups at around 2% and here's the weird thing though according to certain studies it is speculated that historical intermarriage is between Asians and locals dating back to the mid 19th century means that somewhere around 10 to 20% of the entire population could have East Asian roots down their lineage at some point if this were true it would make Peru potentially the most Asian of all the countries not just in Latin America but all the Americas yeah I told you those Asians left their mark for sure mostly the Japanese I mean after Brazil they have the largest Japanese diaspora in the world and even one of their presidents was Japanese it didn't go so well for him but hey it shows how far the Japanese have come in Peru anyway they use the Peruvian soul as their currency they use the type A and B plug outlets and they drive on the right side of the road now back to people groups the country kind of has like three official languages of course Spanish and then there's Quechua and finally Aymara which is actually more spoken in Bolivia in the shortest way to put it the Quechua and Aymara are basically the largest groups of modern descendants of the ancient Incan peoples most of them live in the high mountains of the Andes which means their bodies from a young age have actually ECLA mated to the rather intense conditions of thin air and cold the average Kichwa and iMod a person has a slower heart rate a third larger lung capacity and more blood volume dude they're kind of like superhuman kind of yeah by force from birth I guess kind of yeah cool forced superpowers if it'll help you remember that fact then fine any per who the indigenous although a vital part of the Peruvian identity are only one part of the puzzle though there's so much to discuss with the people and with that here's random Hannah with culture stuff today with generations of multicultural backgrounds the population of Peru is very different from how it started centuries ago yet they never lost their roots as mentioned historically the Incans created an entire complex society of millions all without the advantages that were used in Western societies according to Atlas obscura the Incans never invented the wheel never figured out the arch and never discovered iron but they were masters of fiber everything from ships armor slings and bridges were made of fiber one way or another they even had a system of communication with knotted fibers called keep OU's otherwise today traditions still live on in the indigenous communities for one Quechua women that are married often wear various types of woven hats where our single women wear knitted hats catholicism of course plays a huge role as well somewhere around 3/4 of the country claim to be affiliated to it Catholicism in Peru though has a high degree of synchronism for example many herders from the countryside still pay tribute to Pachamama or Mother Earth from many of these peoples traditional belief systems and themselves are still practiced even apart from Catholic fusion in fact Peru has the second highest number of shamans after India and now we're going to do a list of some cultural stuff but to help me we're gonna bring out in oh alright we're back at it you know what to do yep oh they're so cute in addition festivals in Peru are world renowned and famous for their intense colorful displays festivals like capicola which is a sort of rite of passage for boys there's also the scissor dance that's on teh day to hit us the festivals of the Sun MT at I mean Holy Week is a huge deal and probably the most colorful and famous one the La Candelaria festival held in February in the end though no matter what part of Peru they're from everyone knows the song contigo Peru it's practically a second anthem for them it can literally stop fights the festivals are of course riddled with so much food colors and music which of course brings us to Keith's absolutely terrible horrible music segment use a copper guano Oh Parowan Oh when you think of music in Peru immediately most people just think pan flutes pan flutes and pan flutes pan flutes are a huge part of their musical culture but there's a ton of other traditional instruments one of the most commonly used ones is the charango chair chair and on go okay which looks like a ukulele but has a different structure and sound otherwise apart from the traditional sounds over time music and peru evolved into something very special the many people groups all came together infuse their influences in each region kind of has its own specialty for example you have Creole music mostly along the coast which has lots of influence from the afro-peruvian community they use the Cajon a lot Peru was one of the leading founders of exotic cumbia which uses traditional Amazonian rhythms with Spanish melodies everyone knows that song el condor pasa simon and garfunkel even didn't cover of it and that's about it remember by Keith shirt at geography now calm cuz this shirt is the thank you Keith yes maestro to geography I'll come now there's a lot of other things we could have mentioned like often when drinking beer they leave a little left in the glass and then pour it on the soil to give back to mother earth there's those long skulls at the Paracas which are brought up a lot in alien conspiracy theories but anthropologists say that people would just kind of push their babies skulls in between long boards to make that shape for aesthetic reasons symbolizing nobility they do have a long history of political strife I mean the past five presidents are either dead or in jail and finally almost every Peruvian has told me we hate senorita Laura don't mention her she's a national disgrace and she was exiled she's Mexico's problem now yeah thanks Peru in any case now it's time to do the incredibly condensed history section in the quickest way I can put it pre incan civilizations Incas conquistadors come in they fight the Incas I'm out of the second rebellion Viceroyalty years under Spain Wars of Independence for all of Latin America San Martin versus Bolivar quano era Ramon Castillo abolished slavery War of the Pacific foundation of a PRA first military dictatorship democratic elections second military dictatorship agrarian revolution democratic elections support to Argentina during Falklands War terrorism and economic crisis war with Ecuador the four suyus march pan-american games in Lima and here we are today and now it's time for the extremely condensed notable peep section some people you guys the Peruvian geography suggested we mentioned in this episode include so many soccer / football players but this one is probably the most famous war heroes like these people tupac amaru the second patch akuti atahualpa these two Saints Juan Diego Flores Susana Baca ever Ione Chaput qug Ronda the whole women's volleyball team that won the silver medal in the Olympics in Seoul Edwin Vasquez Sophia Milanovic and Hwa piccolo Gladys Tejeda in s malkor Valentina Shevchenko Ricardo Palma Cesar Vallejo Maria Vargas Llosa Claudia OSA and Daniel peridot all right and that's just about it and now we will talk about Peru's relations with the outside world shall we in the Latin world Peru is like that neighbor that everyone wants to visit when they are having a barbecue like when Peru starts cooking suddenly cousins you didn't even know you were technically related to start popping up it's like what the Cape Baird really I mean you're invited but dang it's been a while you don't even speak Spanish for one they generally get along with all their South American cousins Colombia Venezuela and Ecuador like the fun cousins Brazil is like the business cousin and Chile is like their biggest frenemy you know because of the war of the Pacific but they still get along with Chile and love to visit geography Nikolas says all the best restaurants in Chile are Peruvian and the best stores in Peru are chilean they both argue about the drink pisco sour being their national drinks but otherwise they moved on and do well together China and Japan are of course their best Asian friends China is actually the biggest trading partner in both imports and exports and the ties go all the way back to the 1800s when the Chinese migrants to the new world began through cheap labor workers after slavery was abolished in 2009 they signed a free trade agreement and today approves the largest Chinese community in Latin America relations with Japan however go even earlier during the Manila galleon years in which ships would transfer peoples and goods back and forth from the Americas to the largest Asian Spanish colony the Philippines Japan often got involved and eventually was exposed to Peru since then heads of state have constantly visited bilateral agreements signed many Japanese companies operate hubs in Peru and that you are always close in terms of their best friends however most Peruvians I have talked to have said depending on who you ask it would probably be Argentina and Bolivia even though they don't border Argentina they've always kind of kept an eye on each other business is always usually good and proved totally supported Argentina in the Falklands slash Malvinas war they are part of numerous organizations like the Latin Union the Union of South American nation and so on culturally though Bolivia seems to tie in better with the indigenous community as both countries have high populations of Quechua and Aymara groups at one point they were even joined together under a confederation for three years back in the 19th century Bolivia shares the same Incan blood as they were both historical centers of the famous Empire prior to Spanish rule they will forever be Mountain brothers in conclusion Peru has gone from an empire that thrived on foot speed fibers and festivals and now it's fusion finance and food take a seat and enjoy the barbecue because Peru serves up quite a dish stay tuned the Philippines is coming up next [Music]