The History and Geography of Peru
Peru was home to the Norte Chico civilization who were believed to have crossed the Bering Strait from Asia to North and South America over fifteen thousand years ago. These people made up many tribes who thrived all over Peru. They are one of the six oldest civilizations in the world and were known to be nomads, fishing, hunting and gathering fruits and vegetables all over Peru. Eventually, these tribes joined together to make the Inca Empire, the largest state in Pre-Colombian America. This empire was centered in Cuzco, and spanned a vast region from Chile to Ecuador. The Incas fought many Civil wars which weakened their own empire.
In 1531, Francisco Pizarro and the Spaniards landed in South America, and in 1533 the Spaniards took over the Incan capitol city Cuzco in Peru, and went on to capture most other South American civilizations. In 1535, Lima was founded in Peru and was one of the most important cities in South America. In 1542, Pizarro established Viceroyalty which gave Spain jurisdiction over most South American domains. On July 28, 1821 Peru declared independence from Spain, led by Jose de San Martin and Simon Bolivar. Peruvians fought for their independence against Spain in 1824 at the Battle of Ayacucho, led by Jose de Sucre, which ended Spanish rule in South America. Finally, in 1879 Spain recognized Peru’s independence.
As a new country, Peru had many territorial disputes with neighboring countries. In the War of the Pacific, Chile defeated Peru and took control of Tarapaca along with the provinces Tacna and Arica. Although, in 1929, Chile returned Tacna to Peru. Peru and Ecuador had a clash between a boundaries, which had to be intervened by the Rio Protocol. They continued to d...
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...re-shaped ice wall that looks like an upside down shield. Its first known ascent was by H. Bernard and his German team in 1932. The main goal of the climb was to survey the Cordillera Blanca. The map they made is still the best map of the area.
All of these characteristics make it very diverse, and make the climate vary depending on what part of the country you are in. It has tropical forests in the east, vast deserts in the west and beautiful mountains in the north. This makes the average temperature around 67 degrees Fahrenheit. The rainfall is also very different depending on where you are, but it ranges from less than two inches per year at the coast, to over 150 inches per year in the tropical rainforests. All of these factors pay a role on the culture of Peru. It affect what the people wear, what they eat, their jobs, and the way they interact with each other.
However, in 1817 Peru and Chile were big threats, from here Jose crossed the Andes and joined with Bernardo O’Higgins, a former leader of Peru. With O’Higgins help, Jose had freed Chile. In later years of 1821, Jose and Simon came together to form an agreement on how to break free from old ways and get all other forces free as well. On December 9, 1824 the last battle for independence in Latin America won their freedom for themselves and the future colonies of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, and Ecuador. These all came together to be called Gran
Through the study of the Peruvian society using articles like “The “Problem of the Indian...” and the Problem of the Land” by Jose Carlos Mariátegui and the Peruvian film La Boca del Lobo directed by Francisco Lombardi, it is learned that the identity of Peru is expressed through the Spanish descendants that live in cities or urban areas of Peru. In his essay, Mariátegui expresses that the creation of modern Peru was due to the tenure system in Peru and its Indigenous population. With the analyzation of La Boca del Lobo we will describe the native identity in Peru due to the Spanish treatment of Indians, power in the tenure system of Peru, the Indian Problem expressed by Mariátegui, and the implementation of Benedict Andersons “Imagined Communities”.
The Inca civilization started around 1200A.D. and was found in the Andes mountains in what is now Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile.
The Inca Empire Janos Gyarmati’s Paria la Viexa and an expanding empire: Provincial centers in the political economy of the Inca Empire proved that the Inca’s built an empire unlike any other. From 1440 to 1532 A.D., the Inca Empire dominated the Americas. Known as “the fastest growing and largest territorial empire”(Gyarmati 37) of its time, the Inca Empire left a mark with their complex, perpetual and innovative economic, road, and settlement system. The Inca’s were advanced for their time, however, they lacked a system that would guarantee the survival of their kin. In order to strive, for the long-term, the Inca’s created provincial centers that would ensure their growth and economy for the generations to come.
Soon, some people went back to Spain and the commentaries and questions were presented like: if Pizarro had the legal right to invade Peru, to take Atahualpa hostage, to kill thousands of people and to take their gold. So the excuse was that Atahualpa, usurped the throne to his old brother Huáscar, but this was false argument because the age didn’t matter.
War.” The actions that sparked their new revolution occurred on the eve of Peru’s first
Mayan, Inca, and Aztec Civilizations. The Mayan, Inca, and Aztec civilizations each originated in Latin America. The Mayans lived in southern and central Mexico, other Mayans lived in Central America in the present day countries of Belize, Guatemala, and ancient Honduras. The Incas lived along the long coastal strip, and in the high peaks and deep fertile valleys of the Andes Mountains, and along the edges of the tropical forest to the east; this would be the country of Peru, Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina in present days.
Some examples are the Andes Mountains, Machu Picchu and Cusco. The art and culture of the Peruvians, as well as the people themselves,and the popular places to go, are what tourists like to see in Peru. Music and dance are important parts of Peruvian culture. “Andean Folk Music is common in Peru. People perform a stylized dance to energetic music mixed with sad songs.
The American Revolution did much more than any of our founding fathers had ever imagined, it started a movement that would threaten the very roots of colonialism across the globe. Setting an example of how a David could overcome a Goliath, the United States inspired regions such as Latin America to fight for their rights and liberties as well. One such region that embraced the message was Upper Peru, which would later be known as Bolivia. With some key tipping points that caused the war, the leaders of the soon to be formed nation rallied its troops and won several major battles, but even they couldn’t prevent the tough times that lay in the early years of the nation. From the year 1809, Upper Peru was engaged in a revolution against Spanish Colonial rule that would span over 16 years, ultimately yielding freedoms for several Latin nations, including the formation of Bolivia.
Country in west central South America, bounded on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil and Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The area of Peru, including several offshore islands, is 1,285,216 sq km (496,225 sq mi), making it third in size (after Brazil and Argentina) of South America countries. Lima is the country’s capital and chief commercial center.
From 1806 to 1826 most of the Latin countries under Spanish rule fought for their independence. The reason that caused these countries to have courage to fight for independence was because in 1808 Napoleon was able to invade and conquer Spain. Examples of those countries are Venezuela and Chile. There are similarities in the ways in which these two countries fought for their independence but there are also some differences in how they fought. Some of the leaders who were involved in the Venezuela’s fight for independence were Simon Bolivar, Francisco de Miranda and Antonio José de Sucre. The Venezuelan fight for independence against the Spanish empire began in 1811 and finally ended in 1823. The Venezuelan war was done in different phases, which began with Francisco de Miranda.
A very important event in Peruvian history is how Peru gained its independence from Spain. It all started with an uprising of Spanish-American landowners and their forces were led by Jose de San Martin of Argentina and Simon Bolivar of Venezuela. Because Peru was the stronghold of the Spanish government in South America, Argentine patriot, General San Martin’s strategy to liberate Peru was to use diplomacy. He sent representatives to Lima urging Viceroy Pazuela that Peru be granted independence, however all negotiations proved unsuccessful. They then launched Peru’s movement toward independence.
This is because Peruvian cuisine is influenced by various cultures including those of the Inca Empire, Spanish conquistadors, and African slaves (lavidacomida.com). In the 1400s the natives from the Inca Empire sustained themselves mostly with corn, potatoes, and aji otherwise known as chili peppers. To this day Peru, also known as “The Potato Capital of the world”, is well known for its potatoes with 4,000 varieties (foodbycountry.com). Then in the 1500s the Spanish conquistadors led by Francisco Pizarro introduced new foods such as wheat, barley, beans, carrots, onions, chicken pork, and lam. However, the Spanish conquistadores also brought with them many diseases, which led to tons of natives dying and the fall of the Inca Empire. Diseases were not the only thing the Spanish conquistadors brought with them, they also brought many African slaves. This African slaves introduced new ways of cooking such as frying food. Another culture that greatly influenced Peruvian cuisine were he Chinese immigrants that arrived to build railroads in the 1800s (lacidacomida.com). The Chinese introduced ginger, soy sauce, and green onions. In addition, Peruvian cuisine has a lot of diversity due to Peru being divided into three regions, which are the coast, the Andean highlands, and Amazon rainforest. In the coast the climate is dry and seafood and stews are more prominent. In the highlands farming and
Incas had no written language and used knotted strings to keep track of history. Incas also were good with integrating people into the empire. The Inca government had a system in place that forced men to work for the state for a certain amount of time each year which lead to the creation of more roads and temples. Spain conquered the Inca and Aztec with the help of European disease as well as capitalizing on a civil war fought amongst the Incan empire. New Spain was made up of two different controlling royalties, The Viceroyalty of New Spain and The Viceroyalty of Peru.
The Incan empire was taken over by the Spanish because of their weakness (Brinker). This weakness started when in 1527, Sapa Inca Huayna Capac died of smallpox, therefore weakening the empire (“The Fall of the Inca Empire”). His eldest son was to heir to the throne, but also died of smallpox (“The Fall of the Inca Empire”). And as if this wasn’t enough, a five-year civil war broke out in the empire because the empire couldn’t peacefully decide the person who was to heir to the throne (“The Fall of the Inca Empire”). Following the pattern perfectly, between smallpox and the long civil war, the Spanish conquistadors had no problem taking advantage of the situation (“The Fall of the Inca