Peru Researched via: Student Name: Jinelle Thompson Date: 6/3/10

Where is Peru located? Peru is located on South America's central Pacific coast. The world's twentieth-largest nation, it borders Bolivia, Brazil, and Chile to the east and south, and Colombia and Ecuador to the north. Lima, the capital, is located on the central coast. Peru's 1,326,074 square kilometers (512,000 square miles) make it roughly the size of Alaska. Lima is approximately the size of Rhode Island.

Flag, Motto, Anthem: A shield with the image of a vicuna which is llama-like ruminant mammal of the central Andes which possesses a fine silky fleece – A cinchona tree (the source of quinine) – A yellow cornucopia spilling out gold coins - a cornucopia is a cone-shaped ornament or receptacle with overflowing contents signifying prosperity - it is also called horn of plenty – All of theses items are framed by a green wreath symbolic of economy for the Tupac Katari ( an indigenous people of Peru ) The motto is "Renació el sol del Perú“ "Himno Nacional del Perú"

Sports: Peru's main sport is football and they have competed in four FIFA World Cups. Taekwondo in Peru was first introduced by John Polar. Rugby union Shooting Peruvian shooters have won 3 of Peru's 4 Olympic medals.

Government and Politics: Peru has been politically unstable since independence was declared in 1821 and formally granted by Spain 3 years later. Since independence Peru has had 109 presidents, 18 percent of whom were democratically elected. The remaining presidents came to power through military coups (24 percent), replaced a sitting president (21 percent), were named by Congress (18 percent), were delegated (16 percent), or formed part of a commission of notables (3 percent). The free-market economic policies in place since 1990 will not change in the coming years. The incoming government, which took office in July of 2001, will maintain strict macroeconomic discipline guided by a Fiscal Discipline Law that does not permit the deficit to be higher than 1.5 percent of GDP. The economic situation will be difficult, nevertheless. The Peruvian economy has been in a recession since 1997, partly due to poor fiscal management on the part of the former government and partly because of the Brazilian, Russian, and Asian economic troubles. The collapse of Fujimori's administration also scared off local and foreign investors, with direct foreign investment reaching only US$600 million in 2000, compared to US$2 billion a year earlier.

Famous people/role model: Benjamin Bratt (born December 16, 1963) is an American actor He is most famous for his role as Rey Curtis on the TV series Law & Order; and his appearances in the movies Blood in Blood Out Miss Congeniality, Traffic, and Piñero. He starred on the A&E Network drama The Cleaner. Bratt was born in San Francisco, California, the son of nurse Eldy (née Banda) and a sheet metal worker father.Bratt's mother is a Peruvian Indigenous activist of the Quechuas tribe; born in Peru, she moved to the U.S. at age 14.His father was an American of German and English descent.

What do you like the most about Peru?