| Location: |
Western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Chile and Ecuador |
| Geographic coordinates: |
10 00 S, 76 00 W |
| Map references: |
South America |
| Area: |
total: 1,285,220 sq km
land: 1.28 million sq km
water: 5,220 sq km |
| Area - comparative: |
slightly smaller than Alaska |
| Land boundaries: |
total: 7,461 km
border countries: Bolivia 1,075 km, Brazil 2,995 km, Chile 171 km, Colombia 1,800 km, Ecuador 1,420 km |
| Coastline: |
2,414 km |
| Maritime claims: |
territorial sea: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm |
| Climate: |
varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west; temperate to frigid in Andes |
| Terrain: |
western coastal plain (costa), high and rugged Andes in center (sierra), eastern lowland jungle of Amazon Basin (selva) |
| Elevation extremes: |
lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Nevado Huascaran 6,768 m |
| Natural resources: |
copper, silver, gold, petroleum, timber, fish, iron ore, coal, phosphate, potash, hydropower, natural gas |
| Land use: |
arable land: 2.88%
permanent crops: 0.47%
other: 96.65% (2005) |
| Irrigated land: |
12,000 sq km (2003) |
| Natural hazards: |
earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, landslides, mild volcanic activity |
| Environment - current issues: |
deforestation (some the result of illegal logging); overgrazing of the slopes of the costa and sierra leading to soil erosion; desertification; air pollution in Lima; pollution of rivers and coastal waters from municipal and mining wastes |
| Environment - international agreements: |
party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
| Geography - note: |
shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake, with Bolivia; a remote slope of Nevado Mismi, a 5,316 m peak, is the ultimate source of the Amazon River |
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