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Peru: Hispanic Reading Room Country Guide

This guide provides curated Library of Congress resources for researching Perú, including digitized primary source materials in a wide variety of formats, books and periodicals, online databases, and tips for searching.

Introduction

Woman wearing a tapada, Perú. [between 1830 and 1840]. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

The Library of Congress holds thousands of collection materials about and from Peru. Curated by librarians in the Hispanic Reading Room, this guide is part of a series of Country Guides that provide quick references for countries and regions from the Luso-Hispanic world. The Hispanic Reading Room is the Library’s portal to the Caribbean, Latin America, Spain and Portugal; the indigenous cultures of those areas; and peoples throughout the world historically influenced by Luso-Hispanic heritage, including Latinos in the U.S. This guide offers links to diverse resources on Peru from across the Library including digitized primary sources, selected books and periodicals, online databases, and tips for searching. For specific questions or assistance using the Library’s resources, use the Ask a Librarian service to contact a reference librarian.

Peru: Quick Facts

Peru. 1991. Library of Congress Geography and Maps Division.

Official Name: República del Perú (Republic of Peru)

Capital: Lima

Date of Independence: July 28, 1821

Head of State/Government: President Dina Ercilia Boluarte Zegarra (as of December 7, 2022)

Population: 32.9 million

Languages: Spanish, Quechua, Aymara, Amazonian languages 

Departments: (24 departments and 2 provinces) Departments Amazonas, Ancash, Apurimac, Arequipa, Ayacucho, Cajamarca, Cusco, Huancavelica, Huanuco, Ica, Junín, La Libertad, Lambayeque, Loreto, Madre de Dios, Moquegua, Pasco, Piura, Puno, San Martín, Tacna, Tumbes, Ucayali; Provinces Callao and Lima.