Although located in the equatorial zone, this country of 1 ' 285 ' 220 km2, thus has a varied range of ecosystems. Since the destruction of the INCA Empire, Peru knew a history marked by violence. Plundered by the conquistadores, victim of the ambitions of caudillos then of those of its neighbors, the country - formerly synonymous with richness - sinks in a bloody conflict opposing the revolutionary State and movements, which remain among most active of Latin America.
Pre-Columbian civilizations
Although Incas are the most known people of the pre-Columbian time, they were only the heirs to brilliant civilizations which preceded them. The archaeological vestiges testify to a human occupation going back to 26 ' 000 years before our era. From 2500 av. J. - C., temples are set up. The first civilization, that of Chavín de Huantar, opens out around 1500 and covers half of Peru. Of 300 av. J. - C. with 300 apr. J. - C. develops the civilization of Paracas (center and south), which that of Chinchas succeeded.
Of the VIII E to the XII E century, the civilization of Tiahuanaco (on the edges of the lake Titicaca), which amalgamated with the empire of Huari, mark of its print the center of Peru. From the XII E century affirms the empire of Chimús, which is opposed to Incas, eager to impose their hegemony. The origin of the latter remains discussed, their name even being prone to polemics (it means “sovereign” in language quechua).
Around 1200, Incas found Cuzco, extend their domination on the close people and assimilate the cultures of the conquered people. At the beginning of the XVI E century, their Empire extends from Colombia in Chile. Strongly structured, it astonishes the conquistadores. In charge of the State, in addition to the INCA, warlike priests, chiefs and civils servant ensure the management of the kingdom. The ayllu, made up by small village communities, forms the basic unit. The private property of the ground does not exist (the civils servant undertake the distribution of the productions). The system of the quipu (tied cords) allows the regular census of the men and the goods. The transportation routes square Empire remarkably (11 ' 000 km of tracks). Deprived of any individual freedom, the population is subjected to the drudgeries, which made it possible to build the large cities (Machu Picchu, Písac…).
The colonial time
Francisco Pizarro begins the conquest of Peru in 1531 with 180 men; it is made main, by treachery, of the sovereign INCA Atahualpa in Cajamarca (1532). Greed causes quarrels between the conquerors (Pizarro is assassinated in 1541). Pedro of Gasca, envoy of Charles Quint, restores the order and creates the viceroyalty of Peru, whose Lima is the capital. Consequently the exploitation of the men and the mining richnesses starts (gold, money of Potosí).
Parked in reserves, converts of force to Christianity, constrained to pour tribute as men and various food products, the Amerindians revolt many times. The clash of two civilizations results in the demographic collapse of the Andean population, victim of the microbial shock and of the forced labors, it is what leads the Spanishs to import black slaves. Gradually the social fractures are exacerbated between the Creoles, who control the economic life, and the subways, which have the political power and administrative.
Independence and recent political evolution
Influenced by the European revolutionary ideas, of the insurrectionary movements appear and make profitable the occupation of Spain by the Napoleonean troops. From 1809 to 1824, the revolutionists, who receive the support of Simón Bolívar and José de San Martín, fight the royalists. In December 1824, the latter are definitively defeated with Ayacucho.
But, whereas the winners dispute the power, Peru crosses one long period put rhythm into by coups d'etat and conflicts territorial with its neighbors (Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile). From 1854, the country finds a certain prosperity thanks to valorization of the guano and with the creation of the railways connecting Lima to the Andean mining cities. The suppression of slavery involves the importation of a Chinese labor.
The war of the Pacific (1879-1883), lost against Chile, reveals the brittleness of the young nation. The middle-class liménienne makes a pact with the occupant, while resistance movements in the Andes develop. Peru takes the route then of prosperity: growth of exports of guano, mining products and rubber; investments of the British and American firms.
But the social situation hardens, in particular in the campaigns. In this context of tensions, the opposition parties develop (creation of revolutionary popular Alliance American
in 1924, and of the Communist party in 1930). Until 1980 follow one another democratic government and coups d'etat.
The threatened democracy
After one long period of military government (1968-1980), Peru joins again with the democracy. President Fernando Belaúnde Terry tries without success a liberal experiment. In 1985, Alan García, candidate of the APRA, gain the presidential election. It makes adopt social measures in favor of the most stripped, refuses the liberal “potion” recommended by the IMF and limit the refunding of the debt servicing (what involves the insulation of Peru on the international scene). The economic crisis and worsening policy, García must return in 1988 to an austerity policy; source of hyperinflation, this one cuts down by 40 % the purchasing power of the Peruvians. Moreover, Peru is the hearth of an cholera epidemic which is spread in all the Latin America.
In parallel, the activism of the guerillas of the luminous Path and the revolutionary Movement Tupac-Amaru (MRTA) makes reign a climate of insecurity. In July 1990, Alberto Fujimori is elected president. In January 1995, a conflict bursts with Ecuador in connection with a territory of the cordillera of the Condor, already disputed between the two countries in 1941. In April of the same year, the serving chairman, who gained important victories against the guerilla, is re-elected in a more favorable economic context but on bottom of social crisis. Moreover, the taking of hostages of the embassy from Japan in Lima by the MRTA (December 1996 - April 1997) and the persistence of the narcotrafic result in modulating the assessment of the Fujimori era.
On January 5th, 1999, president Fujimori names Víctor Joy Way Rojas in charge of the government. In October, this last is replaced by Jose Alberto Bustamante Belaunde. On the diplomatic level, the year is remembered by the signature with Ecuador, of an agreement definitively fixing the respective borders of the two countries in Amazonia. After more than one century and half of diplomatic disagreements and armed conflicts with Ecuador, Peru thus takes the control of 200 ' 000 km2 of Amazonia asserted before by Ecuador. On the other hand, the enclave of Tiwinza, a surface of 1 km2, is reassigned with this last, which also obtains the right to create two centers of trade and navigation of 150 hectares each one, on the rivers Marañón and the Amazon.
Re-elected in May 2000 in spite of charges of fraudulent practices called upon by her Alejandro Toledo main adversary, Alberto Fujimori is relieved by the Congress in November whereas other accusations of corruption are carried against him. The presidency by interim is taken until the next elections, envisaged in April 2001, by the president of the Congress, Valentine Paniagua, while Javier Perez de Cuellar, former general secretary of the United Nations, was appointed Prime Minister.