Peru 

(/pəˈruː/ ( listen); Spanish: Perú [peˈɾu]; Quechua: Piruw [pɪɾʊw];[8] Aymara: Piruw [pɪɾʊw]),

officially the Republic of Peru (Spanish:  República del Perú (help·info)), is a country in
western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east
by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the
Pacific Ocean. Peru is a megadiverse country with habitats ranging from the arid plains of the
Pacific coastal region in the west to the peaks of the Andes mountains extending from the north
to the southeast of the country to the tropical Amazon basin rainforest in the east with
the Amazon River.[9] Peru has a population of over 34 million, and its capital and largest city
is Lima. At 1,285,216 km2 (496,225 sq mi), Peru is the 19th largest country in the world, and
the third largest in South America.
Peruvian territory was home to several cultures during the ancient and medieval periods, and has
one of the longest histories of civilization of any country, tracing its heritage back to the 10th
millennium BCE. Notable pre-colonial cultures and civilizations include the Caral-Supe
civilization (the earliest civilization in the Americas and considered one of the cradles of
civilization), the Nazca culture, the Wari and Tiwanaku empires, the Kingdom of Cusco, and
the Inca Empire, the largest known state in the pre-Columbian Americas. The Spanish
Empire conquered the region in the 16th century and Charles V established a viceroyalty with the
official name of the Kingdom of Peru that encompassed most of its South American territories,
with its capital in Lima. Higher education started in the America