Get the key facts and info on the countries that we visit. Click on the links below for more info.
PERU
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geographical area
Peru covers 1,285,220 km² (496,193 sq mi), making it approximately two-thirds the size of Mexico.
The Andes mountains run parallel to the Pacific Ocean, dividing the country into three geographic regions. The costa (coast), to the west, is a narrow plain, largely arid except for valleys created by seasonal rivers. The sierra (highlands) is the region of the Andes; it includes the Altiplano plateau as well as the highest peak of the country, the 6,768 m (22,205 ft) Huascarán. The third region is the selva (jungle), a wide expanse of flat terrain covered by the Amazon rainforest that extends east. This region covers almost 60% of Peru.
Unlike other equatorial countries, Peru does not have an exclusively tropical climate; the influence of the Andes and the Humboldt Current causes great climatic diversity within the country. Because of its varied geography and climate, Peru has a high biodiversity; 21,462 species of plants and animals had been reported as of 2003, 5,855 of them endemic.
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capital
Lima
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population
Approximately 29 million people.
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people
54% Amerindian, 32% Mestizo (mixed European and Indian descent),
12% Spanish descent, 2% other
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language
Spanish (official), Quechua, Aymara and other indigenous languages
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system of government
Presidential Republic
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currency
Nuevo Sol
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religion
Over 90% Roman Catholic, small Protestant population |
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TIME
Peru is 5 hours behind GMT and does not observe daylight savings time.
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BOLIVIA
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geographical area
At 1,098,580 km² (424,135 mi²), Bolivia is the world's 28th-largest country. It is comparable in size to Mauritania, and it is about 1.5 times the size of the US state of Texas.
Bolivia has enormous diversity of ecology. The western highlands of the country are situated in the Andes Mountains and include the Bolivian Altiplano. The eastern lowlands include large sections of Amazonian rainforests. The highest peak is Nevado Sajama at 6,542 metres (21,463 ft) located in Oruro. Lake Titicaca is located on the border between Bolivia and Peru. The Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat, lies in the southwest corner of Bolivia.
The low population and lack of development in Brazil makes it possible for a large variety of flora and fauna to exist and be spotted easily.
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capital
La Paz is the administrative capital and the seat of the government and Sucre is the constitutional capital, containing the Supreme Court
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population
Approximately 9 million people.
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people
30% Quechua Indian, 25% Mestizo, 30% Aymará Indian, approx 15% European
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language
Spanish (official), Quechua, Aymara and other indigenous languages
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system of government
Republic
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currency
Boliviano
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religion
95% Roman Catholic, the remainder Protestant
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TIME
Bolivia is 4 hours behind GMT and does not observe daylight savings time.
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BRAZIL
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geographical area
Brazil occupies an immense area along the eastern coast of South America and includes much of the continent's interior region, (it borders every country on the continent except Ecuador and Chile), and stretches from the North to the Southern Hemisphere. Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world—after Russia, Canada, the People's Republic of China and the United States—and third largest on the Americas; with a total area of 8,511,965 kilometers (5,289,090 mi), and the fourth most populous.
The factors of size, climate, and natural resources make Brazil very geographically diverse. The topography is also very diverse, including hills, mountains, plains, highlands, and scrublands. Major rivers include the Amazon, the largest river in terms of volume of water, and the second-longest in the world; the Paraná and its major tributary, the Iguassu River, where the Iguassu Falls are located.
The Amazon rainforest is the largest in the world covering 3.3 million square kilometres. It is home to two million species of animals and birds (over half of the world´s species), but is being destroyed rapidly. |
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capital
Brasília |
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population
Approximately 191 million people! |
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people
49.7% of the population self-identified as White, about 93 million; 42.6% Pardo (meaning brown in Portuguese), about 79 million; 6.9% Black, about 13 million; 0.5% Asian, about 1 million; and 0.3% Amerindian, about 519,000.
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language
Portuguese (official), Spanish, English, French. Over 120 Amerindian languages exist.
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system of government
Presidential Federal Republic
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currency
Real
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religion
73.9% of the population is Roman Catholic; 15.4% is Protestant; 0.91% from other Christian denominations; 1.33% follows Kardecist spiritism; 0.31% follows African traditional religions; 0.01% follows Amerindian traditions; 7.35% consider themselves agnostics, atheists or without a religion; and 0.81% are members of other religions such as Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and some practice a mixture of different religions.
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TIME
Brazil has three time zones. It also observes summer time; confusingly however, not only do the starting and ending dates often change from year to year, it is also not followed by all states (which ones observe summer time can change from year to year). The time in most of Brazil visited by foreign tourists is three hours behind Greenwich Mean Time.
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This short tour of Egypt takes in all the best sites in 9 intoxicating days. Visit the Pyramids, sail down the Nile, check out amazing Abu Simbel and explore the Valley of the Kings!
