Peru is one of only five countries in Latin America whom have large
segments of pure Amerindians -where almost 35% of all Peruvians are
Amerindian. Most of the Amerindian communities are found the southern
Andes yet there is a large portion found in the southern and central
coast due to the massive immigration of farmers from the southern Andean
cities to Lima (this ocurred 50 years ago due to terrorism. Cities with
pure Amerindian communities are mainly those in the southern Andes such
as Puno,
Cusco, Apurimac, Ayacucho, Andahuaylas and Cerro de Pasco.
There are also Amazonīs native Amerindian communities yet they are very
small compared to the rest of the population. Most of the northern
coastīs natives such as the tallanes, mochicas, chimues, tumpis and
chachapoyas, whom where not Andean but originated from tribes that
migrated from the Amazon, the llano and central America, ha
Mestizos constitute most of the people at 45% of the whole peruvian
population. The term denotes people of mixed ancestry be it European
with Amerindian blood (most of peruvians) or that of a mixture with
certain African ancestry added. Most of the mestizos resulting from
Spanish-Amerindian mixture are found in the central and northern
coast.The other large portion is found in two specific Andean regions,
Cajamarca and Arequipa. We must remember that in the mestizo category (around
45% of the total peruvian population) there is also a considerable
portion composed of Zambos or the Mixture of Amerindian with blacks
found most commonly in Ica and Morropon, and that of Mulatos or the
Mixture of whites/creoles with blacks whome are most common in
Lima,
Trujillo, Chiclayo, Lambayeque, Piura and Tumbes.
Around 17% of the population is of unmixed European ancestry (including
many the descendants of Spaniards), they are called criollos or creoles.
There are also descendants of Italians, German, Lebanese etc. The
majority of them live in Peru's largest cities and those found in
nothern coast such as Trujillo, Chiclayo, Piura and Lima. Others live in
Cajamarca, San Martin, Iquitos and Huanuco. In the south only
Arequipa
has an important proportion of Spanish descendants and other creole
populations.
Around 2% of Peruvians are of pure African ancestry and most of them
live in coastal cities found south of Lima such as that of the Ica
Region, cities like Caņete, Chincha, Ica, Nazca and Acari. The other
large portion of the Afro-Peruvians communities are concentrated in the
estarn edges of the northern coast of Piura and Lambayeque, especially
in cities like Morropon, Chulucanas, Zaņa and Capote. Few black
Peruvians identify themsleves as black, most common term is moreno.
Peru has the second largest population of people of Japanese descent in
Latin America after Brazil. Many of them traveled to Japan in the 80's
as the economic situation in Peru got worse. Many came back after the
Japanese Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori developed the economy. A
large community of people of Chinese descent live in Lima, where Chinese
restaurants (chifas) are commonplace. In contrast to the Japanese, the
Chinese intermarried much more. Unmixed Asians make up 3% of the
population of Peru; the largest percentage of any Latin American nation.
The two major indigenous ethnic groups are the various Quechua-speaking
populations, followed closely by the Aymara, as well as several dozen
small Amerindian ethnic tribes scattered throughout the country beyond
the Andes Mountains and in the
Amazon basin.
A large proportion of Amerindians who live in the Andean highlands still
speak Quechua or Aymara, and have a rich culture which was part of the
Inca Empire, the most advanced agricultural civilisation in the world.
In the low lands of the Amazon Jungle there are thousands of indigenous
Amazonians dispersed over thousands of square miles of inexpugnable
jungles in towns and 3 large cities (Iquitos, Puerto Maldonado, and
Pucallpa) with a population of more than one million and an area larger
than the US states of Texas and Virginia combined.
Language
Peru has two official languages - Spanish and the foremost indigenous
language, Quechua. Spanish is used by all coastal Peruvians, the
government, the media, and in education and formal commerce; although
there is an increasing and organised effort to teach Quechua in public
schools.
The major obstacle to a more widespread use of the Quechua language is
the lack of modern media which use it: for example books, newspapers,
software, magazines, technical journals, etc. However, non-governmental
organisations as well as state sponsored groups are involved in projects
to edit and translate major works into the Quechua language; for
instance, in late 2005 a superb version of Don Quixote was presented in
Quechua.
Despite this work an even more fundamental problem remains: most of the
native speakers of Quechua are illiterate. Thus, Quechua, along with
Aymara and the minor indigenous languages, remains essentially an oral
language. Until more work is done in terms of teaching written Quechua,
it is unlikely to rival Spanish as the major language of the country.
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