Peru is a country of varied climate because the influence of the following phenomena:
To visualize Peru geography, imagine a sheet of paper crumpled lengthwise down the middle from top to bottom, smooth on both sides.
That might describe basic Peru geography.
Like
a flat sheet of paper, many milenia ago, the land forming
the current geography
of Peru apparently had been a vast plain. Then,
geological forces compressing the two sides towards the middle produced
the upward crumpling of the central spine.
These geological
processes resulted in what is called the
Cordillera of the Andes, that central spinal column that runs down the middle of the
Andean countries from north to south.
This central spine of
mountain highland separates the two flat areas
of Peru geography: the coastal zone to the west and the jungle
zone to the east.
These three regions or
zones with their distinctive and varied altitudes and
climates provide a key to the identity of Peru
as a whole as well as the challenges presented to living in such a highly complex and varied territory.
To get an idea of the size of Peru, we can say that
Peru:
The Andean mountain range
defines the three macro regions that make up the geography
of Peru: the coast, the moutains, and the jungle. Although
this classification is somewhat simplified, it actually gives us a very
clear overall idea of what makes up Peru geography.
The sector of Peru geography referred to as the coast, or "la costa" is
a strip of desert consisting
of rolling plains that runs parallel to the coast
of Peru from Tumbes in the very north to Tacna in the extreme south.
The width of the Peruvian
coastal region is generally narrow but does vary, reaching
its widest point in the northern department (province) of Piura in the
desert of Sechura. At that point it is 180 km (112 miles) wide.
Its narrowest point is
located in southern Peru in the department (province) of
Arequipa, where the coast practically disappears into rocky cliffs or
escarpments that are actually what remains of an ancient coastal
mountain range.
At the point of the
coastal city of Lima, Peru's capital, the Peruvian desert
has an average width of only 15 km (9.3 miles).
The central of the three
strips
which make up the geography of Peru is the sierra (mountains) formed by
the rugged heights of the Andes mountain range.
These mountains are
actually three parallel mountain chains in the north and
middle of Peru, tapering to two parallel chains in the southern part.
The three northern Andes
chains join the three chains of mid Peru geography at El
Nudo de Pasco and these go on to join the mountain chains of the south
at El Nudo de Vilcanota.
In spite of the common
characteristics of the central strip, ie, high mountains
and deep valleys, not all these mountainous areas are the same.
The northern Andes are
lower and wetter than the mountains farther south. This
has enabled some of the moisture and vegetation of the northern forest
to reach to the coast.
Also, in the northern
Andes you find the lowest point of the entire Andean
Cordillera or range: the Abra de Porculla is a pass of 2145 meters
(7,037 feet) altitude that allows relatively easy access to the jungle
side of the mountains.
The central Andes are the
highest and steepest and that makes the central mountain
region a place of difficult access. The only real reason for routes
across the Andes in this challenging area is its proximity to the
dynamic capital city of Lima, Peru.
The southern Andes are
thicker than the northern and central Andes; a cross
section of the moutains going from Arequipa to the border with
Bolivia shows a distance of over 500 km. (311 miles) in width
at high altitudes in
excess of 4,000 m (13,000 feet).
It is in the valleys of
this thick strip of southern mountains that the largest
concentrations of remnants of ancient people and cultures is found.
Some of the most important cities or centers of ancient cultures
of Peru in this area are Ayacucho and Cusco among others.
The third region is the
jungle
(la selva) to the east of the mountains, also referred to
the oriente (east). Like the coast and mountains, the jungle also has
its share of variety.
If the Peruvian
jungle had to be divided into just two sub regions, these
two would most like be from north to south, also, based on the
difference between the highland forest and lowland forest.
The high rain forest or
cloud forest is found on the eastern slopes of the Andes
from 1000 meters (3, 280 feet) on up, where the very warm conditions
give it a characteristic appearance: very wet, rainy, cloudy and with
an average temperature between 25 degrees to 30 degrees Centigrade
(degrees Fahrenheit).
The jungle forest, on
the contrary, is flat, is surprisingly almost at sea
level, and is the warmest region in Peru, with high temperatures
usually above 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit).
Much of this forest floor
is flooded, especially in areas where two or
more rivers come together.
There is generally a
cycle of heavy rains/dry season, rivers
overflowing/dropping. This constant change impedes year around
cultivation in many areas and favors the development of activities
related to fishing and harvesting of wild fruits.
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