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History | | | | | |
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History
Peru's land was once inhabited 20,000 years ago by diverse groups of hunters and harvesters just as shown by the evidence found in Pikimachay, Chivateros, Lauricocha, etc. Subsequently they developed primitive societies throughout the years 6000 to 3000 AC., until some of these groups they managed to dominate the agriculture and the domestication of animals. They established in a sedentary way around the year 3000 AC (Caral, Kotosh, & Huaca Prieta).
1000 AC was the beginning of the great civilizations that happened in Peru and that latter had great influence in the development of other important cultures throughout America. The Chavin Culture was developed in Ancash, an Andean state and it's considered as the root for the Peruvian culture. After Chavin, other cultures such as Paracas, Moche, Nazca, Tiahuanaco, Huari, Chimu (among the most important ones) were developed until finally, the Inca Empire was founded.
The Incas established their empire in Cuzco y from there, they conquered many territories and expanded to mostly all South America.
The name of their state was the Tahuantinsuyo and the social and political organization achieved as well as the architecture, astronomy, agriculture etc were incredible for the times.
The quest for the Tahuantinsuyo empire by the Spanish Conquistadores led by Francisco Pizarro destroyed one of the most important civilizations of the time and erased the unique and culturally irreplaceable history of a country and of that part of the continent.
The quest of the Tahuantinsuyo was done by a small number of soldiers who were superior only in weapons and strategy but were outnumbered by the Incas. The period of conquest lasted for more than 20 years, in which the Incas where brutally exterminated and the Spanish Virreynato of Nueva Castilla was formed in 1542, and later became the Peruvian Virreynato.
In 1572, the head of this new state, el Virrey Toledo organized the Virreynato in an efficient and prosperous way. This was a time for wealth in Peru since the mining industry was at its best.
At the end of the XVIII century, many insurgent movements, the most important one of these movements occurred in Tinta - Cusco between 1780 and 1781 and it was led by José Gabriel Condorcanqui (also known as Tupac Amaru II).
On July 28, 1821, Peru proclaimed its independence from Spain but this one was finally conceded in 1824. The first's years of the Republic, chaos was everywhere for everyone wanted to take control of the presidential power. In 1879 the Pacific War was declared between Peru and Chile and the outcome of the war meant for Peru a great loss of territory especially in the southern cities of the country.
During the XX century, Peru has had democratic and military governments that have altered power. In 1980, finally democracy took over but also did a phenomenon called terrorism and a group called Shining Path and MRTA that were defeated in mid 1990's, but leaving the country with less resources, 30,000 unjustified deaths and many more missing.
In 1992 democracy was once again interrupted and established once again by democratic elections in 2001, being elected president Alejandro Toledo Manrique, whose government gave Peru a new face and brought back to the country foreign investment and better incentives for exports.
Since mid 2006, and continuing in democracy, the new elected president is Alan Garcia Perez (2006-2011).
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Visas are not required for tourists entering Peru, except very few rare cases.
You may legally stay in the country for 30 to 90 days.
If you need to extend your visit, you may apply for an extension at the
local immigration offices located in the main cities.
The official currency in Peru is el nuevo sol, the dollar and the Euro are openly accepted. These can be exchanged to nuevo sol at the local banks, hotels, currency exchange business and Peru's traditional informal street exchange services, which includes people exchanging the money on the street corners.
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In general, Peru has a temperate climate, without great stormy weather in winter or excessive heat in the summer, allowing tourism any time a year.
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