Peru is located in the central western part of South America, bordered by Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil and Bolivia to the east, Chile to the south and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It has 1'285,215 km2 of surface area with more than 26 million inhabitants, is the third largest country in South America and the fourth most populated country following Brazil, Argentina and Colombia.

The Pacific Ocean, the Andes Mountains (which cross the country from north to south) and the Amazon River divide Peru into the following three regions:

• The Coast, desert plain that borders the sea.
• The highlands, with the Andean mountains.
• The Jungle, full of tropical rainforests.

Peru has a variety of climates and altitude regions and owns 84 of the 104 life areas of the world.

The two main Peruvian languages are Spanish and Quechua. Folkloric expressions are very funny and original. Peruvian cooking is recognized as one of the world’s great culinary traditions and each region of the country provides its own touch to a variety of dishes

Geographically, Peru is divided in three regions:

• Coast:
  region bordering Pacific Ocean, with desert areas, beautiful beaches and green valleys.

• Sierra:
Cordillera de los Andes’ area. It attains 6768 masl (22 204 feet) with Huascaran summit.

• Jungle:
area of tropical forest. It is in the Amazon where we can find the largest natural reservations.

The time zone which corresponds to Peru is 05 hours less than GMT. For example:

If in Lima Nueva York Buenos Aires Londres Berlin Paris Tokyo Sidney	: : : : : : : :	12:00 H 12:00 H 14:00 H 17:00 H 18:00 H 19:00 H 02:00 H (*) 04:00 H (*)
		(*) Followin day

The official currency in Peru is the Nuevo Sol (S/.), which is divided into 100 centimos. The currency includes coins for 5, 10, 20 and 50 centimos and 1, 2 and 5 sol coins. There are bills in the denomination of 10, 20, 50, 100 and 200 Nuevos Soles.

The American dollar is accepted in most of shopping malls, restaurants and gas stations at current rate. Besides, most of them accept also credit cards: Visa, Master Card, Diners and American Express. In order to prevent any mistake please make sure to pay the exactly amount for the service or the article you are buying.

Traveler checks have some limitations, so you should ask to the shop if it is accepted before trying to pay with them. They are accepted by some but you should consult at the shop if accepted.

If you plan to travel to the Jungle it is recommended to be vaccinated from yellow fever 10 days before.

Vaccination places in Lima:

Jorge Chavez International Airport – 2nd floor
Tel: (01) 575-1745
Non stop service

International Vaccination Center
Calle Cápac Yupanqui 1700 Lima 1
Tel: (01) 471-9920 extension: 1215
Working hours: Mon-Fri 08:00 - 18:00 hours