At One Place

Peru

Peru
Capital Lima
1,285,216 km² · 34,576,665 people (2025) · Peruvian sol

Peru holds the source of the Amazon and about sixty percent of its territory is Amazon basin, but most people live on the dry Pacific coast. Cotahuasi and Colca are among the deepest canyons in the world, both over 3,000 m. The Nazca lines, drawn on the coastal desert between about 500 BC and AD 500, cover some 450 km² and are only legible from the air or the surrounding hills.

The facts

Capital
Lima
Area
1,285,216 km² — 496,224 sq mi
Population
34,576,665 (2025)
Density
26.9 people per km²
Currency
Peruvian sol (PEN, S/.)
Official languages
Aymara, Quechua, Spanish
Time zone
UTC-05:00
Calling code
+51
Drives on the
right
ISO codes
PE · PER
Continent
South America

How it compares

By area
20 of 200
By population
48 of 200

Population is the only figure on this page that dates — it is a 2025 estimate and will drift. Area, capital, currency, languages, calling code and driving side change rarely or never.

Countries of a similar size

Country Area (km²) Population
Iran 1,648,195 92,417,681
Mongolia 1,564,116 3,568,978
Peru ← 1,285,216 34,576,665
Chad 1,284,000 21,003,705
Niger 1,267,000 27,917,831

Common questions

What is the capital of Peru?
Lima
What currency does Peru use?
The Peruvian sol (PEN).
How big is Peru?
1,285,216 km², or 496,224 square miles — 20 of 200 by area.
Which side of the road does Peru drive on?
The right.

Related pages

Sources

  1. The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (Public domain (US Government))
  2. World Bank Open Data — The World Bank (CC BY 4.0)

How these figures are compiled and checked