---
title: "Peru — capital, area, population and currency"
description: "Peru: capital Lima, area 1,285,216 km², population 34,576,665 (2025), currency Peruvian sol. Languages, time zones and calling code."
url: https://atoneplace.net/country/peru/
site: "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

- [Iran](https://atoneplace.net/country/iran/)
- [Mongolia](https://atoneplace.net/country/mongolia/)
- [Chad](https://atoneplace.net/country/chad/)
- [Niger](https://atoneplace.net/country/niger/)
- [Brazil](https://atoneplace.net/country/brazil/)
- [Colombia](https://atoneplace.net/country/colombia/)
- [Argentina](https://atoneplace.net/country/argentina/)
- [Venezuela](https://atoneplace.net/country/venezuela/)
- [Chile](https://atoneplace.net/country/chile/)
- [Ecuador](https://atoneplace.net/country/ecuador/)
- [Bolivia](https://atoneplace.net/country/bolivia/)
- [Paraguay](https://atoneplace.net/country/paraguay/)

## Sources

- The World Factbook — Central Intelligence Agency (https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/) [Public domain (US Government)]
- World Bank Open Data — The World Bank (https://data.worldbank.org/) [CC BY 4.0]