Education
The literacy rate in Peru has increased substantially as a result of greater emphasis on education. According to estimates, the adult literate population rose from 42 percent in 1940 to about 85 percent in the mid-1980s. Public basic education in Peru is free and compulsory for all children between the ages of 6 and 15. Many children in rural areas do not attend secondary school, however, because of a lack of facilities. In the late 1980s some 3.7 million pupils attended elementary schools, and about 1.7 million students were enrolled in secondary and vocational schools.
Peru has more than 45 institutions of higher education, including the National University of San Marcos, in Lima (1551); the National University of Central Peru (1962), in Huancayo; the National University of San Agustín (1828), in Arequipa; the National University of San Antonio Abad (1962), in Cuzco; and the National University of La Libertad (1824), in Trujillo. The National Conservatory of Music (1908) is in Lima. Some 576,800 students attended institutions of higher education in the late 1980s.
Economy
Peru's gross domestic product (GDP) in the late 1980s was $19.6 billion, or about $920 per capita. Although the economy remains primarily agricultural, the mining and fishing industries have become increasingly important. Peru relies primarily on the export of raw materials—chiefly minerals, farm products, and fish meal—to earn foreign exchange for importing machinery and manufactured goods. During the late 1980s, guerrilla violence, rampant inflation, chronic budget deficits, and drought combined to drive the country to the brink of fiscal insolvency. However, in 1990 the government imposed an austerity program that removed price controls and ended subsidies on many basic items and allowed the inti, the national currency, to float against the United States dollar.
Climate
The climate of Peru varies widely, ranging from tropical in the montaña to arctic in the highest mountains of the Andes.>
In the coastal plain the temperature is normally equable, averaging about 20° C (about 68° F) throughout the year. The coastal climate is moderated by winds blowing from the cool offshore current known as the Peru, or Humboldt, Current. The coast receives less than 51 mm (less than 2 in) of precipitation each year, largely because the cordilleras receive most of the rain carried by the trade winds from the east. Mist-laden clouds known as garúa shroud many of the slopes of the sierra from June to October, providing enough moisture to support grasslands.>
In the sierra the temperature ranges seasonally from about -7° to 21° C (about 20° to 70° F). Rainfall is usually scanty, but in some localities heavy rains fall from October to April. In Cuzco, in the southeastern sierra, annual rainfall averages some 815 mm (some 32 in).>
The montaña region is extremely hot and humid, although at higher altitudes it is less so. The prevailing easterlies blowing across that region gather moisture that is later deposited on the eastern Andean slopes. Annual rainfall in some districts averages as much as 3810 mm (as much as 150 in). Most of this rain, which principally falls from November through April, eventually drains back to the montaña.
List of Universities in PERU
North America
North America
GRE
