Global - Technology - Review

Peru, on the West coast of South America, has a rich historical legacy, dating back to the earliest South American civilisations. Later came the Nazca and the Incas. Since independence Peru has had periods of political turmoil. In recent years there has been violence, drug trafficking and corruption. In the west is a narrow coastal plain, inland of which are mountains and highlands, containing active volcanoes. Most of the east is occupied by Amazonian rainforest. The cuisine and folk music blend Amerindian, Spanish and African elements. The native Andean quenya or bamboo pipe is familiar round the world, as is the charango, a guitar made with the shell of an armadillo. The capital, Lima, is a busy financial centre; however most visitors will swiftly bypass its avenue and freeways, its neoclassical public buildings and glass skyscrapers, to visit Peru’s best known sites like the Inca ‘Lost City’ of Machu Picchu, high in the Andes, and the enigmatic Nazca Lines, vast animal figures and shapes drawn in the desert, possibly connected with religious rituals. Cusco was the capital of the Incan Empire. The Huascaran National Park has Peru’s highest mountain and wildlife like cougar, jaguar, llama and tapir.