The process of domesticating plants was to lay the foundations for organized agriculture and the construction of villages and ceremonial sites. As the regional cultures gradually integrated, new techniques surfaced such as textile weaving, metallurgy and jewelsmithy, giving rise to advanced cultures.

 The Pre-Incas Cultures

 Over the course of 1.400 years, pre-Inca cultures settled along the Peruvian coast and highlands. The power and influence of some civilizations was to hold sway over large swaths of territory, which during their decline, gave way to minor regional centers. Many of them stood out for their ritual pottery, their ability to adapt and superb management of their natural resources; a vast knowledge from which later the Inca empire was to draw. 

Chavin

 The first Peruvian civilization settled in Huantar, Ancash in around 1.000 BC. The power of the civilization, based on a theocracy, was centered in the Chavin de Huantar temple, whose walls and galleries were filled with sculptures of ferocious deities with feline features

 Paracas

 The Paracas culture (700 BC) rose to power along the south coast, and was to craft superb skills in textile weaving

 Mochicas

 The north coast was dominated by the Mochica civilization (100 AD). The culture gathered together military authorities in the coastal valleys, such as the Lord of Sipan. The Moche pots which featured portraits, and their iconography in general were surprisingly detailed and showed great skill in design

 Tiahuanaco

 The highlands saw the rise of the Tiahuanaco culture (200 AD), based in the Collao region (which covered parts of modern-day Bolivia and Chile). The Tiahuanaco were to bequeath a legacy of agricultural terracing and the management of a variety of ecological zones

 Nazca

 The Nazca culture (300 AD) were able to tme the coastal desert by bringing water through underground aqueducts. They carved out vast geometric and animal figures on the desert floor, a series of symbols believed to form part of an agricultural calendar which even today baffles researchers.

 Wari

 The Wari culture (600 AD) introduced urban settlements in the Ayacucho area and expanded its influence across the Andes

 Chimu

 The refined Chimu culture (700 AD) crafted gold and other metals into relics and built the mud-brick citadel of Chan Chan, near the northern coastal city of Trujillo

 Chachapoyas

 The Chachapoyas culture (800 AD) made the best possible use of arable land and built their constructions on top of the highest mountains in the northern cloud forest. The vast Kuelap fortress is a fine example of how they adapted to their environment

 The Incas Empire

 The Inca empire (1.500 AD) was possibly the most organized civilization in South America. Their economic system, distribution of wealth, artistic manifestations and architecture impressed the first of the Spanish chroniclers

 The Incas worshipped the earth goddess Pachamama and the sun god, the Inti. The Inca sovereign, lord of the Tahuantinsuyo, the Inca empire, was held to be sacred and to be the descendant of the sun god. Thus, the legend of the origin of the Incas tells how the sun god sent his children Manco Capac and Mama Ocllo (and in another version the four Ayar brothers and their wives) to found Cuzco, the sacred city and capital of the Inca empire

 The rapid expansion of the Inca empire stemmed from their extraordinary organizational skills. Communities were grouped, both as families and territorially, around the ayllu, their corner of the empire, and even if villagers had to move away for work reasons, they did not lose their bond to the ayllu. The Inca moved around large populations, either as a reward or punishment, and thus consolidated the expansion while drawing heavily from the knowledge of the cultures that had flourished prior to the Incas. The Inca's clan was the panaca, made up of relatives and descendants, except for the one who was the Inca's successor, who would then form his own panaca. Sixteenth-century Spanish chroniclers recorded a dynasty of 13 rulers, running from the legendary Manco Capac down to the controversial Atahualpa, who was to suffer death at the hands of the spanish conquerors

 The Tahuantinsuyo expanded to cover part of what is modern-day Colombia to the north, Chile and Argentina to the south and all of Ecuador and Bolivia

 The members of the panaca clans were Inca nobles, headed by the Inca sovereign. The power of the clans and the Inca was tangible in every corner of the empire, but the might of the Incas reached its peak in the architecture of Cuzco: the Koricancha or Temple of the Sun, the fortresses of Ollantaytambo and Sacsayhuaman, and above all the citadel of Machu Picchu

 The Encounter of Two Worlds

 The encounter between the Inca culture and Hispanic culture got underway as a result of the spanish conquest in the early sixteenth century. In 1532, the troops of Francisco Pizarro captured Inca ruler Atahualpa in the northern highland city of Cajamarca. The indigenous population was to dwindle during the first few decades of Spanish rule, and the Vice-regency of Peru was created in 1542 after a battle between the conquerors themselves and the spanish Crown

 Spain's foothold in the New World was consolidated in the sixteenth century when Viceroy Francisco de Toledo laid down a set of rules whereby to run the colonial economy: the mita system used indigenous labor to operate the mines and produce arts and crafts. These activities, together with a monopoly over trade, formed the basis of the colonial economy. But the changeover in the dynasty and the Borbon reforms in the eighteenth century sparked dissent among many social sectors. The main indigenous uprising was led by Tupac Amaru II, which was to set rolling the Creole movement that led to independence of Hispanic America from the spanish crown in the early nineteenth century.

 Until the seventeenth century, the Peruvian vice-regency covered an area stretching from Panama down to Tierra del Fuego

 The missionary work of the Catholic priests blended with ancient Andean beliefs, forging a fusion of beliefs that still exists today. The spaniards also brought along african slaves, who together with spaniards and the indigenous population, form part of the social and racial fabric of Peru

 During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, Peruvian intellectual writings and colonial art contributed to spanish tradition

 The Birth of the Peruvian State

 Peru was declared an independent nation by Jose de San Martin in 1821, and in 1824 Simon Bolivar put an end to the War of Independence. However, despite efforts to organize the young Peruvian republic, in the nineteenth century the country had to face up to the cost of the struggle: a tough economic crisis and a tradition of military strongmen who gave civilians little chance to govern

 By 1860, thanks to income from guano, cotton and sugar, Peru was able to do without enforced labor imposed on the indigenous population and african slaves alike. Chinese and european immigrants swelled the workforce and integrated with Peru's society. The country was linked up by a railway network, and during the mandate of President Manuel Pardo, Peru organized its first civilian government. The first japanese immigrants were to arrive at the end of the nineteenth century

 But in 1879, the country found itself at war with Chile. Peru was defeated and left bankrupt. After another spell of military regimes, Peru returned to civilian rule, giving rise to a time called "the Aristocratic Republic". The economy was dominated by the land-owning elite, and an export-oriented model imposed. The success of the rubber boom lent fresh splendor to the myth of El Dorado

 The Twentieth Century

 The early part of the twentieth century was marked by a drawn-out civilian dictatorship headed by President Augusto B. Leguia. The project to modernize the country, creating works for a New Fatherland left the State heavily in debt and unable to deal with the 1929 crash. It was also a time of intellectual creativity, symbolized by the founder of the APRA party, Victor Raul Haya de la Torre and Jose Carlos Mariategui, the father of Socialist thinking in Peru and the center of intellectual and artistic thinking in Peru during his short life

 After the fall of Leguia, military regimes once again rose to the forefront, despite apparently having run their course with the presidencies of Prado in 1939 and Bustamante y Rivero in 1945; but in 1948 a new military government was formed by Manuel A. Odria. Over the next eight years, major public works were built amidst severe political repression.

 Peru, which has made major efforts to forge friendly relations with neighboring countries, has managed to overcome long-running border conflicts. Navigation conditions along the Amazon River led to agreements with Brazil, until in 1909 the frontier between the two nations was finally established. After lengthy debate, the border treaty with Colombia was approved by Congress in 1927, and Colombians were granted an access route to the Amazon River. In 1929, after border disputes with Chile resulting from armed conflict, the will to improve relations led both nations to sign a treaty whereby the city of Tacna was returned to Peru

 The border with Bolivia was marked by mutual accord in 1932. Finally, after several armed conflicts and diplomatic controversies with Ecuador, Peru in 1999 managed to get the 1942 Rio Protocol to prevail, closing the final chapter of the dispute over the territory within the Cordillera del Condor mountain range, shoring up Peru's relations with Ecuador

 In 1968, the armed forces staged a coup d'etat and overthrew then-President Fernando Belaunde. The first few years of the military regime stood out from other dictatorships in Latin America in that Peru's military had socialist sympathies. Led by General Juan Velasco, the military regime expanded the role of the State in a bid to solve the problems that had impoverished the country. Thus the State nationalized the oil industry, the media and carried out an agrarian reform. Velasco was replaced by General Francisco Morales-Bermudez, who bowed to public pressure and called for a Constituent Assembly

 Belaunde was re-elected in 1980, but the deep-lying poverty spurred the birth of two insurgencies which unleashed a wave of violence for over a decade. After the government of Alan Garcia (1985-1990), Alberto Fujimori was elected president in 1990, but shut down Congress in 1992 and decreed an emergency government. He was re-elected in 1995 and 2000, public discontent forced him to call fresh elections for 2001, for which purpose Valentin Paniagua was chosen to head a caretaker government

  GEOGRAFY

 The Coast

 The Peruvian coastline is formed by a long snaking desert hemmed in between the sea and the mountains. The Andes to the east and the cold Humboldt sea current that runs along the coast are what make this area so arid. From the Sechura desert to the Nazca plains and the Atacama desert, the dry coastal terrain is occasionally split by valleys covered by a thick layer of cloud and drizzle in the winter. The humidity in these areas produces a sensation of cold, although temperatures rarely dip below 12°C. During the summer, meanwhile, the sun beats down and temperatures often top 30°C.

 The central and southern sections of the coast feature two well-defined seasons: winter from April to October, and summer from November to March. The north coast, meanwhile, is not touched by the effects of the cold current, which means it enjoys 300 days of sunshine a year and warm temperatures all year-long (as much as 35°C in the summer). The rain season runs from November to March 

Highlands 

In the Peruvian highlands, there are two well-defined seasons: the dry season (from April to October), marked by sunny days, cold nights and the lack of rain (the ideal time for visiting); and the rainy season (November to March), when there are frequent rain showers (generally more than 1.000 mm).

A characteristic of the mountain region is the drop in temperature during the day: temperatures commonly range around 24°C at midday before plunging to -3°C at night. The steep relief of the Andes means temperatures gradually drop in the highest region, known as the puna, the highland plain.

The dry and pleasant climate in the highlands makes it possible to grow a wide variety of crops there.

Jungle

The vast Peruvian jungle, which surrounds the wide and winding Amazon river, is divided into two differentiated areas: the cloud forest (above 700 masl), which features a subtropical, balmy climate, with heavy rain showers (around 3.000 mm a year) between November and March, and sunny days from April to October; and the lowland jungle (below 700 masl), where the dry season runs from April to October and is ideal for tourism, with sunshine and high temperatures, often topping 35°C.

During this season, the river levels dip and roads are easy to drive. The rainy season, meanwhile, which runs from November to March, features frequent rain showers (at least once a day) which can damage roads in the area.

The jungle features high humidity all year long. In the southern jungle, there are sometimes cold spells known locally as friajes or surazos, cold fronts which drift up from the far south of the continent between May and August, where temperatures can drop to 8-12°C.