PERU+-+Geography

Geography of Peru
Peru has many different variations to its geography. Its land differs in size and also elevation. There are many differences in its temperatures; it can be 90 degree to -2 degrees at any time of the year. Natural Resources can be gold to just trees that you find any day. Its area is large compared to most of the United States.

Peru's land area is about 15,720,000 square miles. The coast is 33,796 miles. It is bordered by the Pacific Ocean. This country has 7,308 square miles of water mostly because of all the rivers. Five countries border Peru. They are Chile, Bolivia, Brazil, Columbia, and Ecuador. This all together makes up 7,742 miles. If Peru and Alaska were to be compared Peru would be just slightly smaller.

The eastern portion of Peru is very tropical, humid, and there's lots of rain. Near the western part of Peru there is dry deserts were its very hot and there's not much rain. Temperature in the Andes becomes very frigid. At the top it could be -2 degrees and at the bottom it could be over 60 degrees. November to April it is a temperature of 75 degrees fahrenheit near the bottom. Altitude affects the temperature greatly almost anywhere in Peru. Near the coast from May to October it is 61 degrees more than half the time of the year.

The Andes are a very vast mountain range with not much rain they run through all of Peru. In the Coastal region there are many Sand Dunes. Plateaus can be found in the Sierra but there are few sows. In the Coastal Zone there are many hills and lots of vegetation. There are not many volcanoes but the ones that there is are in the Andes.

There are many of minerals in Peru. Such as copper, silver, and also iron ore they are mostly found in the Andes. These are resources that most people are familiar with. They are timber, fish, coal, cotton, sugar, and coffee. Most people are not use to these resources. They are petroleum, phosphate, potash, hydropower, and natural gas. There are a lot of trees and also living organisms. There are many rivers so there is plentiful water here. Although people think that Peru's geography isn't very diverse this proves that they might just be wrong. (map of Peru)

The Andes
The Andes are in some spots are unusually high. Its climate is very frigid and there are many animals. Most people might not know it, but they have many different landforms.

The Andes are made up in some parts by volcanoes. Its volcanic soil can get up to 30 feet deep. In other places there are snow-capped peaks that can reach 22,204 feet. The Andes can as low as 20 stories high in some parts. In Peru the Andes have over 600 glaciers they can get hundreds of feet high. (snow-capped peaks of Andes) Different elevation changes affect the temperature greatly. There are different regions. One of them is the hot region or the tierra caliente. Another one of these regions is the cold treeless zone located in the Alpine zone or the glacial. Near the bottom its 75 degrees most all places.

The Andes have abundant animals but bigger species are very scarce in most areas. There are a lot of birds these are some ducks, geese, grebes, teals, coots, comorants, and flamingo. The hills here are very grassy and full of life and vegetation. The difference in elevation does affect plant life and even crops dramatically. There are also a lot of coco plants that can be used to make the illegal drug cocaine.

The Andes natural resources can be found throughout this region. Compared to the abundant animal population, there is a low human population because of the very rugged terrain. Many minerals can be found In the Andes including gold, copper, silver, quicksilver, tin, lead, and platinum. Also in this region there is an abundant supply of copper. There are many rivers that flow through the Andes giving it much water. In some places there is very few rainfall only .5 inches a month. Some people might think that the Andes are just like any other mountain range but it has its unique features.

(copper mine)