list being arranged to show the coast, sierra and montaña divisions:—
| Departments. | Area sq. m. |
Estimated pop., 1906 |
Capital. | Estimated pop., 1906 |
| Coast:— | ||||
| Piura | 14,849 | 154,080 | Piura | 9,100 |
| Lambayeque | 4,615 | 93,070 | Chiclayo | 10,000 |
| Libertad | 10,209 | 188,200 | Trujillo | 6,500 |
| Ancachs | 16,567 | 317,050 | Huaraz | 13,000 |
| Lima | 13,314 | 250,000 | Lima (1903) | 140,000 |
| Ica (or Yca) | 8,721 | 68,220 | Ica | 6,000 |
| Arequipa | 21,953 | 171,750 | Arequipa | 28,000 |
| Sierra.— | ||||
| Cajamarca | 12,542 | 333,310 | Cajamarca | 9,000 |
| Huanuco | 14,028 | 108,980 | Huanuco | 6,000 |
| Junin | 23,354 | 305,700 | Cerro de Pasco | 10,000 |
| Huancavelica | 9,254 | 167,840 | Huancavelica | 6,000 |
| Ayacucho | 18,190 | 226,850 | Ayacucho | 15,000 |
| Apurlmac | 8,189 | 133,000 | Abancay | 2,400 |
| Cuzco | 156,317 | 328,980 | Cuzco | 23,000 |
| Puno | 41,211 | 403,000 | Puno | 4,500 |
| Montaña.— | ||||
| Amazonas | 13,947 | 53,000 | Chachapoyas | 4,500 |
| Loreto | 238,493 | 120,000 | Iquitos | 6,000 |
| San Martin | 30,745 | 33,000 | Moyobamba | 7,500 |
| Littoral Provinces.— | ||||
| Tumbez | 1,981 | 8,000 | Tumbez | 2,300 |
| Callao | 1412 | 33,879 | Callao (1905) | 31,128 |
| Moquegua | 5,55012 | 31,920 | Moquegua | 5,000 |
Apart from the departmental capitals there are few towns of size and importance. The so-called coast towns are commonly at some distance from the seashore, and their shipping ports are little more than a straggling collection of wretched habitations in the vicinity of the landing-stage and its offices and warehouses. Callao (q.v.) is a noteworthy exception, and Paita and Pisco are something more than the average coast village. Near Lima, on the south, there are three bathing resorts, Chorrillos, Miraflores and Barranco, which have handsome residences and large populations in the bathing season. North of Lima is the port and bathing resort of Ancon, in an extremely arid locality but having a fine beach, a healthy climate and a considerable population in the season. The towns of the coast region are usually built on the same general plan, the streets crossing each other at right angles and enclosing squares, or quadras. In the sierra there is the same regular plan wherever the site is level enough. High-pitched red tiled roofs take the place of the flat roofs of the coast. The upper storey often recedes, leaving wide corridors under the overhanging eaves, and in the “plazas” there are frequently covered arcades. In addition to the capitals of the departments, Tarma (about 4000) and Xauxa, or Jauja (about 3000), are important towns of this region. In the montaña there are no towns of importance other than the capitals of the departments and the small river ports.
Communications.—The problem of easy and cheap transportation between the coast and the interior has been a vital one for Peru, for upon it depends the economic development of some of the richest parts of the republic. The arid character of the coastal zone, with an average width of about 80 m., permits cultivation of the soil only where water for irrigation is available. Only in the sierra and montaña regions is it possible to maintain a large population and develop the industries upon which their success as a nation depends. During colonial times and down to the middle of the 19th century pack animals were the only means of transportation across the desert and over the rough mountain trails. Railway construction in Peru began in 1848 with a short line from Callao to Lima, but the building of railway lines across the desert to the inland towns of the fertile river valleys and the Andean foot-hills did not begin until twenty years later. These roads added much to the productive resources of the country, but their extension to the sierra districts was still a vital necessity. Under the administration (1868–1872) of President José Balta the construction of two transandean and several coastal zone railways was begun, but their completion became impossible for want of funds. Balta’s plans covered 1281 m. of state railways and 749 m. of private lines, the estimated cost to be about £37,500,000—a sum far beyond the resources of the republic. The two transandean lines were the famous Oroya railway, running from Callao to Oroya (1893), which crosses the Western Cordillera at an elevation of 15,645 ft., and later on to Cerro de Pasco (1904), the Goillarisquisga coal mines (1904) and Hauri (1906); and the southern line from Mollendo to Lake Titicaca, which reached Arequipa in 1869, Puno in 1871 and Checcacupe (Cuzco branch) in 1906. Surveys were completed in 1909 for an extension of the Oroya line from a point on its Cerro de Pasco branch eastward to the Ucayali, and another transandean line frequently discussed is projected from Paita across the Andes to Puerto Limon, on the Marañon—a distance of 410 m.
The most important means of communication in the republic is that of its river system, comprising, as it does, the navigable channels of the Marañon, or upper Amazon, and its tributaries. It is officially estimated that this system comprises no less than 20,000 m. of connected riverways navigable at high water for all descriptions of boats, or 10,000 m. for steamers of 20 to 2 ft. draught, which is reduced to 5800 m. at low water. The rivers forming this system are the Marañon from Puerto Limon to Tabatinga on the Brazilian frontier (484 m.), the Japurá, Putumayo, Javary, Napo, Tigre, Huallaga, Ucayali, Pachitea, Juruá, Purús, Acre, Curaray and Aguarico all navigable over parts of their courses for steamers of 4 to 8 ft. draught in periods of high water. As for the Marañon, it is claimed that steamers of 20 ft. draught can ascend to Puerto Limon at all seasons of the year. The inclusion of the upper waters of the Brazilian rivers jurua, Purus and Acre is pro forma only, as they are wholly under Brazilian jurisdiction. Practically the whole of the region through which these rivers run—the montaña of Peru—is undeveloped, and is inhabited by Indians, with a few settlements of whites on the river courses. Its chief port is Iquitos, on the Marañon, 335 m. above the Brazilian frontier and 2653 m. from the mouth of the Amazon. It is visited by ocean-going steamers, and is the centre of the Peruvian river transportation system. The second port in importance is Yurimaguas, on the Huallaga, 143 m. from the mouth of that river and 528 m. from Iquitos, with which it is in regular communication. There are small ports, or trading posts, on all the large rivers, and occasional steamers are sent to them with supplies and to bring away rubber and other forest products. Of the rivers farther south, which discharge into the Amazon through the Madeira, the Madre de Dios alone offers an extended navigable channel, together with some of its larger tributaries, such as the Heath and Chandless. Of a widely different character is the navigation of Lake Titicaca, where steamers ply regularly between Puno and Guaqui, the latter on the south-east shore in railway connexion with La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. This is one of the most remarkable steamer routes in the world, being 12,370 ft. above sea-level The lake is 165 m. long and from 70 to 80 m. wide and has a number of small Indian villages on its shores.
There are two submarine cable lines on the Peruvian coast—the (American) Central and South American Co. extending from Panama to Valparaiso, and the (British) West Coast Cable Co., subsidiary to the Eastern Telegraph Co., with a cable between Callao and Valparaiso. The inland telegraph service dates from 1864, when a short line from Callao to Lima was constructed, and state ownership from 1875, when the government assumed control of all lines within the republic, some of which were subsequently handed over to private administration. They connect all the important cities, towns and ports, but cover only a small part of the republic. The cost of erecting and maintaining telegraph lines in the sierra and montaña regions is too great to permit their extensive use, and the government is seeking to substitute wireless telegraphy. From Puerto Bermudez, on the Pachitea or Pichis river, the terminus of a government road and telegraph line, a wireless system connects with Massisea on the Ucayali and thence with Iquitos, on the Marañon—a distance of 930 m. by steamer, which is much shortened by direct communication between the three radiographic stations. This service was opened to Iquitos on the 8th of July 1908, the first section between Puerto Bermudez and Massisea having been pronounced a success. The Peruvian telegraph system connects with those of Ecuador and Bolivia. The use of the telephone is general, 5236 m. being in operation in 1906. The postal service is unavoidably limited and defective, owing to the rugged character of the country, its sparse population, and the large percentage of illiterates. On the coast, however, in and near the large cities and towns, it compares well with other South American countries. Peru belongs to the international postal union, and had in 1906 a money order and parcels exchange with seven foreign states. A noteworthy peculiarity in the foreign mail service is that an extra charge of 2 cents for each letter and 1 cent for each post-card is collected when they are sent across the isthmus of Panama. No charge is made for the transmission of newspapers within the republic. The letter rate is 5 cents silver for 15 grams, or 10 cents to foreign countries in the postal union.
Commerce.—Owing to political disorder, difficulty in land communications, and the inheritance of vicious fiscal methods from Spanish colonial administration, the commercial development of Peru has been slow and erratic. There are many ports on the coast, but only eight of them are rated as first class, viz. Paita, Eten, Pacasmayo, Salaverry, Callao, Pisco, Mollendo and Ilo, five of which are ports of call for foreign coasting steamers. The inland port of Iquitos, on the Marañon, is also rated as first class, and enjoys special privileges because of its distance from the national
