The Republic of Peru, with an area of 1.29 million square kilometers and Lima as its capital, is located in western South America and is bordered by Ecuador and Colombia to the north, Brazil and Bolivia to the east and Chile to the south.
The population of Peru, estimated at 28.22 million, is multiethnic, including Amerindians, Indian-Europeans, Europeans and others. The country's official language is Spanish.
Peru has rich mineral resources, with bismuth and vanadium deposits ranking first in the world, copper third and silver and zinc fourth respectively.
Oil and gas are also important natural resources in Peru, with proven reserves of oil amounting to some 400 million barrels and that of gas 7.1trillion cubic feet. The country boasts bountiful hydraulic and marine resources as well.
A traditionally agricultural and mining country, Peru enjoys a higher level of economic development among Latin American countries.
The country's agricultural products include cash and grain crops, with coffee, asparagus and cotton being its main exports while rice and potato its main grain crops. Peru is also a leading producer of fish meal and fish oil in the world.
The gross domestic product (GDP) of Peru hit 107 billion U.S. dollars in 2007, an increase of 8.3 percent over the previous year.
Peru, cradle of Inca civilization, boasts flourishing tourism. It received some 1.8 million overseas tourists in 2007, earning the country 1.7 billion U.S. dollars in foreign exchange.
Peru established diplomatic relations with China on Nov. 2, 1971. Since then, bilateral ties have developed smoothly with frequent exchanges of high-level visits, enhanced trade and economic cooperation and increased exchanges in the fields of culture, education, science and technology.
Bilateral trade reached 6 billion dollars in 2007, up 53 percent from the previous year.
Source: Xinhua
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