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| Location | Western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Chile and Ecuador | | | Geographic coordinates | 10 00 S, 76 00 W | | | Zone | South America | | | Area | total: 1,285,220 sq km
land: 1.28 million sq km
water: 5,220 sq km | | | Land boundaries | total: 7,461 km
border countries: Bolivia 1,075 km, Brazil 2,995 km, Chile 171 km, Colombia 1,800 km, Ecuador 1,420 km | | | Coastline | 2,414 km | | | Maritime claims | territorial sea: 200 nm
continental shelf: 200 nm | | | Climate | varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west; temperate to frigid in Andes | | | Terrain | western coastal plain (costa), high and rugged Andes in center (sierra), eastern lowland jungle of Amazon Basin (selva) | | | Elevation extremes | lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Nevado Huascaran 6,768 m | | | Natural resources | copper, silver, gold, petroleum, timber, fish, iron ore, coal, phosphate, potash, hydropower, natural gas | | | Irrigated land | 2,414 km | | | Natural hazards | earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, landslides, mild volcanic activity | | Environment -
current issues | deforestation (some the result of illegal logging); overgrazing of the slopes of the costa and sierra leading to soil erosion; desertification; air pollution in Lima; pollution of rivers and coastal waters from municipal and mining wastes | | Environment -
international agreements | party to: Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Antarctic-Marine Living Resources, Antarctic Treaty, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Marine Dumping, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements | | | Geography - note | shares control of Lago Titicaca, world's highest navigable lake, with Bolivia; a remote slope of Nevado Mismi, a 5,316 m peak, is the ultimate source of the Amazon River | |
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