Geography of Peru

From Free net encyclopedia

Template:Country geography Image:Peru rel1991.gif Image:Peru pol91.jpg Image:Peru econ 1970.jpg Image:Peru veg 1970.jpg

Geographic coordinates: Template:Coor dm

Area:
land: 1.28 million km²
water: 5,220 km²

Maritime claims:
continental shelf: 200 nautical miles (370 km)
territorial sea: 200 nautical miles (370 km)

1 Climate
2 Amazon region
3 Andean Mountain Ranges
4 Coast
5 External links

Climate

The combination of tropical latitude, various mountain ranges, topography variations and two ocean currents (Humboldt and El Niño) gives Peru a large diversity of climates that locates it as the country with most type of climates, 28 of possible 32.

[edit]

Amazon region

To the east of the country we have the Amazon Basin, home to the origin and beginning of the Amazon River and to more than 59 percent of Peruvian territory. The region which extends from north to south is one of the biodiverse life zones in the world, home to a tropical jungle climate: warm and rainy conditions year round.

Temperatures vary from 19 to 24°C during the night and around 27 to 35°C during the day on average. On occasions the temperature can rise over the 42°C mark.

Rainfall varies from 2000 to 4000 mm per year.

The eastern slopes of the Andes where the High Amazon is located, are among the wettest places on earth. Annual rainfall ranges from 3,000 to 15,000 mm and the temperatures from 14 to 20 °C during the night and 24 to 32 °C during the day. Great example of this ecorregion is Amazonas Region, San Martin Region, Huanuco city, Tambopata in Cusco and Madre de Dios.

On the southern Amazon near the frontier with Bolivia there are also variations of climate from tropical Amazon to an ecoregion of Savanna palm trees.

[edit]

Andean Mountain Ranges

The Andes shelter the largest variety of climates in the country. The climate is semi-arid in the valleys and moist in higher elevations and towards the eastern flanks. Rainfall varies from 200 to 1500 mm per year. The rainy season starts in October and ends in April. The rainiest months are January through March where travel can be sometimes affected.

The western slopes are arid to semi-arid and receive rainfall only between January and March. Below the 2500 m mark, the temperatures vary between 5 and 15 °C in the night versus 18 to 25 °C in the day.

Between 2500 and 3500 meters the temperatures vary from 0 to 12 °C in the night and from 15 to 25 °C during the day. At higher elevations from 3500 to 4500 meters, the Puna ecoregion, the temperature varies from −10 to 8 °C during the night versus 15 °C during the day.

The northernmost regions of the Andes around Cajamarca and Piura regions have Paramo climates.

[edit]

Coast

The central and southern coastal regions have a special subtropical desert climate. Even though the region is located at tropical latitudes the Humboldt Current is 7 to 8 degrees Celsius colder than normal tropical seas at 14 to 19 °C. This fact affects the coastal terrain preventing high tropical temperatures from appearing, and since the Andes mountains tend to be closer to the coast it also prevents Amazon clouds to appear, creating a shade effect with few annual rainfalls until you reach the northern coast.

Rainfall averages 5 mm/yr near the Chilean border to 200 mm/yr in the northern coast and near the Andes.

The central coast (La Libertad, Ancash and Lima regions) have a spring-like climate pretty much for most of the year. Foggy and sunny days intermingle around the humid sand dunes most of the year.

Most summers (January-April) have pleasant temperatures from 19 to 22 °C during the nights to about 29 to 30 °C during daytime. Winters (June-October) are very humid, and range from 14 to 15 °C during the nights to around the 17 to 18 °C mark during the day.

The spring and autumn months have a pleasant climate that ranges from 24 °C during the day to around 17 °C during the night. As you go inland, away from the coast and on to the yunga valleys the climate is drier and warmer during all seasons: around 3 degrees Celsius warmer in any given month.

Strangely enough, it also gets warmer if you go north of Lima into La Libertad or Ancash or south of Lima (Pisco, Chincha), at least during the day. The reason is probably since Lima is located where the Humboldt current prevails, yet there are tropical sun rays above the clouds that create fog and since there is no passage of hot clouds from the Amazon to the coast, the climate is cooler that similar tropical latitudes. This created a lot of humidity and fog in winter times.

The southern coast (Ica, Arequipa, Moquega and Tacna departments) have a drier and warmer climate during the day-time for all months except for winters. There are larger sand dunes and more impressive deserts since the climate is drier and hotter. The temperatures can go as high as 36 °C in the Nazca and Ica regions inland, yet can fall to 8 or 9 °C during the winter months. During the daytime temperatures rarely go below the 22 or 23 °C for all months. This determines that the southern coast has a semi-Mediterranean desert like climate yet it is has small variations between night and day as in all tropical latitudes. Clear skies are for the most part attractive near the coastal cliffs, home to a variety of fish and marine mammals.

The northern coast (Lambayeque, Piura and Tumbes regions) have a warmer and different climate from the rest of the coast. Right between the 3 hour drive on the Sechura desert, which is located north of the Lambayeque Region and south of the Piura Region, is the climate change from subtropical deserts to visible tropicalization effects.

The tropical dry forests begin to appear, savanna climates and mangrove forests. This region is typically an area that is affected by El Niño Phenomenon and the climate change in the three hour trajectory is 6 °C or more hotter than to the south.

The warm Niño Current (22 to 27 °C) hits these regions during the summer months December-April creating high temperatures and days of rainfall.

From this point on the coast warm temperatures are most common, and there are no true winters. Average temperatures range between 24.5 and 27 °C for most cities. Clear skies, beautiful warm valleys, eroded terrains with reddish colored sands, rice fields, palm trees, savannas, bushy forests, dense rivers, beautiful warm turquoise beaches, yellowish orange sands and a sun that hits like the African plateau even on the shade is the common scenery.

Summer (December through March) is more humid and very hot, with average temperatures that vary from 25 °C during the night to around 34 °C during the day, althogh north of Lambayeque it can reach the 40 °C. Winters (June-September) are cooler during the nights; around 16 °C during the night, to around 27 °C during the daytime.

There are protected areas in Tumbes and Piura filled with tropical canelo forests and tropical dry forests such as Caza de Coto and Cerros de Amotape, both extending into southern Ecuador. The areas of eastern-Lambayeque also have tropical dry forests which are found in the Chaparri and Chongoyape provinces. These forests have the particularity of connecting to the Amazon basin through the Marañon passage (an area where there are also tropical dry forests).

Mangrove forests are located in four specific areas from Sechura to Tumbes. It is directly off the shores of the Sechura Region where the cold Humboldt current and warm el Niño current meet, at about 5° to 6° south of the equator.

In these regions there are also small mangroves at the ending strips of the Piura River in the Sechura province of Vice (the southernmost mangroves in the Pacific Ocean). To the north the ending strips of the Chira River, Tumbes River, and Zarumilla River also have mangrove forests that flow into the ocean.

Terrain: western coastal plain (costa), high and rugged Andes in center (sierra), eastern lowland jungle of Amazon Basin (selva).

Natural resources: copper, silver, gold, petroleum, timber, fish, iron ore, coal, phosphate, potash, hydropower.

Land use:
arable land: 3%
permanent crops: 0%
permanent pastures: 21%
forests and woodland: 66%
other: 10% (1993 est.)

Irrigated land: 12,800 km² (1993 est.)

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 coast 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 Treaty, Antarctic-Environmental Protocol, Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands, Whaling
signed, but not ratified: Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol