The City of Piura

Piura is a city in northwestern Peru. It is the capital of the Piura Region and the Piura Province. The population is 359,400.

It was here that Spanish Conqueror Francisco Pizarro founded the first Spanish city in Peru, San Miguel de Piura, in 1532. One of the most ancient colonial cities in Peru, its location was changed three times before it was established on its present location.

The cathedral of Piura was built in 1588. The altar is covered in gold leaf and has a painting of Ignacio Merino. Piura is also the birthplace of Miguel Grau, a hero in the War of the Pacific. His house is now a museum open to the public. The city is also well known for its artisans who weave straw hats and make silverware.

Two airlines serve Piura, with flights to Lima and Chiclayo: LAN Perú (http://www.lanperu.com) and Tans Perú (http://www.tansperu.com.pe)

The Region of Piura

Piura is a region in northwestern Peru. It is bordered by the Tumbes Region and Ecuador on the north, the Lambayeque Region on the south, the Cajamarca Region on the east and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is the city of Piura and its main port is located in Paita.

Geography

The territory of the Piura Region has a smooth topography in the coast and a rough one in the Sierra. There are many desertic plains in the region. The Sechura Desert, located south of the Piura River, is Peru's largest desert. The Bayóvar depression, which is the lowest point in the country, is located in this desert. The morphological forms most common in the coast are the dry ravines that suddenly become copious when there are heavy rains. Other features are half-moon shaped dunes, the marine terraces such as those of Máncora, Talara and Lobitos; fluvial terraces formed by the Chira and Piura Rivers.

To the east, the territory is rougher. Valleys more or less deep have been eroded by fluvial waters. The major peak surpasses 3000 m. The Paso de Porculla, to the southwest of the territory is only 2,138 meters deep and is the lowest of the Peruvian Andes.

The rivers crossing its territory belong to the Pacific watershed and to the Amazonas Hydrographic System. The Chira River is the most important and flows its waters into the Pacific Ocean. The Piura River, whose banks hold the city of the same name, only flows its waters into the sea during summer, which is the rainy season.

The climate is desertic and semi-desertic in the coast and western Andean watersheds, subtropical in the easthern watersheds. The rain is scarce, but when the El Niño phenomenon arises, the rain is copious and makes the dry ravines become alive giving rise to floodings and great morphological movements.

Punta Pariñas, the westernmost point in the South American mainland, is located in the Piura Region.

Piura is the land of carob trees. Its development has been favoured by the petroleum exploitation and for the fishing boom.

History

The most important culture that developed in the Piura region was Vicus, which stood out for its ceramics and delicate work in gold. The Tallanes or Yungas, however, were the first settlers, who migrated from the Sierra. During a period that is still vague, they lived in Behetrias, which were primitive settlements without a head or an organization.

Later on, they were conquered by the Mochicas, and centuries later, by the Incas during the rule of Tupac Inca Yupanqui.

In 1532, Francisco Pizarro founded the first Spanish city in South America, on the banks of the Chira River in the Tangarará Valley. He named it San Miguel de Piura. The founding date is still subject of controversy. However, during the 450th anniversary celebrations, July 15 was adopted as the official date.

In 1534, due to a lack of sanitary conditions, the capital was moved to Monte de los Padres (Morropón); in 1578, and for the same reason, it was moved again, this time to San Francisco de la Buena Esperanza (Paita). In 1588, the permanent attacks of the English pirates and corsairs forced a final relocation of the capital to Piura.

During Colonial times, life went by peacefully. Yet, the raids against the Spanish authorities led by Admirals Borran and Cochrane, members of the libertarian expedition of José de San Martín, woke the longing for liberty in the minds of the local people.

Political division

The region is divided into 8 provinces (Spanish: provincias, singular: provincia), which are composed of 64 districts (distritos, singular: distrito). The provinces are:

Ayabaca Huancabamba Morropón Paita Piura Sechura Sullana Talara

                                                                                                From Wikipedia

Peru Background:

Ancient Peru was the seat of several prominent Andean civilizations, most notably that of the Incas whose empire was captured by the Spanish conquistadors in 1533. Peruvian independence was declared in 1821, and remaining Spanish forces defeated in 1824. After a dozen years of military rule, Peru returned to democratic leadership in 1980, but experienced economic problems and the growth of a violent insurgency. President Alberto Fujimori's election in 1990 ushered in a decade that saw a dramatic turnaround in the economy and significant progress in curtailing guerrilla activity. Nevertheless, the president's increasing reliance on authoritarian measures and an economic slump in the late 1990s generated mounting dissatisfaction with his regime. Fujimori won reelection to a third term in the spring of 2000, but international pressure and corruption scandals led to his ouster by Congress in November of that year. A caretaker government oversaw new elections in the spring of 2001, which ushered in Alejandro Toledo as the new head of government; his presidency has been hampered by allegations of corruption. 

Location:   Western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Chile and Ecuador 

Population:    27,925,628 (July 2005 est.)  Median age: 24.95 years

Population below poverty line:   54% (2003 est.)  Between 1997 and 2001, the percentage of Peruvians living in poverty increased to 54.8 percent, while extreme poverty reached 24.4 percent of the population. Poverty is heavily concentrated in rural areas, where more than two-thirds of the population is poor. Over half of rural Peruvians are considered extremely poor, that is, living on less than $1 a day.

Life expectancy at birth:  69.53 years; Infant mortality rate: 31.94 deaths/1,000 live births

Religions:   Roman Catholic 90%, other 10% 

Ethnic groups:   Amerindian 45%, mestizo 37%, white 15%, black, Japanese, Chinese, and other 3% 

Languages:  Spanish (official), Quechua (official), Aymara, and a large number of minor Amazonian languages 

Climate:   varies from tropical in east to dry desert in west; temperate to frigid in Andes 

Terrain:   western coastal plain, high and rugged Andes in center, eastern lowland jungle of Amazon Basin

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

Natural hazards:   earthquakes, tsunamis, flooding, landslides, mild volcanic activity 

Independence:   28 July 1821 (from Spain)  Government type:   constitutional republic 

Administrative divisions:   24 departments and 1 constitutional province

Economy: After several years of inconsistent economic performance, the Peruvian economy grew by an average 4 percent per year during the period 2002-2004. Despite the strong macroeconomic performance, the Toledo administration remained unpopular in 2004, and unemployment and poverty have stayed persistently high.  Peruvian public administration continues to suffer from poor accountability, inadequate policy coordination, and the absence of a coherent public sector pay and employment system. As a result, organizational confusion, duplication of programs, and excessive centralization have hindered its performance

Illicit drugs:   until 1996 the world's largest coca leaf producer; emerging opium producer; cultivation of coca in Peru fell 15 percent to 31,150 hectares between 2002 and the end of 2003

Peru's Truth and Reconciliation Commission - A two-year investigation by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into the Peruvian civil war estimates that between 1980 and 2000, 69,000 people were killed and more than 6,000 'disappeared' during the guerrilla war between the government and left wing rebels which beset the country for two decades.  Forty per cent of deaths and 'disappearances' occurred in the poor south western department of Ayacucho.   The report recognizes both the Shining Path guerrillas and the State armed forces as being responsible for the killings. It criticizes the government for failing to respond to the human rights crisis and praises several church-based groups for their work protecting human rights.   Taken from the CIA World Factbook