Slightly smaller than Alaska, Peru has nearly 30 million people heavily clustered in very large metropolitan areas along the coast such as the capital, Lima. The interior of the country is wild and often undeveloped, including some of South America’s finest Amazon jungle and its most beautiful Andes highlands.

Famous for its Inca ruins of Machu-Picchu, Peru was the ancient home of several of South America’s earliest and most powerful civilizations, and fascinating ruins exist throughout the country. The Incas were displaced by the Spanish conquistadors in the 1530s, and independence from Spain didn’t occur until 1821, followed by a bloody revolution that lasted three years.

The country has a vibrant democracy following difficult years in the 1990s. Rich in some natural resources, the developing economy still uses more oil and natural gas than it can produce.