Location: | Western South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Chile and Ecuador | | Geographic coordinates: | 10 00 S, 76 00 W | | Map references: | South America | | Area: | total: 1,285,220 sq km
water: 5,220 sq km
land: 1.28 million sq km | | Area - comparative: | slightly smaller than Alaska | | Land boundaries: | total: 5,536 km
border countries: Bolivia 900 km, Brazil 1,560 km, Chile 160 km, Colombia 1,496 km (est.), 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 | | Land use: | arable land: 2.89%
permanent crops: 0.4%
other: 96.71% (2001) | | Irrigated land: | 11,950 sq km (1998 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 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
Source: CIA World Factbook
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