English
The population of Peru is 30,444,999 which is the 0.45% of the world population. The population grows at 1% per year. Out of the total population 77.3% is urban population with people moving to urban centres at the rate of 1.55% each year. The population statistics for two main urban centres is: LIMA (capital city) 9.13 million and Arequipa 804,000. The population is multi-ethnic and currently comprises of the following ethnic groups Amerindian 45%, mestizo (mixed Amerindian and white) 37%, white 15%, black, Japanese, Chinese, and other 3% (Peru Population Comparison). The population has been shaped by several historic events. The original Amerindian population was drastically affected by the arrival of colonists from Spain in the year 1520 and reduced from an estimated 9 million in the 1520s to around 600,000 a century later. The devastation was brought down by a combination of smallpox, to which Amerindians were not naturally immune, war and the economic pandamonium that followed the downfall of the Inca Empire (WPR). Then there were waves of European settlers which included mainly Spanish and Italian settlers, and British, German and Croatian settlers to a lesser extent. Keeping to the ethnic composition, the languages spoken are Spanish (official) 84.1%, Quechua (official) 13%, Aymara (official) 1.7%, Ashaninka 0.3%, other native languages (includes a large number of minor Amazonian languages) 0.7%, other 0.2%.
Social structure is largely rooted in a huge working age population with 93% literacy rate. The education plays an important role in teaching the youth about the Peruvian national identity. The Government has built a good infrastructure for education, but has not been able to maintain it. The crime rates are also high, especially in urban centers like Lima, where carjacking, assault and express kidnappings (where the motive is to get the kidnapped to withdraw and handover the cash from an ATM) targeted towards American visitors are common.
Works Cited
"Peru Population Comparison." Peru Population. Demographic Data, Ethnic Groups Population and Demographics from Peru. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.
"WPR." Peru Population 2016. Web. 17 Apr. 2016.
