Arequipa () is a department and

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...

in southwestern

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. It is the sixth largest department in Peru, after Puno, Cuzco, Madre de Dios, Ucayali, and Loreto, its sixth most populous department, and its eleventh least densely populated department. It is bordered by the departments of Ica, Ayacucho, Apurímac and

Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...

in the north, the Department of Puno in the east, the Department of Moquegua in the south, and the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

in the west. Its capital, also called

Arequipa Arequipa (; Aymara language, Aymara and ), also known by its nicknames of ''Ciudad Blanca'' (Spanish for "White City") and ''León del Sur'' (Spanish for "South's Lion"), is a city in Peru and the capital of the eponymous Arequipa (province), ...

, is Peru's second-largest city.

Geography

This department has a rough topography, which is characterised by heavy layers of volcanic

lava Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a Natural satellite, moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a Fissure vent, fractu ...

covering large areas of its inter- Andean sector. It has deep canyons such as the ones formed by the Ocoña and Majes rivers. Plateaus range in height from medium, such as La Joya, and high-altitude ones such the Arrieros Pampa and those located in the zones of Chivay, Huambo and Pichucolla. Volcanic cones, such as Misti, Chachani, Ampato, Mismi, Solimana and Coropuna, emerge above the plateaus and attract snowfall. In contrast with these heights, there are deep canyons, including Majes, Colca, Sihuas and Ocoña, where important aspects of the ecological evolution of this zone can be clearly observed. Along the coast, small plateaus and

dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat ...

s represent characteristics of the desert of Arequipa, such as the ones located in the Majes, Sihuas and La Joya plains. These are particularly beautiful and developed. From a hydrographic point of view, the rivers draining its territory belong mainly to the Pacific watershed. Some rivers belong to the

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

hydrographic system. Some of the region's main rivers are: Ocoña, Yauca, Camaná and Quilca. The starting point of the Amazon River is located in the Arequipa region. The Highest Mountains of Arequipa are: # Coropuna 6,425 mamsl, Ampato Range. # Ampato 6,288 mamsl, Ampato Range. # Solimana 6,093 mamsl, Ampato Range. # Chachani 6,057 mamsl, Volcanic Range. # Hualca Hualca 6,025 mamsl, Ampato Range. # Sabancaya 5,976 mamsl, Ampato Range. # Misti 5,822 mamsl, Volcanic Range. # Nocarane 5,784 mamsl, Volcanic Range. # Pichu Pichu 5,664 mamsl, Volcanic Range. # Chila 5,654 mamsl, Chila Range. # Casiri 5,647 mamsl, Chila Range. # Mismi 5,597 mamsl, Chila Range. # Minaspata 5,555 mamsl, Chila Range. # Quehuisha 5,514 mamsl, Chila Range. # Surihuiri 5,506 mamsl, Chila Range. # Tacune 5,500 mamsl, Volcanic Range. # Firura 5,498 mamsl, Ampato Range. # Yuraccasa 5,465 mamsl, Chila Range. # Jatunpila 5,450 mamsl, Chila Range. # Jatun Huaychahui 5,445 mamsl, Huanzo Range

Political division

The region is divided into eight

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

s (''provincias'', singular: ''provincia''), which are composed of 109

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

s (''distritos'', singular: ''distrito''). The provinces, with their capitals in parentheses, are: #

(

) # Camaná ( Camaná) # Caravelí ( Caravelí) # Castilla ( Aplao) # Caylloma ( Chivay) # Condesuyos ( Chuquibamba) #

Islay Islay ( ; , ) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll and Bute just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The island's cap ...

( Mollendo) # La Unión ( Cotahuasi)

Demographics

Languages

According to the 2007 Peru Census, the first language learned by most of the residents was Spanish (83.17%), followed by the native language of Quechua (14.78%). The Quechua variety spoken in Arequipa is Cusco–Collao Quechua. The following table shows the first languages by province in the Arequipa Region by province:inei.gob.pe
INEI, Peru, Censos Nacionales 2007

Ethnicity

As of 2017, the largest ethnicity in the Arequipa region are the

Mestizo ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to people who are culturall ...

, followed by the Quechua.

Religion

In 2017, over 80% of Arequipa's population was Catholic.

Literacy

In 2017, 91.5% (1,274,358) of the population was literate and 8.5% (118,691) of the population was illiterate.

Points of interest

There are numerous points of interest in the Arequipa region. The three coastal provinces, Caraveli, Camana and Islay all have popular beaches. Various ports can also be found along the coastline, the two most important being Mollendo and Matarani, both in the province of Islay. The Colca Canyon, twice as deep as the

Grand Canyon The Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in Arizona, United States. The Grand Canyon is long, up to wide and attains a depth of over a mile (). The canyon and adjacent rim are contained within Grand Canyon Nati ...

in the United States, is situated in the province of Caylloma. The Cotahuasi Canyon is in the La Union Province. Colca Valley provides incredible close-up views of majestic Andean

condor Condor is the common name for two species of New World vultures, each in a monotypic genus. The name derives from the Quechua language, Quechua ''kuntur''. They are the largest flying land birds in the Western Hemisphere. One species, the And ...

s soaring in their natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

. Cotahuasi, at , is thought to be the deepest canyon in the world. Both canyons offer spectacular scenery and villages as yet unaffected by the modern world. In the Castilla Province near Corire, Toro Muerto (meaning "dead bull" in Spanish) is an area with more than 3,000 ancient

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s dating to the ancient

Wari culture The Wari () were a Pre-Inca cultures, Middle Horizon civilization that flourished in the south-central Andes and coastal area of modern-day Peru, from about 500 to 1000 AD. Wari ruins, Wari, as the former capital city was called, is located no ...

of 500–1000 CE, which dominated much of this region. Further to the north near Andaguas lies the Valley of Volcanoes. Almost 100 cones of various sizes dominate the lava-hardened landscape.

Sources

External links

Arequipa region official website (in Spanish)

Arequipa Today
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