Puno ( Aymara and ) is a city in southeastern

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 ...

, located on the shore of

Lake Titicaca Lake Titicaca (; ; ) is a large freshwater lake in the Andes mountains on the border of Bolivia and Peru. It is often called the highest navigable lake in the world. Titicaca is the largest lake in South America, both in terms of the volume of ...

. It is the capital city of the

Puno Region Puno () is a department and region in southeastern Peru. It is the fifth largest department in Peru, after Cuzco, Madre de Dios, Ucayali, and Loreto. It is bordered by Bolivia on the east, the departments of Madre de Dios on the north, Cusc ...

and the Puno Province with a population of approximately 140,839 (2015 estimate). The city was established in 1668 by viceroy Pedro Antonio Fernández de Castro as capital of the province of Paucarcolla with the name San Juan Bautista de Puno. The name was later changed to San Carlos de Puno, in honor of king

Charles II of Spain Charles II (6 November 1661 – 1 November 1700) was King of Spain from 1665 to 1700. The last monarch from the House of Habsburg, which had ruled Spain since 1516, he died without an heir, leading to a European Great Power conflict over the succ ...

. Puno has several churches dating back from the colonial period; they were built to service the Spanish population and evangelize the

Quechua people Quechua people (, ; ) , Quichua people or Kichwa people may refer to any of the Indigenous peoples of South America who speak the Quechua languages, which originated among the Indigenous people of Peru. Although most Quechua speakers are nativ ...

Overview

Puno is an important agricultural and livestock region; important livestock are

llama The llama (; or ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a List of meat animals, meat and pack animal by Inca empire, Andean cultures since the pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with ...

s and

alpaca The alpaca (''Lama pacos'') is a species of South American camelid mammal. Traditionally, alpacas were kept in herds that grazed on the level heights of the Andes of Southern Peru, Western Bolivia, Ecuador, and Northern Chile. More recentl ...

s, which graze on its immense

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; : plateaus or plateaux), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. ...

s and

plain In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and ...

s. Much of the city economy relies on the black market, fueled by cheap goods smuggled in from

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. Puno is served by the Inca Manco Capac International Airport in nearby

Juliaca Juliaca (; Quechua language, Quechua and ) is the capital of San Román Province in the Puno Region of southeastern Peru. It is the region's largest city with a population of 276,110 inhabitants (2017 Peru Census, 2017). On the Altiplano, Juliaca ...

. Puno is situated between the shores of

and the mountains surrounding the city. There is less than two miles of flat land between the shores and the foothills, which has caused the growing city to continue to expand upwards onto the hillsides. As a result, the town's less developed and poorest areas, which are high on the hillsides, often have very steep streets, which are generally unpaved and cannot be accessed by automobile. Up one of these streets is the Kuntur Wasi viewpoint, which has a large metal sculpture of a

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 ...

. There are some 700 steps to climb to reach the sculpture. During the celebrations of the Feast of the "''Virgen de la Candelaria''" and the Regional Competition of Autochthonous Dances. Puno's access to Lake Titicaca is surrounded by 41 floating islands. To this day, the

Uros The Uru or Uros () are an indigenous people of Bolivia and Peru. They live on a still-growing group of about 120 self-fashioned floating islands in Lake Titicaca near Puno. They form three main groups: the Uru-Chipaya, Uru-Murato, and Uru ...

people maintain and live on these man-made islands, depending on the lake for their survival, and are a large tourist destination.

Dragon boat A dragon boat is a human-powered watercraft originating from the Pearl River Delta region of China's southern Guangdong Province. These were made of teak, but in other parts of China different kinds of wood are used. It is one of a family of t ...

racing, an old tradition in Puno, is a very popular activity amongst tourists. Puno is the first major hub in the constant migration of indigenous peoples of the Andes to the larger cities of Peru. It is the largest city in the Southern Altiplano and is the recipient of new residents from surrounding smaller agricultural communities of people seeking better opportunities for education and employment. As such, Puno is served by several small institutes of technology, education and other technical or junior college-type facilities. Additionally it is home to the '' Universidad Nacional del Altiplano de Puno'' (UNAP), which was founded in 1856.

Climate

Puno features a

subtropical highland climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring c ...

(''Cwb'', according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

). As Puno is located at such a high elevation, it experiences more

extreme weather Extreme weather includes unexpected, unusual, severe weather, severe, or unseasonal weather; weather at the extremes of the historical distribution—the range that has been seen in the past. Extreme events are based on a location's recorded weat ...

conditions than would be expected for its tropical latitude. The average annual temperature is about , and the weather never gets overly warm. During the winter months from June to August, night-time temperatures usually drop below . At this high altitude, the rays of the sun are very strong. Most of the annual precipitation falls during the southern hemisphere summer, with the winter months being very dry. Puno banner

Folklore

Music and dance are typical parts of the Puno folklore. The most important dances are the ''Wifala de Asillo'', the Ichu Carnival, the Tuntuna, the ''Khashua de Capachica'', the ''Machu-tusuj'', the ''Kcajelo'', and the ''Pandilla Puneña''.

Gallery

File:Puno-PERU.jpg, Plaza de Armas. File:Lago Titicaca, Puno, Perú, 2015-08-01, DD 13.JPG,

as seen from the shore. File:Amanecer en el lago Titicaca, Puno, Perú, 2015-08-01, DD 02.JPG, Sunrise in the Titicaca lake. File:Puno cityscape.jpg, Puno and Titicaca lake. File:Palacio de Justicia, Plaza Republicana, Puno, Perú, 2015-08-01, DD 52.JPG, Justice Palace. File:Vista de Puno y el Titicaca, Perú, 2015-08-01, DD 61.JPG, View of Puno from the North. File:Vista de Puno, Perú, 2015-08-01, DD 10.JPG, View of Puno from Titicaca Lake.

References

External links