Peru People today and Preserved Culture
Since pre-Columbian times Peruvians have been divided by nature. From the arid deserts of the coast, the Andean Sierra rises as much as 19,700 feet. The highlands comprise about a quarter of Peru’s territory, but are residence to about half of Peru’s population. This mountain mass poses major complications for development and integration into a single society.
The result is dramatic regional diversity, and considerable inequalities in services and living standards. Wellness, education and law enforcement programs are unevenly distributed across Peru.
At 1st sight, Peruvian culture could seem brutally divided between indigenous and colonial societies – the mountains and also the city. Elite white creoles trace their bloodlines back to the Spanish Conquest in 1536. Like generations before them, most reside in Lima, where a European visitor will feel a comfy familiarity within the cafes and supermarkets.
On the other side, rural communities now also aspire to ownership of televisions and blue jeans but this comes into conflict with their conventional cultural values. The men and women of the Andes are maintaining the conventional practices of their ancestors in a quickly altering world. Their livelihood continues to be based on family-owned fields or charkas which are farmed by hand or with the help of draft animals.