Peru is the third-largest country in South America. Its geographical area is 496.225 square miles (1,285,216 square kilometers). It is divided into three main regions: the coast, the highlands, and the Amazon basin. The current population of over 29.5 million comprises Indigenous peoples, mestizos and creoles, Europeans, Japanese, Chinese, and Afro-Peruvians. The official language is Spanish, although Quechua, Aymara, and other indigenous languages possess official status in their primary regions of use, according to the 1993 constitution. Peru is a country of rich linguistic and cultural diversity with numerous speakers of indigenous languages in Latin America. Of the more than 29.5 million people, about 3,262,137 speak Quechua and 434,372 speak Aymara. Another 300,000–400,000 inhabitants speak one or more of the dozens of languages spoken in ...