Peru, the largest area in the Andean countries, was the cradle of the most advanced indigenous civilizations and most powerful empire in  South America pre-Columbian cultures. Peru was also the focus of Spanish colonial domination for its first two hundred years of rule. What remained of pre-Columbian America with regard to people, culture, and settlements is perhaps better represented in Peru than in any other country.

The country has a 2,400 kilometer (1,500 miles) long coast on the Pacific Ocean and bordes Colombia and Ecuador in the North, Brazil and Bolivia on the east, and Chile on the south. It is the only country that borders all the Andean state.