198 TILG Peru networks

Peru's rich and varied heritage includes the ancient Incan capital of Cuzco and the lost city of Machu Picchu.

The country boasts spectacular scenery, including Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake. A growing number of visitors are being drawn to its variety of attractions.

The country has been experiencing an economic boom. Foreign investors, attracted by the government and encouraged by favourable conditions, have been keen to get involved in exploiting the country's mineral wealth, sometimes in the face of local resistance.

Peru has become the world's leading producer of cocaine.

The country is still trying to come to terms with the trauma of a two-decade conflict - roughly from 1980 to 2000 - between the state and leftist guerrilla groups, the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement and the Shining Path, which still has a following.