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 pacific ocean peru is a mega diverse country with habitats ranging from the arid plains of the pacific coastal region in the west to the peaks of the andes mountains extending from the north to the southeast of the country to the tropical amazon basin rainforest in the east with the amazon river peru has a population of 34 million and its capital and largest city is lima at 1.28 million kilometers square peru is the 19th largest country in the world and the third largest in south america the sovereign state of peru is a representative democratic republic divided into 25 regions peru has a high level of human development with an upper middle income level ranking 82nd on the human development index