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Peruportal |
The provinces of Peru (Spanish : provincias) are the second-level administrative subdivisions of the country. They are divided into districts (Spanish: distritos). There are 196 provinces in Peru, grouped into 25 regions, except for Lima Province which does not belong to any region. This makes an average of seven provinces per region. The region with the fewest provinces is Callao (one) and the region with the most is Ancash (twenty).
While provinces in the sparsely populated Amazon rainforest of eastern Peru tend to be larger, there is a large concentration of them in the north-central area of the country. The province with the fewest districts is Purús Province, with just one district. The province with the most districts is Lima Province, with 43 districts. The most common number of districts per province is eight; a total of 29 provinces share this number of districts.
The table below shows all provinces with their capitals and the region in which they are located. The UBIGEO code uniquely identifies each province. Capitals in bold are also a regional capital. Provinces in which the region's capital is located all have an UBIGEO code ending in 01
.
Province | Population | Region | Name of City | Districts |
---|---|---|---|---|
Lima | 7,605,742 | Lima | Lima | 43 |
Constitutional Province of Callao | 876,877 | Callao | Callao | 6 |
Arequipa | 864,250 | Arequipa | Arequipa | 29 |
Trujillo | 811,979 | La Libertad | Trujillo | 11 |
Chiclayo | 757,452 | Lambayeque | Chiclayo | 20 |
Piura | 665,991 | Piura | Piura | 9 |
Maynas | 492,992 | Loreto | Iquitos | 13 |
Huancayo | 466,436 | Junín | Huancayo | 28 |
Santa | 396,434 | Ancash | Chimbote | 9 |
Cusco | 367,791 | Cusco | Cusco | 8 |
Coronel Portillo | 333,890 | Ucayali | Pucallpa | 7 |
Ica | 321,332 | Ica | Ica | 14 |
Cajamarca | 316,152 | Cajamarca | Cajamarca | 12 |
Sullana | 287,680 | Piura | Sullana | 8 |
Huánuco | 270,233 | Huánuco | Huánuco | 11 |
Tacna | 262,731 | Tacna | Tacna | 10 |
Lambayeque | 258,747 | Lambayeque | Lambayeque | 12 |
San Román | 240,776 | Puno | Juliaca | 4 |
Puno | 229,236 | Puno | Puno | 15 |
Huamanga | 221,469 | Ayacucho | Ayacucho | 15 |
An independent city or independent town is a city or town that does not form part of another general-purpose local government entity.
Lima, founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes, is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of the country, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The city is considered the political, cultural, financial and commercial center of Peru. Due to its geostrategic importance, the Globalization and World Cities Research Network has categorized it as a "beta" tier city. Jurisdictionally, the metropolis extends mainly within the province of Lima and in a smaller portion, to the west, within the Constitutional Province of Callao, where the seaport and the Jorge Chávez Airport are located. Both provinces have regional autonomy since 2002.
The administrative divisions of Peru have changed from time to time since the nation gained independence from Spain in the early 19th century. The old territorial subdivisions have split or merged due to several reasons, the most common ones being the need for decentralization and population increase, especially in Lima.
Huancavelica is a department and region in Peru with an area of 22,131.47 km2 (8,545.01 sq mi) and a population of 347,639. The capital is the city Huancavelica. The region is bordered by the departments of Lima and Ica in the west, Junín in the north, and Ayacucho in the east.
Huánuco is a department and region in central Peru. It is bordered by the La Libertad, San Martín, Loreto and Ucayali regions in the north, the Ucayali Region in the east, the Pasco Region in the south and the Lima and Ancash regions in the west. Its capital is the city Huánuco.
Ica is a department and region of Peru. It borders the Pacific Ocean on the west; the Lima Region on the north; the Huancavelica and Ayacucho regions on the east; and the Arequipa Region on the south. Its capital is the city of Ica.
Junín is a department and region in the central highlands and westernmost Peruvian Amazon. Its capital is Huancayo.
La Libertad is a department and region in northwestern Peru. Formerly it was known as the Department of La Libertad. It is bordered by the Lambayeque, Cajamarca and Amazonas regions on the north, the San Martín Region on the east, the Ancash and Huánuco regions on the south and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is Trujillo, which is the nation's third biggest city. The region's main port is Salaverry, one of Peru's largest ports. The name of the region is Spanish for "freedom" or "liberty"; it was named in honor of the Intendancy of Trujillo's proclaiming independence from Spain in 1820 and fighting for that. It is the ninth smallest department in Peru, but it is also its second-most populous department after Piura and its second-most densely populated department after Lambayeque.
The Department of Lima, known as the Department of the Capital until 1823, is a department and region located in the central coast of Peru; the seat of the regional government is Huacho.
Loreto is Peru's northernmost department and region. Covering almost one-third of Peru's territory, Loreto is by far the nation's largest department, slightly larger than Japan; it is also one of the most sparsely populated regions due to its remote location in the Amazon Rainforest. Its capital is Iquitos.
A capital district, capital region, or capital territory is normally a specially designated administrative division where a country's seat of government is located. As such, in a federal model of government, no state or territory has any political or economic advantage relative to the others because of the national capital lying within its borders. A capital territory can be a specific form of federal district.
Lima Province is located in the central coast of Peru and is the only province in the country not belonging to any of the twenty-five regions, thus being quasi-autonomous. Its capital is Lima, which is also the nation's capital.
Maynas is one of the eight provinces in the Loreto Region in northeastern Peru. Its capital, Iquitos, is also Loreto's regional capital and the largest city in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest.
According to the Organic Law of Regional Governments, the regions are, with the departments, the first-level administrative subdivisions of Peru. Since its 1821 independence, Peru had been divided into departments but faced the problem of increasing centralization of political and economic power in its capital, Lima.
ISO 3166-2:PE is the entry for Peru in ISO 3166-2, part of the ISO 3166 standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), which defines codes for the names of the principal subdivisions of all countries coded in ISO 3166-1.
Ubigeo is the coding system for geographical locations in Peru used by the National Statistics and Computing Institute to code the first-level administrative subdivision: regions, the second-level administrative subdivision: provinces and the third-level administrative subdivision: districts. There are 1874 different ubigeos in Peru.
A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman provincia, which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term province has since been adopted by many countries. In some countries with no actual provinces, "the provinces" is a metaphorical term meaning "outside the capital city".
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Peru:
The following is an alphabetical list of topics related to the Republic of Peru.