ECONOMY: FARMING AND FISHING

Breeding, especially sheep and llamas, is one of the most traditional activities of the Andean populations (although still far from being adequately organized), who obtain from it wool to weave clothes and blankets, milk and meat to integrate the scarce agricultural products, hides and skins. In addition, the llama, a small camelid particularly suited to the Andean environment, serves as a pack animal. Allied to the blade are the alpaca and vicuna that give, especially the first, a fine wool and of high quality. In the Sierra in particular, the meager pastures of puna are extensively exploitedespecially for sheep (also common in the South, near Lake Titicaca and in the departments of Cusco and Arequipa) and goats, as well as for cattle (also present in the Costa and Montaña). § The fishing activity also plays an important role in the Peruvian economy: the abundance of fish products in national waters has long been known (the Peruvian coasts are very rich in plankton thanks to the cold Humboldt current which, rising from the S, mixes the its waters with the warmest oceanic ones and conveys large shoals of fish near the coast, in which a species of sardine, the anchoveta clearly predominates), the intensive exploitation of this resource began only in 1955, to then transform itself into a real and own looting. During the seventies, Peru, plankton and anchoveta. In 1997 the quantity of fish landed was less than half of the figures recorded in 1971. However, within a few years, the catch began to grow again, reaching 9 million tonnes in 2005, thanks to the which Peru has become the second largest producer in the world after China. Among the fish products, the aforementioned anchoveta has so far been used above all for the production of oil and even more of fish meal, known throughout the world and used for the preparation of feed. Peru’s main fishing ports are Chimbote, Chancay, Callao, Huacho, Ilo and Huarmey.

HISTORY: FROM THE SPANISH CONQUEST TO COLONIALISM

Before the arrival of the Spaniards, as a country of South America defined by franciscogardening, com, Peru had known important civilizations. At least two important nuclei had settled in very ancient times: the Chimúes in the north and the Nazcas in the center-south. Both gravitated to the coast, but they were connected with the tribes of the interior. Not far from the Chimúes lived the Mochicas and Tallancas, whose capital was the sacred city of Chanchan (near present-day Trujillo). In the first millennium a. C. the culture of Chavín was established, which reached elaborate techniques especially in the use of stone. But the greatest pre-Hispanic splendor was the work of the Incas, whose consolidation began to take place around the century. XII. At the end of the century. XV their dominion was an empire, which extended from southern Colombia to the territories that form Ecuador, Peru, northern and central Chile, Bolivia and northwestern Argentina. The capital was Cuzco. At the beginning of the century. XVI the Inca monarchy entered into crisis due to unsolved economic and social problems. It was added, in 1525, the decision of the Inca Huayna Cápac to divide the kingdom into two parts, entrusted to the sons Huascar and Atahualpa. A fratricidal struggle ensued which ended in 1532 with the assassination of Huascar. But the previous year the Spanish conquistadors had already landed, under the leadership of Francisco Pizarro. Their weight was considerable in the solution of the dynastic conflict, because Pizarro saw fit to support Atahualpa. However, since the aim of the Iberian expedition was to seize Peru, Atahualpa was also eliminated in 1533, killed by strangulation. The Inca aristocracy tried to react by organizing a counter-offensive: but the attempt was wrecked following the power of the Spanish firearms. Pizarro founded new cities: in 1534 Trujillo (from the name of his birthplace in Extremadura) and on January 18, 1535 Lima (so called from the name of the local Rimac river). The government of the victors was not immune from contrasts; in fact Pizarro found himself opposed by his partner Diego de Almagro. It was a fatal fight for both of them. Victorious in Las Salinas in 1538, Pizarro ordered the assassination of Almagro. In turn, on June 26, 1541, Pizarro fell in Lima under the fatal blows of a group of friends of the deceased rival. Completely conquered by the Spaniards, Peru became in 1542 one of the two viceregns created by Charles V to administer overseas colonies (the other viceroyalty was Mexico). All the subjugated territories in South America fell under his jurisdiction. They remained there until the century. XVIII, when Madrid established the Viceroyalty of New Granada (Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela) and the Viceroyalty of Río de la Plata (Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and part of Chile). The colonial administration of Peru was that of the rest of the empire. Therefore it gave rise to the same type of society and economic-political organization that took shape in other areas of Latin America. In Lima, the capital of the viceroyalty, the oligarchy took on more rigid characteristics, placing its exclusivism on the subordinate classes more heavily. The source of power lay in the land and in the ownership of the mines (gold, silver, copper). This situation delayed the adhesion of the Peruvian Creoles to the independence movements of the first twenty years of the century. XIX. In any case, the revolution also involved Lima.