Peru

PERU

A. THE COUNTRY

The Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America and is a
representative democratic republic.  A stable government is needed after
decades of dictatorships, corruption and threats to the nation’s
security.  Fishing, mining and agriculture (especially coffee) and
tourism have seen strong growth, but corruption, a flawed tax structure,
military spending and vast economic inequalities hold Peru back.
Cocaine production and ruthless oil exploitation in the Amazon basin
remain serious issues.  Maoist terror groups have been crippled and
justice brought to abusive politicians from previous regimes.

B. THE PEOPLE

The population is ~29,497,000.  The official languages are Spanish and
Quechua.  Almost two-thirds of the population live in slums surrounding
the capital city, Lima, where abject poverty, unemployment and
malnutrition are rife. The mixing of ethnicity, cultures and languages
makes a breakdown of people groups difficult.
~50.4% are Amerindian (49.4% Highland peoples, 1% Lowland peoples).
~46.3% are Latino/Hispanic
~3.3% are Other (Chinese, Japanese).

C. RELIGIONS AND CHRISTIANITY/PENTECOSTALISM

Religious freedom is guaranteed by the constitution, but the Catholic
Church as the officially recognized state Church receives some degree of
preferential treatment.   ~95.45% claim Christianity, ~2.78%
Non-religious, ~1.35% Ethnoreligionist, ~0.2% Buddhist, ~0.1% Chinese,
~0.1% Baha’i, ~0.02% Jewish.
It is estimated that 25% are Christo-pagan, influenced by animism and
witchcraft as much as Christianity.  Those claiming the Christian category:
~81.71% are Catholic, ~8.26% Protestant, ~5.81% Independent, ~0.12%
Unaffiliated, ~0.01% Anglican.
There has been notable growth in Evangelical churches, and more so among
the myriad indigenous Pentecostal groups.
Evangelicals represent ~11.6% of the population.
Charismatics represent ~9.1% and of those ~4.8% are Pentecostals.
Other groups originating in Western society represent ~3.98% of the
population.

Donna Siemens

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org

Operation World, Jason Mandryk. Colorado Springs: Biblica Publishing, 2010.