Peruvian culture — Inca heritage + Spanish colonial + living indigenous. Machu Picchu, world top gastronomy, ceviche.
Language
Spanish official. Quechua (Inca language) — 4 million speakers, official. Aymara in south. 47 recognized indigenous languages.
Inca Heritage
Machu Picchu — UNESCO + 7 wonders of the world. Cusco — Inca capital, UNESCO. Tawantinsuyu Empire. Quechua still spoken. Inti Raymi festival in Cusco June.
Gastronomy
Peruvian cuisine — top 3 world. Ceviche (raw fish with lime) — national, UNESCO. Lomo saltado, ají de gallina, anticuchos, papa a la huancaína. 4000 varieties of potato (world origin). Restaurants Central, Maido — top 10 world.
Music and Dance
Marinera (north), huayno (mountains), Creole waltzes. Chabuca Granda — legendary composer. Susana Baca — Afro-Peruvian singer. Quena (Andean flute), zampoña, charango — Andean instruments.
Literature
Mario Vargas Llosa — Nobel 2010. César Vallejo — avant-garde poet. José María Arguedas — indigenist literature. Inca Garcilaso de la Vega — first mestizo in literature.
Traditions
Easter Sunday, Inti Raymi (June 24), Independence Day (July 28), Lord of Miracles (October). The Andean vs The Colonial — cultural duality.
Geography and Diversity
3 regions: coast (Lima), mountains (Cusco, Andes), jungle (Amazon 60% territory). Lake Titicaca with Bolivia — highest navigable in world. Mysterious Nazca lines.