5 October 2026
Keiko Fujimori was sworn in as President of Peru on 28 July 2026, for the 2026-2031 term.
She defeated the left-wing candidate Roberto Sanchez in the June runoff by fewer than 50,000 votes.
She is Peru's ninth president in a decade.
She was 51 at the time of taking office and campaigned on a law-and-order platform.
Her party, Fuerza Popular, holds the largest bloc in Congress.
Her Prime Minister is Luis Galarreta.
President of Peru:
Keiko Fujimori
Sworn in:
28 July 2026
Runoff margin:
fewer than 50,000 votes
Defeated:
Roberto Sanchez
Why it matters for exams: Heads of state and government of major countries are asked directly, and Peru's rapid changes of president make it a likely question.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Runoff Second round of a two-round election — A fresh ballot between the top two candidates when no one wins a majority in the first round.
Background
The Andean Community, abbreviated CAN, is a trade bloc of four countries - Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. The Headquarters of CAN are located in Lima, Peru. Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay are associate members, while Panama, Mexico, and Spain are Observers. Regional integration in the Andean countries began with the signing of the Cartagena Agreement by Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru in 1969, creating the Andean Pact with the objective of creating a Customs Union and a Common Market. Chile withdrew in 1976 and Venezuela, which joined the Pact in 1973, withdrew in 2006. In 1979 the Andean Council of Foreign Ministers, the Andean Court of Justice and the Andean Parliament were created. In 1996 the Protocol of Trujillo renamed the Pact as the Andean Community and converted the Board of the Cartagena Agreement into a General Secretariat based in Lima, Peru. In 2001 the Andean Passport was created, enabling citizens of member states to travel between the countries without visa.
Member countries:
Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru
Headquarters:
Lima, Peru
Founding treaty:
Cartagena Agreement
Year the Andean Pact was created:
1969
Protocol that renamed the Pact:
Protocol of Trujillo
Why it matters for exams: Regional blocs and where their secretariats sit are routinely asked, and Peru is the only Andean Community member that also hosts the bloc's headquarters.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
CAN Andean Community — The South American trade bloc of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, with its headquarters in Lima.
Cartagena Agreement the 1969 treaty that created the Andean Pact — The treaty whose signing began Andean regional integration, aiming at a customs union and a common market.
associate member associate membership of a bloc — A country linked to a bloc by agreement without being a full member of it.
Customs Union customs union — An arrangement in which members drop tariffs among themselves and apply a common tariff to outsiders.
Background
India established diplomatic relations with Peru in March 1963. Until 1969 the Indian Ambassador in Chile was concurrently accredited to Peru. In September 1969 India opened its resident Mission in Lima, and the first resident Indian Ambassador in Lima took charge in November 1973. The 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between India and Peru was celebrated on 25 March 2013, and during the ceremony a special postal stamp depicting Taj Mahal and Machu Picchu was issued. For the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, a special commemorative postal stamp was released by Peruvian Post on 14 March 2024. The first India-Peru Joint Commission Meeting was held on June 21, 2017. The bilateral cooperation spans areas that include energy, mines, textiles, agriculture, science, technology, defence and space.
Diplomatic relations established:
March 1963
Resident Indian Mission opened in Lima:
September 1969
First resident Indian Ambassador took charge:
November 1973
Fiftieth anniversary ceremony:
25 March 2013
Sixtieth anniversary stamp by Peruvian Post:
14 March 2024
Why it matters for exams: The year relations were established and the year a resident mission opened are the two facts most often asked about India's ties with a Latin American country, and in Peru's case they fall in different years.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
concurrent accreditation concurrent accreditation of an ambassador — The practice of one resident ambassador also representing their country to a second state where there is no mission.
resident Mission resident diplomatic mission — An embassy staffed and located in the host country, as against accreditation from a neighbouring capital.
Joint Commission Meeting India-Peru Joint Commission Meeting — The standing bilateral mechanism at which the two governments review the whole relationship.
Background
The World Trade Organization's own member information page, headed Peru and the WTO, states that Peru has been a WTO member since 1995 and a member of GATT since 7 October 1951, so its place in the multilateral trading system long predates the WTO itself. That page gathers Peru's goods schedules, services schedules and tariff data, together with its record as complainant and respondent in WTO disputes. Alongside those multilateral rules, the United States Country Commercial Guide for Peru records that the U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA) entered into force in 2009. It states that the PTPA helped drive more than $20 billion in annual two-way goods trade in 2024, up from $9.1 billion in 2009, the year the PTPA entered into force. Under the PTPA, U.S. consumer and industrial goods exports to Peru are no longer subject to tariffs, and the agreement also eliminated tariffs on almost 90 percent of U.S. agricultural product exports.
WTO member since:
1995
GATT member since:
7 October 1951
Year the PTPA entered into force:
2009
Two-way goods trade with the United States:
$20 billion
Share of U.S. farm exports freed of tariffs:
almost 90 percent
Why it matters for exams: A country's trade questions turn on two different layers - its multilateral membership and its bilateral agreements - and Peru shows both, with a GATT membership far older than its WTO membership.
Kerala PSCUPSCBank
In plain words
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade — The multilateral trade agreement that governed world trade rules before the World Trade Organization was set up.
PTPA U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement — The bilateral free trade agreement between the United States and Peru that removed tariffs on most trade between them.
goods schedules schedules of concessions on goods — A member's binding list of the maximum tariffs it may charge on each category of imported goods.
two-way goods trade two-way goods trade — Exports and imports of merchandise between two countries added together.
Background
The legislative power in Peru, called the Poder Legislativo, rests with the Congress of the Republic (Congreso de la República). The Congress's own rules describe the Senate (Senado) as one of the two chambers that make up the bicameral structure (estructura bicameral) of the Congress of the Republic; the other chamber is the Chamber of Deputies (Cámara de Diputados). The Senate is made up of a minimum of sixty senators (sesenta senadores), and its members are elected for a term of five years (cinco años). Members of this chamber are called senators and may officially use the title Senador de la República. Its organisation and working are governed by the Political Constitution of Peru (Constitución Política del Perú), the Rules of the Congress of the Republic (Reglamento del Congreso de la República) and the chamber's own rules. Among the Senate's special functions are the ratification of the president of the Banco Central de Reserva and of the superintendente de banca, seguros y AFP, and the removal of senior officers of the state in the cases laid down by the Constitution.
Structure of the Congress:
estructura bicameral
Upper chamber:
Senado
Other chamber:
Cámara de Diputados
Minimum strength of the Senate:
sesenta senadores
Term of senators:
cinco años
Why it matters for exams: Whether a country's legislature has one chamber or two is a standard comparative-polity question, and Peru is now a two-chamber case with a named upper house, its own minimum strength and its own term.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Poder Legislativo Legislative Power — The branch of the Peruvian state in which law-making power resides.
bicameral two-chamber legislature — A legislature made up of two separate chambers that both take part in law-making.
Cámara de Diputados Chamber of Deputies — The other of the two chambers of Peru's Congress of the Republic.
Banco Central de Reserva Central Reserve Bank of Peru — Peru's central bank, whose president the Senate ratifies.
Background
Peru ratified the World Heritage Convention on Wednesday, 24 February 1982. UNESCO's record for Peru carries 13 properties on the World Heritage List: 9 cultural, 2 natural and 2 mixed. Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu is one of the two mixed properties, inscribed for cultural and natural value together, and Río Abiseo National Park is the other. Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Palpa, Chan Chan Archaeological Zone, Sacred City of Caral-Supe and Chankillo Archaeoastronomical Complex are among the cultural properties. City of Cuzco, Historic Centre of Lima and Historical Centre of the City of Arequipa are further cultural properties. Qhapaq Ñan, Andean Road System is inscribed as a cultural property, and Chavin (Archaeological Site) completes the nine. Huascarán National Park and Manú National Park are the two natural properties.
Properties on the World Heritage List:
13
World Heritage Convention ratified:
Wednesday, 24 February 1982
Mixed property:
Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu
Cultural property:
Sacred City of Caral-Supe
Cultural property:
Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Palpa
Andean road network property:
Qhapaq Ñan, Andean Road System
Natural property:
Huascarán National Park
Why it matters for exams: Peru's inscribed sites are a standing source of questions on Latin American heritage, and the mixed-property status of Machu Picchu is the detail most often tested.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Qhapaq Ñan Andean Road System — The Andean road network inscribed on the World Heritage List as a cultural property.
Mixed property Mixed World Heritage property — A site inscribed on the World Heritage List for cultural and natural value together.
Background
Peru ratified the UNESCO Convention on the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage on 23 September 2005. UNESCO's record for Peru shows 15 elements inscribed. Scissors dance and Huaconada, ritual dance of Mito were both inscribed in 2010. Knowledge, skills and rituals related to the annual renewal of the Q’eswachaka bridge was inscribed in 2013. Esuwa, Harakbut sung prayers of Peru’s Wachiperi people, inscribed in 2011, is Peru's one element on the Urgent Safeguarding List. Taquile and its textile art was inscribed in 2008, and Festivity of Virgen de la Candelaria of Puno in 2014. Wititi dance of the Colca Valley followed in 2015, and Practices and meanings associated with the preparation and consumption of ceviche, an expression of Peruvian traditional cuisine, in 2023. Peru has sat on the Convention's Committee for three terms.
Elements inscribed:
15 elements inscribed
Convention ratified:
23 September 2005
Element inscribed in 2010:
Scissors dance
Ritual dance of Mito:
Huaconada, ritual dance of Mito
Bridge renewal element:
Knowledge, skills and rituals related to the annual renewal of the Q’eswachaka bridge
Element on the Urgent Safeguarding List:
Esuwa, Harakbut sung prayers of Peru’s Wachiperi people
Textile art element:
Taquile and its textile art
Why it matters for exams: The intangible heritage list is asked as often as the World Heritage List, and the bridge renewal and Scissors dance are the Peruvian entries that recur.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Q’eswachaka Q’eswachaka bridge — The Peruvian rope bridge whose annual renewal is inscribed as an element of intangible cultural heritage.
Urgent Safeguarding List List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding — The UNESCO list for living heritage whose survival is at risk, kept separate from the main representative list.
Background
India established diplomatic relations with Peru in March 1963. Until 1969 the Indian Ambassador in Chile was concurrently accredited to Peru, and India opened its resident Mission in Lima in September 1969. Free Trade Agreement negotiations are ongoing with nine rounds and an online inter-sessional meeting held so far. The trade between India and Peru during the Financial Year 2025-26 was US$ 10.02bn, of which India's exports were worth US$ 1.15bn and imports from Peru were US$ 8.87bn. Peru is among the top five trading partners of India in Latin America, and India is the third largest trading partner for Peru. Main imports from Peru are gold, copper, synthetic filaments, phosphates of calcium, fresh grapes and fish flour. Indian investment in Peru is estimated at US $65 million. The size of the Indian community in Peru is small, numbering around 500, including PIOs.
Diplomatic relations established:
March 1963
Bilateral trade, Financial Year 2025-26:
US$ 10.02bn
India's exports to Peru:
US$ 1.15bn
India's imports from Peru:
US$ 8.87bn
Free Trade Agreement rounds held:
nine rounds
Indian investment in Peru:
US $65 million
Indian community in Peru:
around 500
Why it matters for exams: India's bilateral relationships in Latin America are standard ground, and the lopsided India-Peru trade balance is the detail that makes this one askable.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
PIO Person of Indian Origin — A foreign national of Indian ancestry, counted alongside Indian citizens when a mission reports the size of the Indian community.
Background
The World Bank's country overview for Peru records a central bank inflation target range of 1 to 3 percent. Peru's growth slowed from an average of 6.2 percent between 2005 and 2014 to 2.4 percent between 2015 and 2024. Poverty fell from 60 percent in 2002 to 24 percent in 2013. GDP per capita increased from approximately US$2,100 in 2003 to more than US$8,400 in 2024. The World Bank measures poverty in Peru against a line of US$8.30 a day in 2021 purchasing power parity terms. It attributes the earlier performance to prudent macroeconomic policies, low inflation, manageable public debt and a sound financial system. It names low productivity, informality, regional disparities, institutional weakening and citizen insecurity among the constraints on the country's potential. Peru's landscapes are described as ranging from the Andes to the Amazon.
Central bank inflation target range:
1 to 3 percent
Average growth, 2005 to 2014:
6.2 percent
Average growth, 2015 to 2024:
2.4 percent
GDP per capita in 2003:
US$2,100
GDP per capita in 2024:
US$8,400
World Bank poverty line used for Peru:
US$8.30
Why it matters for exams: A central bank's inflation target range is the standing fact asked about any economy, and the World Bank's overview records Peru's as a band of 1 to 3 percent.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Inflation target range Inflation target range — The band of price rise a central bank commits to keep inflation within when it sets its policy rate.
PPP Purchasing power parity — A way of converting currencies so that the same sum buys the same basket of goods in every country.
Background
The United Nations lists Peru's date of admission as 31-10-1945.
That places Peru among the original members who joined in the year the United Nations was founded.
The United Nations Charter had come into force earlier the same month.
Peru therefore counts as one of the founding members of the organisation.
Membership of the United Nations is open to peace-loving states that accept the obligations of the Charter.
Date of admission to the UN:
31-10-1945
Why it matters for exams: Dates of admission to the United Nations are a standard objective question in international organisations.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
UN Charter Charter of the United Nations — The founding treaty of the United Nations, which sets out the rights and duties of member states.
Background
India and Peru established diplomatic relations in March 1963.
India opened its resident mission in Lima in September 1969, and the first resident ambassador took charge in November 1973.
Trade between India and Peru in the financial year 2025-26 was US$ 10.02bn.
Of that, India's exports were worth US$ 1.15bn and imports from Peru were US$ 8.87bn.
India sends Peru automobiles, motorcycles, three-wheelers, polyester and cotton yarns, pharmaceuticals, iron and steel products and plastic products.
India buys gold, copper, synthetic filaments, phosphates of calcium, fresh grapes and fish flour from Peru.
The Indian community in Peru numbers around 500, including persons of Indian origin.
Diplomatic relations established:
March 1963
Indian mission in Lima opened:
September 1969
Bilateral trade, FY 2025-26:
US$ 10.02bn
India's exports to Peru:
US$ 1.15bn
India's imports from Peru:
US$ 8.87bn
Indian community in Peru:
around 500
Why it matters for exams: India's bilateral relations with individual countries, with the year relations began and the trade balance, are directly asked.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
PIO Person of Indian Origin — A foreign citizen of Indian ancestry, counted along with Indian nationals in community figures abroad.
Background
Huascaran National Park in Peru was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1985 under criteria (vii) and (viii).
It covers 340,000 ha in the Cordillera Blanca, described as the world's highest tropical mountain range.
Mount Huascaran, Peru's highest peak, rises to 6,768 m above sea-level.
The park holds 27 snow-capped peaks above 6,000 m.a.s.l.
It also contains over 600 glaciers, almost 300 lakes and 41 tributaries of major rivers.
Its wildlife includes the spectacled bear and the Andean condor, and its flora includes the Queen of the Andes.
Year inscribed:
1985
Area:
340,000 ha
Mount Huascaran:
6,768 m above sea-level
Peaks above 6,000 m:
27
Glaciers:
over 600
Why it matters for exams: The highest peak of a country and its flagship World Heritage natural site are standard geography questions.
Kerala PSCUPSC
In plain words
Cordillera Blanca White Range — The snow-covered Andean range in Peru's Ancash region, the world's highest tropical mountain range.