ABSTRACT

This chapter provides a brief introduction to the context in which Peruvian decentralization initiatives have been attempted. It presents an overview of Peruvian geography and describes the territorial organization of the Peruvian state. The chapter shows major patterns of center-periphery relations in Peruvian history before 1949, and examines the spatial implications of major economic and demographic trends since that year. During most of its history, the unitary Peruvian state has had three levels of territorial organization: departments, provinces, and districts. Departments are divided into provinces, and provinces into districts. Central elites derived resources from taxes on agricultural and mineral exports, foreign loans and supplier credits, and petroleum royalties, rather than having to extract them from the periphery. The population also became more spatially concentrated: a high rate of demographic growth, the stagnation of food agriculture, and improving transportation and communications contributed to massive internal migration from the sierra to major cities on the coast, especially Lima.