ABSTRACT
The life of Peru is based on land. The greatest part of its population is dependent, in one way or another, on the land, and a great part of its income is derived from the exportation of the products of the land. At the apex of the pyramid is the oligarchic group, composed of the great landholders—some hundreds of families— the higher echelons of the army, and the upper church hierarchy, which, one might say, belong to this group ex officio. A color line runs more or less parallel to the line of these social divisions. The oligarchy is white. The members of the public-opinion group darken in skin color as they descend the pyramid, and the people in the rectangle of the submerged masses are darker, most of them Indians or mestizos. Some peasants are small landholders, others rent land, paying for it in crops or money, and others are salaried workers on plantations or haciendas.
