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{{Short description|First-level administrative subdivisions of Peru}}{{Imageframe|width=302|content= {{Peru Labelled Area Map}} |caption=Clickable map of the departments of Peru|link=Image:Peru Blue Administrative Base Map.png |align=right}}According to the Organic Law of Regional Governments, the regions () are, with the departments, the first-level administrative subdivisions of Peru. Since its 1821 independence, Peru had been divided into departments () but faced the problem of increasing centralization of political and economic power in its capital, Lima. After several unsuccessful regionalization attempts, the national government decided to temporarily provide the departments (including the Constitutional Province of Callao) with regional governments until the conformation of regions according to the Organic Law of Regional Governments which says that two or more departments should merge to conform a region. This situation turned the departments into de facto regional government circumscriptions. The first regional governments were elected on November 20, 2002.Under the new arrangement, the 24 departments plus the Callao Province are regional government circumscriptions each with a Regional Government. Lima Province, which has been excluded from this process and is not part of a regional government circumscription, has its government institution: the Metropolitan Municipality of Lima.Unlike the previous system, the regional circumscriptions have an elected government and have a wide array of responsibilities within their jurisdiction. Under the 2002 Organic Law of Regional Governments (), there is an ongoing process of transfer of functions from the central government to the regions. A 2005 referendum for the merger of several departments failed to get the necessary electoral support.Departments are subdivided into provinces and districts.

History

After declaring its independence in 1821, Peru was divided into departments (), which grew in number from four in 1821 to eleven in 1822 and to twenty-four in 1980:{{Col-begin}}{{Col-break}}

• Amazonas
• Ancash
• Apurímac
• Arequipa
• Ayacucho
• Cajamarca

{{Col-break}}

• Cuzco
• Huancavelica
• Huánuco
• Ica
• Junín
• La Libertad

{{Col-break}}

• Lambayeque
• Lima
• Loreto
• Madre de Dios
• Moquegua
• Pasco

{{Col-break}}

• Piura
• Puno
• San Martin
• Tacna
• Tumbes
• Ucayali

{{col-end}}As political and economic power increasingly concentrated in Lima, the capital city, several administrations attempted to decentralize the country with little success.Schönwälder, Linking civil society, p. 94. The 1979 Peruvian Constitution contained provisions for the decentralization of power through the creation of autonomous regions, but they were not implemented.O'Neill, Decentralizing the State, p. 197. During the later years of the 1985–1990 presidency of Alan García, the government faced the prospect of losing the 1990 presidential elections because of a widespread economic crisis and faltering public support. As a way of creating an alternative source of power, the regime established twelve autonomous regions on January 20, 1989, in the hope of winning some elections at this level.O'Neill, Decentralizing the State, p. 199. However, due to the haste of their creation, these regional governments were not provided with fiscal resources of their own, so they depended on the goodwill of the central government for funding.O'Neill, Decentralizing the State, p. 199.The 1990 presidential elections were marked by the discredit of political parties as evidenced in the election of Alberto Fujimori, an independent candidate. Fujimori withheld financial transfers to regional governments and then, on December 29, 1992, replaced them with government-designated Transitory Councils of Regional Administration (). Having dissolved Congress in the 1992 Peruvian constitutional crisis, Fujimori called an election for a Constitutional Assembly which drafted the 1993 Constitution. This new text included provisions for the creation of regions with autonomous, elected governments, but they were not carried out. A framework law on decentralization () issued on January 30, 1998, confirmed the permanence of transitory councils, now under the supervision of the Ministry of the Presidency.Schönwälder, Linking civil society, pp. 195–196.Fujimori was forced to resign in November 2000 under accusations of authoritarianism, corruption, and human rights violations.BBC News, "Fujimori: Decline and fall". Retrieved on December 1, 2007. After an interim government led by Valentín Paniagua, Alejandro Toledo was elected president for the 2001-2006 period on a platform that included creating regional governments. The New York Times, "Opposition Party Makes Strong Showing in Peru Election". Retrieved on December 1, 2007. The new administration laid out the legal framework for the new administrative subdivisions in the Decentralization Bases Law (), issued on July 17, 2002, and the Organic Law of Regional Governments () issued on November 19, 2002. New regional governments were elected on November 20, 2002, one in each of the former departments and the former Constitutional Province () of Callao. The province of Lima, containing the capital, was excluded from the process; thus, it is not part of any region.In the 2002 elections, most regional governments went to parties in opposition, with twelve going to the APRA of Alan García and only one each to Possible Peru, the party of president Alejandro Toledo and ally Independent Moralizing Front of Fernando Olivera.Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales, Resultados regionales {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070728075706weblink |date=2007-07-28 }}. Retrieved on February 28, 2008. The combination of a strong opposition and a weak government led to concerns about an impending political crisis. However, this did not turn out to be the case as the new regional governments were absorbed by local problems and showed little initiative in national politics.Monge, "Los gobiernos regionales", p. 34. As the territorial circumscriptions that regional governments inherited from the former departments are considered too small, the Decentralization Bases Law provides for mergers between departments after a majority of the populations involved express their approval up to become a formal region.Ley Nº 27783, Ley de Bases de la Descentralización, Articles Nº 29. The first referendum of this kind was carried out on October 30, 2005, with the following proposals being put to the ballot:

• Apurímac, Cuzco
• Arequipa, Puno, Tacna
• Ayacucho, Huancavelica, Ica
• Ancash, Huánuco, Junín, Lima, Pasco
• Lambayeque, Piura, Tumbes

These proposals were rejected by the electorate of all departments involved except for Arequipa. Thus, no merger was carried out.Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales, Referendum para la Integracion y Conformacion de Regiones 2005 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080326185414weblink |date=2008-03-26 }}. Retrieved on March 2, 2008.New elections for regional governments were held on November 19, 2006; most regions went to local political movements rather than to national parties. The APRA, which had won the presidential elections held on June 4, 2006, only won in two regions, all other national parties achieved even less.Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales, Elecciones Regionales y Municipales 2006 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090324081528weblink |date=2009-03-24 }}. Retrieved on March 2, 2008.

Government

According to the Organic Law of Regional Governments, the responsibilities of regional governments include planning regional development, executing public investment projects, promoting economic activities, and managing public property.Ley Nº 27867, Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales, Article Nº 10. Regional governments are composed of a president and a council, elected for a four-year term; additionally, there is a coordination council integrated by provincial mayors and representatives of the civil society.Ley Nº 27867, Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales, Article Nº 11. The Regional President is the head of government; his functions include proposing and enforcing the budget, appointing government officials, issuing decrees and resolutions, executing regional plans and programs, and administering regional properties and rents.Ley Nº 27867, Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales, Article Nº 21. The Regional Council debates and votes upon bills proposed by the regional president, it also oversees all regional officials and can remove the president, its vice president, and any council member from office.Ley Nº 27867, Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales, Article Nº 15. The Regional Coordination Council has a consultancy role in planning and budget issues, and it has no executive or legislative powers.Ley Nº 27867, Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales, Article Nº 11B.The Organic Law of Regional Governments stipulates the gradual transfer of functions from the central government to the regions, provided they are certified as capable of undertaking these tasks.Ley Nº 27867, Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales, Articles Nº 81, 84. To oversee this process, the Decentralization Bases Law created a National Council of Decentralization (). Ley Nº 27783, Ley de Bases de la Descentralización, Articles Nº 23, 24. However, this institution was criticized for being bureaucratic and ineffective by the government of Alan García, former president of Peru. Thus, on January 24, 2007, the council was abolished and replaced by the Decentralization Secretariat (), a dependency of the Prime Minister office. Decreto Supremo Nº 007-2007-PCM, Articles Nº 1, 3. Two months later, the regional presidents gathered in the city of Huánuco established a National Assembly of Regional Governments () as an alternative coordinating institution, independent from the Central Government.Declaración de Huánuco, Articles Nº 1, 2.

Regions

Area and population information on the following list has been retrieved from official data by the Peruvian National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (, INEI).Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. Banco de Información Distrital {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080423164200weblink |date=2008-04-23 }}. Retrieved on November 30, 2007. Areas are rounded to the nearest whole unit. Demographic data is based on the 2023 Census carried out from 2022 to 2023. Population density is given to one decimal place in persons per square kilometer. UBIGEO numbers are codes used by INEI to identify national administrative subdivisions.{| class="wiki table sortable" align="center" style="background: #fff9090; border-width:1px; border-color: #lightgrey; text-align:right; " cellpadding="3px" style="vertical-align:top;"! Region! (ISO 3166-2:PE|ISO)! UBIGEO! Capital! data-sort-type="number"|Area(km2)! data-sort-type="number"| Population (2023)! data-sort-type="number"|Populationdensity (/km2)! class="unsortable"|Location

Amazonas	PE-AMA	01	Chachapoyas	39249}}	403000}}	9.9}}	75px

Ancash	PE-ANC	02	Huaraz	35914}}	1052000}}	28.9}}	75px

Apurímac	PE-APU	03	Abancay	20896}}	427000}}	20.0}}	75px

Arequipa	PE-ARE	04	Arequipa	63345}}	1150000}}	18.0}}	75px

Ayacucho	PE-AYA	05	Ayacucho	43815}}	634000}}	14.1}}	75px

Cajamarca	PE-CAJ	06	Cajamarca	33318}}	1370000}}	40.8}}	75px

Callao	PE-CAL	07	Callao	147}}	823000}}	5514.8}}	75px

Cusco	PE-CUS	08	Cusco	71986}}	1187000}}	16.3}}	75px

Huancavelica	PE-HUV	09	Huancavelica	22131}}	462000}}	20.2}}	75px

Huánuco	PE-HUC	10	Huánuco	36849}}	746000}}	19.8}}	75px

Ica	PE-ICA	11	Ica	21328}}	682000}}	31.2}}	75px

Junín	PE-JUN	12	Huancayo	37667}}	1105000}}	29.0}}	75px

La Libertad	PE-LAL	13	Trujillo	25500}}	1555000}}	60.4}}	75px

Lambayeque	PE-LAM	14	Chiclayo	14231}}	1099000}}	76.7}}	75px

Lima	PE-LIM	15	Huacho	34802}}	879000}}	24.9}}	75px

Loreto	PE-LOR	16	Iquitos	368852}}	901000}}	2.4}}	75px

Madre de Dios	PE-MDD	17	Puerto Maldonado	85301}}	104000}}	1.1}}	75px

Moquegua	PE-MOQ	18	Moquegua	15734}}	178000}}	10.1}}	75px

Pasco	PE-PAS	19	Cerro de Pasco	25320}}	276000}}	10.5}}	75px

Piura	PE-PIU	20	Piura	35892}}	1657000}}	45.4}}	75px

Puno	PE-PUN	21	Puno	66997}}	1263000}}	18.6}}	75px

San Martín	PE-SAM	22	Moyobamba	51253}}	678000}}	13.1}}	75px

Tacna	PE-TAC	23	Tacna	16076}}	285000}}	17.1}}	75px

Tumbes	PE-TUM	24	Tumbes	4046}}	204000}}	47.4}}	75px

Ucayali	PE-UCA	25	Pucallpa	101831}}	415000}}	4.0}}	75px

Former departments{| class"wiki table sortable" style"text-align: center;"

!Department!Capital city!Established!Disestablished!Fate

Departamento de la Costa>Costa| Huaura| 1821| 1823	Department of Lima>Lima

Department of Huánuco (1823–1825)>Huánuco| Tarma| 1823| 1825	Department of Junín>Junín

Department of Huaylas>Huaylas| Tarma| 1821| 1823	Department of Huánuco (1823–1825)>Huánuco

Litoral Department (1837–1857)>Litoral| Tacna| 1837| 1857	Department of Moquegua>Moquegua

Governorate of Maynas (1822–1825)>Quijos & Maynas| Moyobamba| 1822| 1825	Department of Trujillo>Trujillo

Tarapacá Department (Peru)>Tarapacá| Iquique| 1878| 1883	Treaty of Ancón>Incorporated into Chile

Department of Tarma>Tarma| Tarma| 1821| 1823	Department of Huánuco (1823–1825)>Huánuco

Department of Trujillo>Trujillo	Trujillo, Peru>Trujillo| 1821| 1825	Department of La Libertad>La Libertad

See also

• Administrative divisions of Peru
• Districts of Peru
• (ISO 3166-2:PE)
• Provinces of Peru
• List of regions of Peru by population
• List of Peruvian regions by GDP
• List of regions of Peru by Human Development Index

Notes

{{Reflist|30em}}

References

• BBC News. Fujimori: Decline and fall. November 20, 2000.
• WEB,weblink Declaración de Huánuco, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120210183819weblink">weblink 2012-02-10, es, . March 20, 2007.
• WEB,weblink Decreto Supremo Nº 007-2007-PCM, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20111002195342weblink">weblink 2011-10-02, es, . January 24, 2007.
• {{in lang|es}} Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática. weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080423164200weblink">Banco de Información Distrital.
• WEB,weblink Ley Nº 27783, Ley de Bases de la Descentralización, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20111125141924weblink">weblink 2011-11-25, es, . July 17, 2002.
• WEB,weblink Ley Nº 27867, Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Regionales, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070702195833weblink">weblink 2007-07-02, es,  {{small|(305 KiB)}}. November 16, 2002.
• {{in lang|es}} Monge, Carlos. "Los gobiernos regionales del periodo 2003–2006: la primera promoción que se gradúa de la descentralización". Quehacer 163: 33–36 (November–December 2006).
• {{in lang|es}} Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales, weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090324081528weblink">Elecciones Regionales y Municipales 2006.
• {{in lang|es}} Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales, weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080326185414weblink">Referendum para la Integracion y Conformacion de Regiones 2005.
• {{in lang|es}} Oficina Nacional de Procesos Electorales. weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20070728075706weblink">Resultados regionales.
• O'Neill, Kathleen. Decentralizing the State: elections, parties, and local power in the Andes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005.
• Schönwälder, Gerd. Linking civil society and the State: urban popular movements, the Left and local government in Perú, 1980–1992. Pennsylvania: The Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002.
• The New York Times. "Opposition Party Makes Strong Showing in Peru Election". November 18, 2002.

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