| La Libertad Region | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| — Region — | |||
|
|||
| Location of the La Libertad Region in Peru | |||
| Country | Peru | ||
| Subdivisions | 12 provinces and 83 districts | ||
| Capital | Trujillo | ||
| Government | |||
| • President | José Murgia | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 25,499.9 km2 (9,845.6 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation(Capital) | 34 m (112 ft) | ||
| Highest elevation | 4,008 m (13,150 ft) | ||
| Lowest elevation | 0 m (0 ft) | ||
| Population (2005 Census) | |||
| • Total | 1,539,774 | ||
| • Density | 60.4/km2 (156.4/sq mi) | ||
| UBIGEO | 13 | ||
| Dialing code | 044 | ||
| ISO 3166 code | PE-LAL | ||
| Principal resources | Nation's largest sugar cane producer, and second-largest producer of rice. | ||
| Poverty rate | 52.1% | ||
| Percentage of Peru's GDP | 4.18% | ||
| Website | www.regionlalibertad.gob.pe | ||
La Libertad is a region in northwestern Peru. Formerly it was known as the 'Department of La Libertad" (Department of La Libertad), a political division that generally corresponds to a state in the United States of America. It is bordered by the Lambayeque, Cajamarca and Amazonas regions on the north, the San Martín Region on the east, the Ancash and Huánuco regions on the south and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is Trujillo, which is the nation's third biggest city. The region's main port is Salaverry, one of Peru's largest ports an adjunct of Trujillo,. The name of the region is Spanish for freedom or liberty.
Contents |
La Libertad is the only Peruvian region that reaches all three Peruvian natural regions (coast, Sierra (highlands), and selva (rainforest).
Trujillo, the capital of the La Libertad Region, has a great geographical importance and a good location. It is the point where the Andes are linked to the Pacific Ocean, as a result of the direction the coasts follow. The Andes first are seen from Trujillo, showing a row of low-elevation hills, but therefrom the Andean Plateau increases altitude sharply to the east, in the provinces of Otuzco and Santiago de Chuco. These two provinces comprise the Pacific hydrographic watershed, which give rise to the Moche and Virú rivers, to the south, and Chicama River to the north. Pacasmayo Province, located more to the north is a coastal province. Sánchez Carrión Province, to the east, drains into the AmazonRiver and therefore belongs to the Atlantic watershed.
As with other Regions of Perú, the La Libertad Region is separated into 12 Provincias, political divisions generally corresponding to counties in the United States of America. A Peruvian Region has as its head political executive a governor (governador), an elected official. The head political executive of each Provincia is a Lieutenant Governor (teniente governador), an official appointed by the Governor.
The Region is separated into 12 provinces (provincias), political divisions that generally correspond to counties in the United States of America. A Peruvian Region has as its head political executive a governor (governador), an elected official. The head political executive of each province is a lieutenant governor (teniente governador), an official appointed by the governor. These 12 provinces comprise a total of 80 districts (distritos). The provinces, with their capitals in parenthesis, are:
The coastal strip set the stage for the rise of many pre-Columbian cultures, such as the pre-Ceramic Huaca Prieta civilization, which is more than 5,000 years old & the Cupisnique, which is more than 3,000 years old. From 200 A.C., the first one to expand beyond its cradle was the Moche or Mochica culture. It was basically an agriculture and/or a warrior culture, which built countless temples and palaces such as the Sol (Sun), Luna (Moon), El Brujo & Cao Viejo, and other huacas. The Chimú culture emerged later and built its capital in Chan Chan, the largest pre-Columbian city in South America, & huacas like Esmeralda & Arco Iris (Rainbow). At its zenith, Chan Chan was home to 60,000 inhabitants who stubbornly resisted the expansion of the Inca Empire. These ancient cultures used irrigation canals and water reservoirs, which systems were increasingly better engineered and extensive over the years. The technological acumen of these sophisticated agricultural systems was carried into the Inca Empire, which surrounded the remnants of the prior cultures. The Spanish colonizers destroyed most of the agricultural works to more effectively establish political control and provide de facto slave labor from the displaced native agriculturalists.
The archaeological remains of Chan Chan, 6 km (3.7 mi) northeast of downtown Trujillo, are rather well-preserved despite being built out of adobe (mud bricks), largely because 1) dearth of rainfall and consequent erosion, and 2) lack of significant re-use of its construction materials (adobes do not respond easily to removal and transport and are relatively cheap to make on-site in current methods of construction).
|
||||||||