La Libertad Region

La Libertad Region
Region

Seal

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 (2007 Census)
 • Total 1,617,050
 • Density 63/km2 (160/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 (Departamento de 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. The name of the region is Spanish for "freedom" or "liberty"; it was named in honor of the Intendencia of Trujillo's proclaiming independence from Spain in 1820 and fighting for that.

Name

During the viceroyalty of Peru, the La Libertad region, together with the present-day regions of Lambayeque, Piura and Tumbes regions in Peru, and Guayaquil and El Oro Province in Ecuador, were all within the jurisdiction of the Intendencía de Trujillo. These were included in the domain of the city of Trujillo; together they comprised the Departamento de Trujillo of the viceroyalty.

After the Intendencía joined the emancipation cause and was the first to gain independence from Spain, in 1825 the Congress of the Peruvian republic changed the name to Departmento de la Libertad. Since the late 20th century, Peru has decentralized its government. All former Departments in Peru are now called Regions; their governors are elected, and they have more independent authority in decisionmaking.

Geography

La Libertad is the only Peruvian region that includes all three natural regions of the nation: coast, Sierra (highlands), and selva (rainforest).

Trujillo, the capital, has a strategic location, near where the Andes come closest to the coast. Seen from Trujillo, the Andes appears as a row of low-elevation hills. 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 along the coast. To the east, Sánchez Carrión Province waterways drain into the Amazon River and thus belong to the Atlantic Ocean watershed.

Demographics

Population

La Libertad region is the third-most populous in Peru; the census 2007 recorded 1,617,050 residents, representing 5.9% of the Peruvian population. It was surpassed only by the Department of Lima and Piura. In 2012 its capital Trujillo is the second-most populated metropolitan area in Peru and the largest city in northern Peru. The largest population is concentrated in provincial capitals and districts, which comprise the majority urban population in La Libertad region. The migrant population to the region comes from border departments and immigrants from other countries.

Principal cities

The principal cities in La Libertad region are shown in the next table.

Nº. City Population
Cens. 2007		 District Province Mayor
1° Trujillo 682.834 Trujillo Trujillo César Acuña Peralta
2° Chepén 41,358 Chepén Chepén Wilfredo Quesquén Terrones
3° San Pedro de Lloc 16.198 San Pedro de Lloc Pacasmayo Frederihs Buchelli Torres
4° Pacasmayo 26.125 Pacasmayo Pacasmayo Oscar Honorio Horna
5° Guadalupe 36,580 Guadalupe Pacasmayo Lourdes Placencia Zapata
6° Santiago de Chuco 25.000 Santiago de Chuco Santiago de Chuco Juan Gabriel Alipioz
7° Virú 36.029 Virú Virú José Urcia Cruz
8° Otuzco 25.134 Otuzco Otuzco Heli A. Verde Rodríguez
9° Huamachuco 59,407 Huamachuco Sánchez Carrión Luis Alberto Rebaza Chavez
10° Cascas - Cascas Gran Chimú -
11° Bolívar - Bolívar Bolívar -
12° Tayabamba - Tayabamba Pataz -
13° Julcán - Julcán Julcán -
14° Ascope - Ascope Ascope -
15° Casa Grande – Casa Grande Ascope –
15° Paiján – Paiján Ascope –

Political division

Map of the La Libertad region showing its provinces

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 are:

Nº. Province Population
Cens. 2007		 Capital Mayor
1° Trujillo 811,979 Trujillo César Acuña Peralta
2° Chepén 75,980 Chepén Wilfredo Quesquén Terrones
3° Pacasmayo 94,377 San Pedro de Lloc Frederihs Buchelli Torres
4° Ascope 116,229 Ascope Marco Muñoz Verástegui
5° Bolívar 16,650 Bolívar Lourdes Placencia Zapata
6° Santiago de Chuco 58,320 Santiago de Chuco Juan Gabriel Alipioz
7° Virú 76,710 Virú José Urcia Cruz
8° Otuzco 88,817 Otuzco Heli A. Verde Rodríguez
9° Sánchez Carrión 136,221 Huamachuco Luis Alberto Rebaza Chavez
10° Gran Chimú 30,399 Cascas Juan Iglesias Gutierrez
11° Julcán 32,985 Julcán Mercedes Castro Arteaga
12° Pataz 78,383 Tayabamba Mesias Ramos Cueva

Economy

Principal companies

Some of the main companies in La Libertad Region are the following:

Archaeology

Chan Chan, the huge adobe town from Chimu time
Aia Paec, Moche god

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).

Archeological sites

Some of the archeological sites in La Libertad Region are:

Places of interest

Ecological regions

Regions of La Libertad
Litoral Trujillano
Huanchaco at Coast		 Andean landscape of Huamachuco
Sierra		 Yanasara , Andes de La Libertad
Sierra

Water supply and sanitation

The public company for water supply and sanitation in La Libertad Region is SEDALIB which is formed by shareholders of municipalities of the Region.

Culture

Festivals and events

See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to La Libertad Region.

References

  1. ↑ "Trujillo: X Calzaferia llegó a su fin con éxito". Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Trujillo: Relanzarán Feria Regional de la Piña en Poroto". Retrieved November 25, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Fiesta de la Virgen de la Puerta fue declarada Patrimonio Cultural de la Nación". Retrieved May 21, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Contradanza de Huamachuco ya es patrimonio de la Nación". Retrieved November 26, 2012.

Coordinates: 8°0′S 78°30′W / 8.000°S 78.500°W