- Administrative divisions of Peru
The administrative divisions of Peru have changed from time to time, since the nation gained independence from
Spain in the early 19th century. The old territorial subdivisions have split or merged due to several reasons, the most common ones being the need fordecentralization , and population increase, especially inLima .History
Peru was divided into 24 departments ("departamentos"; singular: "departamento") until the creation of the regions in 2002. These regions are governed by Regional Governments. Many people still use the old "departamentos" term when referring to the current regions of Peru, although it is now obsolete. The departments were identical to today's regions, with the exception of two new regions (Callao and Lima). Before the 2002 changeover, the province of Lima (which is basically the city of Lima) was part of the Lima department, and the city of Callao had the special status of "Provincia Constitucional" (constitutional province). When the regionalization law was passed, the
Callao region was created from the former constitutional province, and the province of Lima separated from the rest of the Lima department, which in turn came to form the newLima Region . A failed attempt to divide the country into twelve autonomous regions was made during the 1980s under the government ofAlan García .Current division
Peru 's territory, according to the Regionalization Law which was passed onNovember 18 ,2002 , is divided into 25region s "(regiones"; singular: "región)". These regions are subdivided intoprovince s, which are composed ofdistrict s "(provincias" and "distritos)". There are 195 provinces and 1833 districts in Peru [es icon [http://www.cnd.gob.pe/ Sistema Nacional de Estadística] ] . TheLima Province , located in the central coast of the country, is unique in that it doesn't belong to any of the twenty-five regions. The city ofLima , which is the nation's capital, is located in this province. Callao is its own region, even though it only contains one province, theConstitutional Province of Callao .References
External links
* [http://www.inei.gob.pe/ Instituto Nacional de Estadística e Informática]
* [http://www.peru.com/peruinfo/ingles/info_dptos/in_dptos.htm Peru Info: Information by regions]
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