The rugged
Andes Mountains cover almost 40% of Peru. Hundreds of snowcapped peaks jut skyward here, with many exceeding 20,000 ft.
Fronting the Andes - from
Ecuador to
Chile - there's an arid and rocky narrow coastline; in essence, it's a sandy mountainous desert dissected by dozens of small rivers that flow into the Pacific.
In the east, the Andean Highlands slope gently down into the rivers and jungles of the Amazon; a heavily forested, relatively flat area, that stretches to its borders with
Brazil and Chile.
The lowest part of Peru is in the far northeast; here the fertile land and jungles are irrigated by tributaries of the massive
Amazon River.
And speaking of rivers, Peru is drained by many, including the Apurimac, Maranon, Napo and Ucayali - to name but a few.
Note that Peru shares control of Lake Titicaca with
Bolivia, the world's highest navigable lake.
