Peru is South America's third largest country, covering 1,285,215 sq. km. (about twice the size of Texas)  It can be divided into three distinct geographic regions; a narrow coastal  sandy strip, the very rugged and steep high sierras of the Andes Mountains with their massive peaks, steep canyons - one of the world's most unstable mountain ranges, with frequent earthquakes, landslides, and flash floods, and a large insect-infested Amazon region with its own distinct ecosystem east of the Andean mountain range.

Almost all of the population in central Peru are desperately poor, subsisting on an average of 2 soles (66 US cents) per day. They are an agrarian people, and produce barely enough for their own needs. Hence they contribute little to the Peruvian economy, and the Government does what little it can for these people.

In Ancash Province in Central Peru, some 100,000 people live in small villages dotted along narrow mountain trails, mostly unpaved, along which sheep, goats, herds of cattle, dogs, chicken ducks, travel each day, sharing the trail with donkeys, pedestrians and vehicular traffic.

Many of the homes are single room adobe structures, with no water, bathrooms, electricity or heat.  The people share this sheltered space with their prized possessions - their farm and domestic animals.

Nights are cold, and in wintertime, it can freeze to sub-zero levels. On nights that are unbearably cold, attempts are made to maintain indoor wood fires, sometimes leading to deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning. Every year, hundreds of the children and the older population die from the sub-freezing cold.

There is one very significant cottage industry -  woolen clothing. Peru is well known for the highly prized wool obtained from the llamas, alpaca and vicunas. The fine wool is used for making woolen articles for export to the industrialized world. Although desperately poor, all Peruvians dress well in warm woolen clothing. and Peruvian children are distinctive in their very colorful attire.

Life in the higher altitudes is often difficult and hard, and many of the villagers leave their families to seek a better life in the cities and towns near the coast, especially in Lima, the capital. Consequentially, about half of the 28 million population live in Lima, or one of the other large cities.