Area and Population.

The area of Peru is estimated to extend over 503,000 English square miles, with a population, according to a census taken in 1876, of 2,699,945, comprising 1,365,895 males, and 1,334,050 females. The republic is divided into twenty departments, the area and population of which were reported as follows at the census taken in 1876:

There are besides about 350,000 uncivilised Indians.

As a result of the war with Chili, the latter country has annexed the province of Tarapaca. The Chilians also occupy the department of Tacna for ten years, after which a popular vote is to decide to which country they will belong. If the area and population o Tacna are deducted the total area of Peru would be 463,747 squar miles and population 2,621,844.

It is estimated that 57 per cent. of the population of Peru are aborigines, or 'Indians,' and that 23 per cent. belong to mixed races, Cholos' and 'Zambos.' The remaining 20 per cent. are chiefly descendants of Spaniards, and includes besides 18,082 Europeans, of whom 6,990 Italians, 2,647 French, 1,679 Spaniards; there are besides, 50,032 Asiatics, chiefly Chinese. At the enu

meration of 1876 the population of the capital, Lima, was returned at 101,488, Callao 33,502, Arequipa 29,237, Cuzco 18,370.

Trade and Industry.

The foreign commerce of Peru is chiefly with Great Britain, and it is carried on from several ports, of which the principal are Payta, Salaverry, Chimbote, Callao, Pisco, Mollendo, Arica and Iquique. In 1877, the latest year for which there are statistics, the value of the imports was 4,835,8197., and exports (exclusive of nitre and guano) 6,326,8557.

The commercial intercourse between Peru and the United Kingdom is shown in the subjoined tabular statement, for each of the ten years from 1875 to 1884:

The staple articles of export from Peru to the United Kingdom are guano, cubic nitre, sugar, and wool. During the ten years from 1875 to 1884, the quantities and value of the exports of guano from Peru to Great Britain were as follows:

The marked decrease since 1878 is due to the fact that Chili is in actual possession of the chief sources of Peruvian guano.

Guano has been used in Peru as a manure since the time of the Incas. The trade to Europe began in 1846. The chief deposits were on the Chincha Islands. From 1853 to 1872 as many as 8,000,000 tons were taken from them, but in the latter year they were exhausted. Since then the deposits on the Lobos, Macabi, and Guañape Islands to the north and on the headland of Tarapaca to the south have been worked. About 600,000 tons remain in the north, and perhaps 1,800,000 in Tarapaca.

Equal in importance to guano as an article of export to Great Britain is cubic nitre, also a government monopoly. The exports of nitre were as follows in each of the years from 1875 to 1884:

As Chili now possesses the province of Tarapaca, where are large nitre deposits, the exports during the three years 1879-81 materially decreased, though they have risen again since the latter date.

The exports of sugar, in an unrefined state, small previous to the year 1869, assumed large proportions in recent years. The value of the exports of sugar rose from 512,1127. in 1874 to 1,380,6221. in 1879; but fell to 702,8697. in 1882; 470,8191. in 1883; and 316,5917. in 1884.

The export to Great Britain of sheep and alpaca wool, of the value of 320,7927. in 1882, and 118,000l. in 1883, has in 1884, risen to 579,1031. The raw cotton exported in 1883, 132033!.. fell in 1884 to 92,6077.; and copper, unwrought or part-wrought, of the value of 356,8967. in 1878, and only 17,6331. in 1883, rose again in 1884 to 46,5597.

The imports of British produce into Peru comprise mainly cotton and woollen manufactures. The imports of cotton goods amounted to 594,1667. in 1878; to 228,0317. in 1879; to 355,3541. in 1881; to 478,1577. in 1882; to 254,3017. in 1883; and to 437,976. in

1884. Of woollens the imports were of the value of 180,180l. in 1884.

In 1883, 635 vessels of 526,024 tons entered the Port of Callao. A system of railways, designed to develop the wealth of the country, has been in course of construction since the year 1852, mainly at the expense of the state. In 1878 there were open for traffic, or in course of construction, eleven lines belonging to the state, 1,281 English miles in total length, and costing 128,354,600 soles, or 25,670,9207.: eight lines belonging to private persons, 496 miles in length, and costing 24,420,000 soles, or 4,884,600l.; and two lines, belonging in part to the state and in part to individuals, 253 miles, costing 27,200,000 soles, or 5,440,000l., being a total of twenty-two lines, 2,030 miles in length, and representing a cost of 179,974,600 soles, or 35,994,920. In 1884 the total working length of the Peruvian railways was reported as 996 miles.

The construction of the lines of railway belonging to the State was undertaken solely for purposes of public utility, remunerative results not being calculated upon in a country so sparsely populated as Peru. Referring to the longest of the State lines, from Arequipa to Puno, near the summit of the Andes, the British Minister and Consul-General, in a report of the year 1878, says: 232 miles of difficult railway have been made, at an expense of about 6,000,000l., in order that three or four goods trains may run per week.' Of the railways belonging to private individuals, only the double line from Lima to Callao, eight miles, from Lima to Chorrillos, nine miles in length, the property of an English company, is reported to be a commercial success.

Peru has numerous silver mines. The most important are situated mainly in the Cerro de Pasco. Their produce amounted to 1,395,936 ounces in 1874; to 1,357,432 ounces in 1875; to 1,358,792 ounces in 1876, and to 1,427,592 ounces in 1877.

The length of telegraph lines in 1878 was 1,382 miles.

The merchant navy of Peru numbered 147 vessels, of 49,860 tons, including 8 steamers, of 1,768 tons, at the end of 1877.

Diplomatic Representatives.

1. OF PERU IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Envoy and Minister.-Don Rafael Izcue.

Secretary.-Taribo Sanz.

2. OF GREAT BRITAIN IN PERU.

Minister and Consul-General.-Colonel Charles Edward Mansfield. Appointed Dec. 24, 1884.

The marked decrease since 1878 is due to the fact that Chili is in actual possession of the chief sources of Peruvian guano.

Guano has been used in Peru as a manure since the time of the Incas. The trade to Europe began in 1846. The chief deposits were on the Chincha Islands. From 1853 to 1872 as many as 8,000,000 tons were taken from them, but in the latter year they were exhausted. Since then the deposits on the Lobos, Macabi, and Guañape Islands to the north and on the headland of Tarapaca to the south have been worked. About 600,000 tons remain in the north, and perhaps 1,800,000 in Tarapaca.

Equal in importance to guano as an article of export to Great Britain is cubic nitre, also a government monopoly. The exports of nitre were as follows in each of the years from 1875 to 1884 :

As Chili now possesses the province of Tarapaca, where are large nitre deposits, the exports during the three years 1879-81 materially decreased, though they have risen again since the latter

date.

The exports of sugar, in an unrefined state, small previous to the year 1869, assumed large proportions in recent years. The value of the exports of sugar rose from 512,1127. in 1874 to 1,380,6221. in 1879; but fell to 702,8697. in 1882; 470,8197. in 1883; and 316,5917. in 1884.

The export to Great Britain of sheep and alpaca wool, of the value of 320,7927. in 1882, and 118,000l. in 1883, has in 1884, risen to 579,1031. The raw cotton exported in 1883, 1320331., fell in 1884 to 92,6071.; and copper, unwrought or part-wrought, of the value of 356,8967. in 1878, and only 17,6337. in 1883, rose again in 1884 to 46,5597.

The imports of British produce into Peru comprise mainly cotton and woollen manufactures. The imports of cotton goods amounted to 594,1667. in 1878; to 228,0317. in 1879; to 355,3541. in 1881; to 478,1577. in 1882; to 254,3017. in 1883; and to 437,9767. in