Costa covers a narrow (50-70 km) strip of land between the Pacific Ocean and the Western Cordillera of the Peruvian Andes. These areas are often hit by earthquakes. The climate there is dry, sometimes semi-arid, and desert. There are characteristic fogs on the coast, called garua, which are related to the Peruvian Current. This area is inhabited by the majority of Peru's population, although it constitutes only 12% of the country's area
The Sierra includes the Andes ranges stretching parallel to the coast at a width of 250-400 km - the Western Cordillera with the highest peak in Peru - Huascaran, with a height of 6768 m above sea level, the Central Cordillera and the Eastern Cordillera. The Cordillera chains are divided by longitudinal river valleys and over 4000 m high plateaus called punas, above which rise active and extinct volcanoes with an average height of 5000-6000 m above sea level. On the border with Bolivia, there is a plateau called Altiplano with the tectonic Lake Titicaca. This area is rich in raw materials: copper, zinc and lead ores, vanadium, mercury, iron
Amazonia includes the foothill plains at the eastern foot of the Andes, called Montania, and the western part of the Amazon Plain, Selva. This region covers over 60% of the country's area. Most of Peru's lowland areas lie in the lower reaches of the Marañón and Ucayali rivers, which form the Amazon.
