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Culture of Peru is deeply influenced by Hispanic and Amerindian cultures. Home to a variety of ethnic races, Peru is the place which features perfect coexistence of diverse traditions and customs. Culture of Peru has been shaped by a series of historical events which has affected and change the course of the lives of the native people Peru. More than half of Peru's population are coast dwellers. Among the rest a majority dwells in the Andes Mountains while less than 5% live in the tropical rain forests in eastern region of Peru. Peru's native inhabitants constitute 45% of the population and 37% features a mix of indigenous and Spanish. Almost 15% of Peruvians are white skinned while the rest belong to Asian or African.
Culture of Peru before the arrival of the Spaniards revolved around pottery, textiles, jewelry, and sculpture. The Incas further developed these art and crafts and made some significant progresses in the field of architecture. Some of the glorious specimens of Inca architecture are displayed in the mountain town of Machu Picchu and the buildings at Cuzco.
During the period of Spanish colonial rule, the tradition of Spanish baroque fused with the rich Inca tradition and mestizo or creole art took birth. The Cuzco school of art practiced the Spanish baroque tradition which was again deeply influenced by Italian, Flemish, and French schools. Francisco Fierro is noted painter of this era and is one of the pioneers of the native Peruvian school of architecture.
The period before the colonial rule also saw the birth of Peruvian literature which mainly comprised of the oral litearature. However, the familiarized writing in the 16th century and the literature of the colonial period included chronicles and religious literature. Ciro Alegría, José María Arguedas, and César Vallejo dominated the literary scene in the early twentieth century.
Wind instruments like quena, the pinkillo, the erke, the antara or siku , the pututo or pototo are the major instruments used in Peruvian music. Tinya (hand drum), the wankar, the pomatinyas and the runatinyas are also used as musical instruments. The Spanish settlement introduced instruments like harps, guitars, vihuelas, bandurrias and lutes.
Marinera Norteña is the most popular dance form of Peru. Dances of Peru mainly comprise of folk dances and several Andean dances like kashua, wayno and huayno are also very popular.
Festivals like Christmas , Corpus Christi are celebrated by the people of Peru. Peruvian cuisine presents a blend of American, European and Moorish culinary traditions.
travel.mapsofworld.com thus provides online information on Culture of Peru.
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