Department of Ayacucho

Ayacucho (Spanish pronunciation: [aʝaˈkutʃo] (listen)) is a department of Peru, located in the south-central Andes of the country. Its capital is the city of Ayacucho. The region was one of the hardest hit by terrorism in the 1980s during the guerrilla war waged by Shining Path known as the internal conflict in Peru.

This article is about the Ayacucho Region. For its capital city, see Ayacucho.
"Ayacucho Department" redirects here. For the Department of San Luis Province, Argentina, see Ayacucho Department, San Luis.
Department of Ayacucho
Region
The Andes in the Department of Ayacucho
Flag
Seal
Location of the Department of Ayacucho in Peru
CountryPeru
Subdivisions11 provinces and 111 districts
Largest cityAyacucho
CapitalAyacucho
Government
 • GovernorCarlos Rua Carbajal
(2019–2022)
Area
 • Total43,814.8 km2 (16,917.0 sq mi)
Elevation
(Capital)
2,746 m (9,009 ft)
Highest elevation
5,505 m (18,061 ft)
Lowest elevation
1,800 m (5,900 ft)
Population
 (2017)
 • Total616,176
 • Density14/km2 (36/sq mi)
UBIGEO
05
Dialing code066
ISO 3166 codePE-AYA
Principal resourcesPotatoes, wheat, olluco, barley, sheep and handicrafts.
Poverty rate72.5%
Percentage of Peru's GDP0.65%
Websitewww.regionayacucho.gob.pe

A referendum was held on 30 October 2005, in order to decide whether the department would merge with the departments of Ica and Huancavelica to form the new Ica-Ayacucho-Huancavelica Region, as part of the decentralization process in Peru. The bill failed and Ayacucho remained an independent department.

Political division
Map of the Ayacucho region showing its provinces

The department is divided into 11 provinces (Spanish: provincias, singular: provincia), which are composed of 111 districts (distritos, singular: distrito).

Provinces

The provinces, with their capitals in parenthesis, are:

  1. Cangallo (Cangallo)
  2. Huamanga (Ayacucho)
  3. Huanca Sancos (Huanca Sancos)
  4. Huanta (Huanta)
  5. La Mar (San Miguel)
  6. Lucanas (Puquio)
  7. Parinacochas (Coracora)
  8. Paucar del Sara Sara (Pausa)
  9. Sucre (Querobamba)
  10. Víctor Fajardo (Huancapi)
  11. Vilcas Huamán (Vilcas Huamán)

Demographics

Languages

According to the 2007 Peru Census, the language learnt first by most of the residents was Quechua (63.05%) followed by Spanish (36.57%). The Quechua variety spoken in Ayacucho is Chanka Quechua. The following table shows the results concerning the language learnt first in the department by province:[1]

Province Quechua Aymara Asháninka Another native language Spanish Foreign language Deaf or mute Total
Cangallo 29,356 24 4 11 3,132 3 37 32,567
Huamanga 104,644 223 42 118 102,452 72 218 207,769
Huanca Sancos 8,017 29 1 - 1,858 - 18 9,923
Huanta 58,333 89 92 40 28,184 5 105 86,848
La Mar 64,815 64 127 58 12,950 1 111 78,126
Lucanas 26,153 152 7 49 35,282 10 78 61,731
Parinacochas 15,491 68 - 30 12,576 2 29 28,196
Paucar del Sara Sara 5,223 19 1 15 5,140 - 16 10,414
Sucre 9,059 25 - - 2,749 - 13 11,846
Víctor Fajardo 20,647 37 2 9 3,213 - 38 23,946
Vilcas Huaman 19,884 14 2 11 2,232 1 44 22,188
Total 361,622 744 278 341 209,768 94 707 573,554
% 63.05 0.13 0.05 0.06 36.57 0.02 0.12 100.00
  • The Andes go across the Ayacucho Region
  • Statue of Antonio José de Sucre and obelisk near Kinwa, commemorating the Battle of Ayacucho.
  • Hot springs in the region of Ayacucho.
  • Obelisk near Kinwa, commemorating the Battle of Ayacucho.
  • Church of Ayacucho

Sources
  1. inei.gob.pe Archived January 27, 2013, at the Wayback Machine INEI, Peru, Censos Nacionales 2007


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