Update: 8 Natural Regions of Peru

Peru has eight natural (or geographical) regions, and all eight regions are represented in the Peru Lima East Mission. Below you can see Scott's photos of each region, the first six photos were taken during our mission and the last two during a December 2009 return visit to Peru.

Chala region is the coastal area along the Pacific Ocean. It is subtropical dry and tropical savana. Lima (where we lived for 4 months) is in the Chala region:


Yungas region has an altitude of 1,600 to 5,000 feet above sea level. It includes the forest along the eastern slopes of the Andes mountains, with an extremely diverse climate, flora, and fauna. We traveled through this region during our trips from Lima to Tarma:


Quechua region, altitude 7,500 to 11,500 feet, includes big valleys divided by rivers. The second largest city in our mission, Huancayo, is in this region. Cusco and Machu Picchu (not in our mission) are also in this reagion. We lived in Tarma, which is also part of this region:



Suni region, 11,500 to 13,500 feet, is dry and cold. Cities in our mission in this region and that we have visited, include La Oroya (where we went most Saturdays while living in Tarma), Huancavelica, San Pedro de Cajas, and others. This picture shows the Suni region near the town of San Pedro de Cajas:


Puna region, 10,500 feet to 14,800 feet, includes the altiplanos or pampas (vast high plains), where puna grass grows. The two cities in our mission in the Puna region are Cerro de Pasco and Junín (where we went most Saturdays). This picture shows the Puna region, with wild vicuña, between San Pedro de Cajas and Junín.



Junca region includes the jagged, snow-covered mountains above 13,500 feet. This picture was taken near Ticlio, the mountain pass (at 15,800 feet) that we traveled through in going from Lima to Tarma:


Rupa region, 1,600 to 2,300 feet, is the high jungle areas on the eastern side of the Andes Mountains. The city of La Merced in our mission (and where we attended a Multi-zone Conference) is located in the Rupa region. This picture was taken after our mission when we visited Tarapoto:


Omagua region is the low (below 1300 feet) jungle. The town of Satipo in our mission is located in the Omagua region. We visited Iquitos, on the Amazon River, after our mission, and Scott took this picture when we visited the Amazon jungle.


The Peru Lima East Mission is an extremely geographically diverse mission, with probably the biggest elevation changes of any mission in the world.