Ayacucho Region

Ayacucho Region
Region
The Andes in the Ayacucho Region
Seal
Location of the Ayacucho region in Peru
Country	Peru
Subdivisions	11 provinces and 111 districts
Largest city	Ayacucho
Capital	Ayacucho
Government
• President	Omar Quesada Martínez
Area
• Total	43,814.8 km2 (16,917.0 sq mi)
Elevation(Capital)	2,746 m (9,009 ft)
Highest elevation	3,645 m (11,959 ft)
Lowest elevation	1,800 m (5,900 ft)
Population (2005 Census)
• Total	619,522
• Density	14/km2 (37/sq mi)
UBIGEO	05
Dialing code	066
ISO 3166 code	PE-AYA
Principal resources	Potatoes, wheat, olluco, barley, sheep and handicrafts.
Poverty rate	72.5%
Percentage of Peru's GDP	0.65%
Website	www.regionayacucho.gob.pe

Ayacucho is a region 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 during the 1980s during the guerrilla war waged by Shining Path known as the internal conflict in Peru.

A referendum was held on October 30, 2005 in order to decide whether the region would merge with the regions 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 region.

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

The provinces, with their capitals in parenthesis, are:

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 Ayacucho Region by province:

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