Peru Culture & Language

Quechua and Aymara are official languages alongside Spanish, and Quechua is spoken by millions, particularly in the southern highlands. Place names, food words and everyday vocabulary in Peruvian Spanish come from it.

Andean weaving is not decorative craft but a continuing tradition with regional patterns that identify community and status, using techniques and dyes that predate the Inca.

Peruvian food has become one of the world’s most discussed cuisines in about twenty years, built on an unusual combination: Andean tubers and grains, Pacific fish, and Spanish, African, Chinese and Japanese immigration that produced chifa and Nikkei cooking. Ceviche is the national dish; pisco is the national spirit and its ownership is disputed with Chile.

Inti Raymi, the Inca winter solstice festival, is re-enacted at Cusco each June, and Andean Catholic festivals fold pre-Hispanic practice into the church calendar openly.

Spanish is the main language, with Quechua and Aymara also official. English is limited outside Lima, Cusco and the main tourist circuit.

Peruvian Spanish is clearly pronounced and relatively easy to follow. Buenos días, por favor, gracias and ¿cuánto cuesta? cover most situations.

In the highlands, a few words of Quechua are received warmly — allillanchu as a greeting, añay for thank you — and signal that you noticed the language exists.