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Región La Libertad

Image:Logo of La Libertad region.png
See other Peruvian regions
President	José Murgia Zanier
Capital	Trujillo
Area	25,499.9 km²
Population   - Total   - Density	1 539 774 (2005 census) 59.1/km²
Subdivisions	12 provinces and 83 districts
Elevation   - Lowest   - Highest	0 m (coastal area) 4008 m (Quiruvilca)
Main resources	Nation's largest sugar cane producer, and second-largest producer of rice.
Poverty rate	52.1%
Percentage of country's GDP	4.18%
Dialing code	044
ISO 3166-2	PE-LAL
Official website: www.regionlalibertad.gob.pe

La Libertad is a region in northwestern Peru. It is bordered by the Lambayeque, Cajamarca and Amazonas regions on the north, the San Martín Region on the east, the Ancash and Huánuco regions on the south and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Its capital is Trujillo, which is the nation's third-most important city. The region's main port is Salaverry , located in Trujillo, which is also one of Peru's largest ports. The name of the region is Spanish for Freedom.

La Libertad is the only Peruvian region that reaches all three Peruvian natural regions (coast, Sierra (highlands) and rainforest).

Trujillo, the capital of the La Libertad Region, has a great geographical importance and a good location. It is the point where the Andes are linked to the Pacific Ocean, as a result of the direction the coasts follow. The Andes first are seen from Trujillo, showing a row of low-elevation hills, but from there on the Andean Plateau increases altitude sharply to the East, in the provinces of Otuzco and Santiago de Chuco. These two provinces comprise the Pacific hydrographic watershed, which give rise to the Moche and Virú rivers, to the south, and Chicama River to the north. Pacasmayo Province, located more to the north is a coastal province. Sánchez Carrión Province, to the east, belongs to the Atlantic watershed.

The region is divided into 12 provinces (provincias, singular: provincia), which are composed of 80 districts (distritos, singular: distrito). The provinces, with their capitals in parenthesis, are:

• Ascope (Ascope)
• Bolívar (Bolívar)
• Chepén (Chepén)
• Gran Chimú (Cascas)
• Julcán (Julcán)
• Otuzco (Otuzco)
• Pacasmayo (San Pedro de Lloc)
• Pataz (Tayabamba)
• Sánchez Carrión (Huamachuco)
• Santiago de Chuco (Santiago de Chuco)
• Trujillo (Trujillo)
• Virú (Virú)

The coastal strip set the stage for the rise of many pre-Columbian cultures, such as the pre-Ceramic Huaca Prieta civilization, which is more than 5,000 years old & the Cupisnique, which is more than 3,000 years old. From 200 A.C., the first one to expand beyond its cradle was the Moche or Mochica culture. It was basically an agriculture and/or a warrior culture, which built countless temples and palaces such as the Sol (Sun), Luna (Moon), El Brujo & Cao Viejo, and other huacas. The Chimú culture emerged later and built its capital in Chan Chan, the largest pre-Columbian city in South America, & huacas like Esmeralda & Arco Iris (Rainbow). At its zenith, Chan Chan was home to 60,000 inhabitants who stubbornly resisted the expansion of the Inca Empire.

The archaeological remains of Chan Chan, 6 km (3.7 mi) northeast of downtown Trujillo, are rather well-preserved despite being built out of adobe (mud bricks).

Political division of Peru
Amazonas | Ancash | Apurímac | Arequipa | Ayacucho | Cajamarca | Callao | Cusco | Huancavelica | Huánuco | Ica | Junín | La Libertad | Lambayeque | Lima | Loreto | Madre de Dios | Moquegua | Pasco | Piura | Puno | San Martín | Tacna | Tumbes | Ucayali
The Lima Province is not part of any of the twenty-five regions.