C U Z C O

Cuzco, the capital of Cuzco department in southern Peru, was the capital of the INCA empire from its beginnings in the 14th century until the Spanish conquest in 1533. A tourist attraction, the city is known for its Inca ruins and Spanish colonial architecture. Situated at an altitude of 3,416 m (11,207 ft) in a broad valley of the Andes, it is the busy hub of a thickly populated agricultural region where sheep are raised and cereals and tobacco are grown. The population of 275,000 (1990 est.) is predominantly Indian, and the city, with its open markets, adobe houses, and narrow, winding cobblestone streets, is Indian in character.