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Peru True or False?

Can you guess whether these statements about Peru are true or false?
Quiz by overtired
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Last updated: March 8, 2022
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First submittedJanuary 25, 2021
Times taken12,451
Average score60.0%
Rating4.43
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1. Machu Picchu is the oldest man-made structure in the Americas
True
False
The Incas were not an ancient civilization - Machu Picchu was built in 1450
(The oldest civilisation in the Americas was the Norte Chico of Peru, dating back to c. 3,700 BCE)
2. The potato originated in Peru
True
False
There are over 3,000 local varieties
3. Peru's longest border is with Colombia
True
False
Its longest border is with Brazil
4. Llamas are close relatives of camels
True
False
They are both members of the family Camelidae
5. The Amazon river begins in Peru
True
False
It is not considered to have one unique source, but a number of headstream areas in the high Andes of Peru
6. The Incas were conquered by conquistador Hernán Cortés
True
False
They were conquered by Francisco Pizarro. Cortés conquered the Aztecs in Mexico.
7. Peru is the only 4-letter country in the Americas
True
False
Cuba!
8. People live on floating islands of reeds on Lake Titicaca
True
False
The lower reeds of the Uru people's hand-built islands rot away fast so more reeds are regularly added on top
9. The deepest canyon in the Americas is found in Peru
True
False
At 3,354m (11,004ft) deep, Cotahuasi Canyon is almost twice as deep as the Grand Canyon
10. The Shining Path is a shamanic order in the Peruvian rainforest
True
False
It is a revolutionary communist party and terrorist organization
11. Quechua is a drink made with coca leaves
True
False
The Quechua are an indigenous people of Peru. The Aymara are the other main indigenous people.
Spanish, Quechua and Aymara are the official languages of Peru.
12. Peru has a sand dune over a kilometre tall
True
False
At 1,176m (3,858ft) tall Cerro Blanco, near Nazca, is the second highest sand dune in the world, and popular with sand boarders (sand surfers)
13. Ex-president Alberto Fujimori lives in Lima's largest estate, over 15km²
True
False
He lives in prison, sent there for human rights abuses and embezzlement
14. Peru has the largest non-island city on Earth with no road access
True
False
Iquitos, the capital of the Peruvian Amazon, has 377,609 residents and is accessible only by river or air
15. Roasted guinea pig is a Peruvian delicacy
True
False
"Cuy" is served whole on the plate
+6
Level ∞
Sep 16, 2021
I got 15/15 somehow. Here was my method. There were lots of clues which were obviously false (Fujimori, Quechua, Shining Path, Cuba, etc...) With so many falses, I figured the ones I was unsure about were true. Success!
+2
Level 84
Sep 16, 2021
Nice! I rarely get full marks on True or False quizzes. Pretty happy when I do :)

Interestingly, the first obviously false one you mention is the one most people get wrong.

+3
Level 66
Mar 13, 2022
@Quizmaster I use that method on almost every true or false quiz I play, but sadly it rarely gets me full points
+3
Level 73
Sep 16, 2021
Great quiz! Just a little comment: Is Shining Path classified a terrorist organization? Isn't it better called a guerrilla?
+3
Level 84
Sep 17, 2021
Thanks. It's regarded as a terrorist organization by Peru, Japan, the United States, the European Union, and Canada according to wikipedia.
+1
Level 57
Sep 16, 2021
12/15 Nice quiz!
+1
Level 66
Dec 17, 2021
Really liked your quiz! I lived in Peru for a year but never heard of Cotahuasi Canyon. Also, quite surprised that Iquitos is largest city ON EARTH! with no road access.

I am so old that I was able to visit Machu Picchu when only a handful of tourists were there...Spent the night at the small inn on the mountain and climbed Huaynu(?) Picchu the next morning...an awesome experience.

Feel sort of dumb to have missed that Fujimoro is in prison..When I was living in Lima, the first 'democratic' election in how long? was held and Belaunde was elected. The campaign consisted primarily of cars driving through the streets honking horns and waving banners.

+3
Level 84
Dec 17, 2021
Thanks for you comment and glad you liked the quiz :)

How wonderful to have visited when only a few tourists were there! I walked the Inca Trail with a tour in 2000s and we got up early on the final day to see the sun rise over Machu Picchu before the bus and train crowds arrived. It got busier as the day went on but still wasn't too bad. Also had the pleasure of climbing Huayna Picchu like you. Amazing.

I never saw Cotahuasi Canyon but did visit the Colca Canyon which was deep enough for me. Walked down... then realised I had overestimated my fitness and had to pay to take a donkey back up. Which sounds relaxing but at every hairpin bend it carried on walking forward until it was looking down over the cliff edge I was readying myself to jump off if it decided to end it all.

I still occasionally think of Deathwish the Donkey.

+2
Level 67
Apr 12, 2022
I was in Peru when his daughter Keiko was running for president (she lost). I have often if someone has compiled a list of elected state leaders who are not members of the ethnic majority. Fujimori would be one. Obama, obviously. South African presidents are iffy because the ethnic majority didn't have the right to pick their own leader for so long. I'm sure there are others, but I can't think of them. Just Fujimori and Obama. It's really quite an accomplishment. Too bad Fujimori was a criminal.
+1
Level 85
Mar 8, 2022
No road access . . . from where? There's a highway from Nauta to Iquitos. That doesn't count? Do the roads connecting Honolulu to the rest of Oahu count?
+1
Level 84
Mar 8, 2022
Road access from the rest of the country. Added non-island to the question.
+1
Level 88
Mar 8, 2022
Hmmm...I don't like the Amazon question. I answered false because I knew it didn't have a single source, but many in various countries. I think it should be removed or changed.
+1
Level 84
Mar 8, 2022
They aren't in various countries though, they're all in Peru.
+1
Level 88
Mar 8, 2022
At one point, I thought I learned Manaus was only accessible by water and air. Though much bigger than the Peruvian city, Manaus is now definitely accessible by road... :)
+1
Level 68
Mar 25, 2022
For me the same! I knew they made a highway from Manaus to the South, but it is closed as they can't maintain it because the rainforest keeps claiming it back!

However, I just learned that there is a highway from Manaus to the North as well, connecting to Venezuela. That road is open.

+1
Level 76
Mar 11, 2022
But is the prison & land over 15km² and he "the man" and it his house? Just curious.
+5
Level 69
Mar 22, 2022
Perhaps consider rewording "Llamas are close relatives of camels", since "close" is arbitrary. Stricter interpretations would require same sub-family, tribe, sub-tribe, genus, etc. Looser interpretations would allow same sub-order, order, etc.
+1
Level 59
Apr 12, 2022
Yeah, exactly depending on one's point of view the answer could be both true or false.
+1
Level 84
Apr 12, 2022
My thoughts…

“The genera Lama and Vicugna are, with the two species of true camels, the sole existing representatives of a very distinct section of the Artiodactyla or even-toed ungulates, called Tylopoda, or "bump-footed", from the peculiar bumps on the soles of their feet.” (Llama wiki example)

I get the point you’re making, but I feel that anyone aware of the llama-camel link should side with true. They are easily closely related enough in the scheme of things for false being the answer to be quite unreasonable, and it would generate many more complaints. I feel that the complaints here are somewhat hypothetical?

Specifying “suborder” or “family” makes the question more specific, but not necessarily a better question, as specifics like that aren’t general knowledge. If anything it looks more likely to be a trick question to me.

That llamas and camels are closely related is general knowledge I think, and if you’ve you heard that you should pick true.

Happy to discuss… :)

+2
Level 53
Apr 1, 2022
The Shining Path communist party does not exist as such because it is banned in Peru. It is not an active political organization because it was defeated by the Peruvian State in the 1990s. Its sympathizers are clandestine. Its leader died in prison and the Peruvian people repudiate that terrorist ideology. That comunist party was never a "revolutionary" one but a group of very dangerous people that try to destroy my country in a very similar way that Pol Pot did in Cambodia.
+1
Level 76
Apr 12, 2022
Very fun--thank you.
+1
Level 84
Apr 12, 2022
You’re welcome :)
+1
Level 79
Apr 12, 2022
How did I forget Cuba?!!!
+1
Level 64
Feb 17, 2024
I can easily list all American countries. I cannot, however, count to four.
+1
Level 67
Apr 12, 2022
I thought that the sand dune question was referring to the Duna Federico Kirbus in Argentina.
+2
Level 65
Apr 20, 2022
FINALLY, WE PERUVIANS HAVE MORE THAN ONE FEATURED QUIZ
+1
Level 53
Sep 20, 2023
There is no "Norte Chico" civilization in Peru. There are archaeological remains of the CARAL civilization north of Lima that are almost 5000 years old.

Sendero Luminoso is simply a terrorist organization. There was nothing "revolutionary" about it nor is it a political party. Their registration as such was never accepted in Peru because they were banned.

this comment was put in the spanish translation quiz by a dude from Perú, does it has a justification?

+1
Level 84
Sep 20, 2023
"Caral-Supe (also known as Caral and Norte Chico)". First line of Caral-Supe civilization wiki page, which goes on to refer to the Norte Chico civilization several times.

"The Shining Path, officially the Communist Party of Peru (Partido Comunista del Perú), is a far-left political party and guerrilla group in Peru." First line of Shining Path wiki page. A few lines later: "The Shining Path believed that by establishing a dictatorship of the proletariat, inducing a cultural revolution, and eventually sparking a world revolution, they could arrive at full communism."