Peru Maps

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Peru Beginning Research

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Biographies Church History Encyclopedias & Dictionaries Gazetteers Historical Geography History Languages Maps Naming Customs Periodicals Social Life & Customs

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Peru

Maps

To learn more about maps in general, go to the Maps Record Page.

Online Resources

• GeaCron Interactive World History Atlas since 3000 BC
• Google Maps
• David Rumsey Historical Maps Collection
• Old Maps Online Collection
• Library of Congress Maps Collection
• Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center at the Boston Public Library
• Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
• Archive.org
• Harvard University Scanned Maps
• UWM American Geographical Society Library Digital Map Collection
• University of California Berkeley Library

Tips for Using Maps

Maps must be used carefully for several reasons:

• There are often several places with the same name. You may want to use a Gazetteer to help you.
  
• The spelling and even names of some towns may have changed since your ancestor lived there.
  
• Place-names are often misspelled in English sources. Difficult names may have been shortened and important diacritic marks omitted.
  
• Political boundaries are not clearly indicated on all maps. Look for neighboring towns and geographic features to find the area where your ancestor came from.
  
• Boundaries changed over time. Use historical maps to understand boundary changes.
  

For more tips and information on using maps, go to the general Maps Record Page.

Finding the Specific Town on the Map

To successfully research maps from Peru, you must identify the town where your ancestor lived. Because there are several towns that have the same name, you may need some additional information before you can locate the correct town on a map. Using gazetteers can help you to identify a place's the jurisdiction and help you locate it on a map. See the Peru Gazetteers article for more information.

Types of Maps

Different types of maps help you in different ways, for example:

• Historical atlases describe the growth and development of countries, showing boundaries, migration routes, settlement patterns, military campaigns, and other historical information.
  
• Road atlases are useful because of the detail they provide.
  
• Other types of maps include: parish maps, state maps, tourist maps, topographical maps, and air navigation maps. City maps are extremely helpful when researching in large cities.
  

To learn more about different types of maps, go to the general Maps Record Page.

Historical Maps Collections

Historical map collections are helpful because they can show you the geography of your ancestor's residence at or around the time they lived there.
The FamilySearch Library has a small collection of Peruvian maps and atlases. These are listed in the FamilySearch Catalog under:

PERU - MAPS

Some helpful maps at the FamilySearch Library are:

• Mapa político y físico del Perú (Political and Physical Map of Peru). Scale 1:2,500,000. Lima: El Instituto Geográfico Nacional, 1970. (FS Library map 985 E7m.)

• Curletti, Lauro A. Mapa ferroviario del Perú (Railway Map of Peru). Scale: 1:300,000. Lima: Lit. T. Scleuch, 1922. (FS Library map 985 E7v.)

A helpful atlas for Peru is:

• Penaherra del Aguila, Carlos. Atlas del Perú: proyecto especial Atlas del Perú (Atlas of Peru: Special Plan Atlas of Peru). Lima: El Instituto Geográfico Nacional, 1989. (FS Library book 985 E7a.) Scale varies. 196 maps.

An excellent national historical atlas is:

• Atlas del Perú (Atlas of Peru). Lima: “Guía Lascano,” 1968–69. (FS Library book 985 E7p.)

A bibliography of Peruvian maps and atlases is:

• Torres Lanzas, Pedro. Catálogo de mapas y planos: Virreinato del Perú: Perú y Chile (Catalog of Maps and Plans: Viceroyalty of Peru: Peru and Chile). Madrid: Ministerio de Cultura, 1985. (FS Library book 985 E73t.)