Qosqo and Bethlehem

Qosqo and Bethlehem

Country: Peru
Date of Agreement:22 November 1994
Name of President: Raul Salizar Saico
Tel 0051 84 227152
Fax: 0051 84 226701
Address: Palacio Municipal, Plaza Cuspata, Cusco

Qosqo, the Historical Capital of Peru, is located high in the Andes Mountains. It is the oldest living city of the Western Hemisphere (3000 years old), and in spite of its antiquity it keeps a very special and distinctive spirit, a spirit defined by its sacredness. In this city the most important cultural and racial mixture of the world took place in the XVI century. However, today it responds to the challenge of providing its growing population with the best public services available under the existing conditions and budget limitations.

Tourism is one of the main contributors to the local economy, as a result of the world famous monuments, spectacular scenery and hospitable climate, fuelled by the unique abundance of monuments, Inca shrines, citadels and other remains. Machupijchu may well be the single attraction that brings back the great Lost City of the Incas. Qosqo's character however, is marked by its Spanish buildings. Some of the best examples in the Americas are expressed in its architecture.

Qosqo is also the geographic center in the Andes from which all journeys towards the cloud and rain forest begin. We have within our territory the largest rain forest reserve in the world which contains the widest variety of birds species to be found in Manu National Park.

Today Qosqo supplies public light to 98% of the city neighborhoods. It has a fifty-year plan for a consistent supply of drinking water and there is an efficient system of public sanitation and garbage collection.

Qosqo has balanced the need for serious conservation of its cultural heritage with its efforts to improve the quality of life of its people. Supplying public services for the growing population, both now and in the future, is a daily requisite for the city's leaders.

There is a pride here not only in the city's glorious past, but equally in the achievements of modern Qosqo. We are building a contemporary urban center while facing the challenges of the 21st century, all with a view of keeping alive the millennial spirit of the city.

The physical structure of the city, its monuments, outlying areas, architecture, symbols, and the omnipresent display of water as a sacred and vibrant element give the city a distinctive spirit.

Cusquenos treasure that soul that beats within the heart of their timeless land. Qosqo the historical and mystical capital of Peru beckons one and all.

Qosqo, the most important pre-Columbian metropolis in the American Continent, is heir of a cultural tradition developed all over the Peruvian territory since 18 thousand years B.C. It is a living museum where it is still possible to perceive the grandeur of remote epochs. A total description or interpretation of Qosqo would be a gigantic work requiring thousands of books. This "Navel of the World" has developed one of the most advanced old civilizations on the earth. The name "Qosqo" is used the way our authorities and our consciences state it; I believe that it is a moral duty of every native of this sacred land to restore its past.

Population : 300000
Altitude 11,000 ft, 3,400 mt.
Temperature yearly mean avg. 11 C
Climate Sunny days, cool nights
Weather Rain showers Dec. to Apr. Dry season May to Nov.

POPULATION.- The population in Qosqo City by the beginning of the XXI century is projected to be 300,000 inhabitants. The annual growth rate is approximately 4%. In 1821 after 3 centuries of Spanish colonial administration, this city had about 40,000 people. In the Tawantinsuyo's apogee it should have between 225 to 300 thousand inhabitants.

AREA

- Peruvian Republic: 1'285,215 Km² (496,221 mile²)
- Inca Region: 175,280 Km² (67,676 mile²)
- Qosqo Department: 76.225 Km² (29.430 mile²)
- Qosqo Province: 523 Km² (202 mile²)