Peru could very well support many times its present population, which is only equal to that of Holland, though the Department of Lima alone covers more territory than the entire Dutch republic. The Department of Arequipa, equal to Switzerland in extent, and resembling it in mountainous character, though having the advantage of several good seaports, has only one-tenth of the population of that inland country. England covers less area than the Department of Cuzco, yet has a hundred times the population. One of the reasons for the limited European population to be found in South American countries is their remoteness from the great highways of travel, which have hitherto been between countries of the northern hemisphere. But the twentieth century finds the extension of international relations making rapid advances south of the equator; and new steamship lines are being constantly inaugurated to connect the ports of Europe and North America with those of the trans-equatorial countries. Nearly all these countries have good seaports and railway facilities for transportation to the interior. When the Panamá Canal is opened, Peru will be placed within easy communication with New York and Europe; in the meantime, the service is being improved so that it will soon be possible to make the trip from the Peruvian port of Callao to New York in ten days. In a general description of the country, it is not possible to give details regarding the many interesting features of coast, sierra, and Montaña; the coast is closely related to its highland neighbor and may even dispute boundaries, where the mountains crowd near to the sea; the sierra and the Montaña encroach on each other’s domain in the equatorial region, offshoots of the great Andean chain extending far into the Amazon valley, while the virgin forest climbs high up the sides of the Cordillera’s slope. Many of the coast departments extend inland to the great range, and, as in Ancash, have their chief city in the sierra. Not far from Huaraz, the capital of Ancash, rises the lofty peak of Huascarán or Huascán, said to be one of the highest of the Western range, and in the coast departments of Arequipa, Moquegua, and Tacna are several extinct volcanoes, the summits of which are covered with perpetual snow.