Peru - Subdivisions (original) (raw)

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Last modified: 2024-05-04 by daniel renter�a
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• Peruvian subdivisions See also:
• Department Prefect rank flag
• Clickable map of Peru
• Peru
• Inca subdivisions’ flags

Peruvian subdivisions

Peru has a dual system of administrative-territorial divisions (ATD) and local self-government entities. From the point of view of the ATD, Peru is divided into departments [24 departments and one constitutional province], departments are divided in provinces [196], and provinces are divided in districts [1838]. From the point of view of the self-government organization, Peru has 25 Regional Governments, 196 Provincial Municipalities, and 1838 District Municipalities. All these self-government entities [* with exceptions] have or should have their own flags.

* Exceptions are District Municipalities which are Cabeceras (Districts of the provincials seats), which are using the same symbols as the Provincial municipalities.
Furthermore, most of the flag entities in Peru have more than one flag, as they are using civic flags (plain mono-, bi-, tricolors) without emblems, official flags which are same as the civic flags, but with the emblem/coat of arms added, and finally, the large ceremonial flags, which are usually monochrome with the name of the entity and coat of arms on them.
Valentin Poposki, 10 January 2022

I would like to add that district municipalities have their own municipalities. These municipalities are called "Centro Poblado" (C.P.) Municipalities. In August 2023, there were 2,897 of them, certainly an increase from 2,437 in 2015. These municipalities do not always have flags, but do quite often. Most often, "centro poblado" municipalities are rural communities which want to administrate their own affairs. They are governed by a provincial ordinance which creates them, so while they are autonomous, the provincial government still has the task of overseeing it.

Keep in mind the term "centro poblado" by itself does not show it is a municipality; it is a term for every single community in Peru, where there are over 95,000 of them. As a bit of a note, I've noticed that most local governments like to hold an anniversary celebration, where their municipal flag is most often unfurled. This tradition, of course, requires the adoption of a flag, which might be the reason many Peruvian municipalities have their own flag.
Daniel Rentería, 1 May 2024

Summary

Notes

• (*) Named Departments / Departamentos until 2002.
• (**) These entities are directly dependent from the central government, not from the outlying upper level administrative division.

Discussion

A Congress press release on line says:

Acto en la Plaza Bolívar lo presidió su titular Antero Flores »« Aquí, cada parlamentario se ubicó al pie de la bandera de la región a la que representa.

meaning «The event in Bolívar Square was presided by its office-holder Antero Flores »« Here each member of Parliament located himself under the flag of the region he represents.». This suggests that all regions have flags.
António Martins, 22 March 2006

Peruvian Vexillological Association will start an official sponsored travel though Peru for search for departmental, regional, provincial and districts flags to publish them in a future book. We can expect more new flags (note however that regional, departmental, several provinces and dozens of district flags are published in Flag Report 22 [frp] available already in Spanish).
Jaume Ollé, 20 April 2001

About Peruvian regions: with the help of a Peruvian friend I was able to compile all the regional flags. There's a big problem: sometimes the region flag, the region government flag, or even the regional council are different. Few regions have official flags, but surely all (pending the confirmation of two) use white flags with arms or logo or the departmental flag. From the internet she found several photos. The following report is based always in photos. I will draw the images when possible.
Ben Cahoon, 12 January 2011