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Lying just south of the equator, on the Pacific coast of South America, Peru became independent of Spain in 1824. It rises from an arid coastal strip to the Andes, dominated in the south by volcanoes, then descending into the Amazon Basin. About half of Peru's population live in mountain regions. Peru's border with Bolivia to the south runs through Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world. Alejandro Toledo became the first Amerindian president in 2001, but his popularity fell rapidly.