Who runs local government in Peru?
Peru has 24 departments run as elected regional governments (plus Callao), and two levels of elected municipalities: 196 provincial and about 1,874 district municipalities. Alongside them, thousands of peasant communities (comunidades campesinas) in the Andes and native communities (comunidades nativas) in the Amazon have constitutional autonomy over their land and internal affairs. Peasant patrols (rondas campesinas), which began in the 1970s, are recognised in law and in the constitution as supporting community justice.
Republic of Peru · Unitary republic (decentralised) · South America
The levels of government below the nation
| Level | How it is chosen | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Regions (24 departments + Constitutional Province of Callao) | Regional governor and regional council directly elected for four years | Regional development, health, education, agriculture and infrastructure. |
| Provincial municipalities (about 196, including Metropolitan Lima) | Mayor and councillors (regidores) directly elected for four years | Co-ordinate districts, land-use planning, transport; Lima has regional-style powers. |
| District municipalities (about 1,874) | Mayor and councillors directly elected for four years | Local services, waste, local roads, markets, civil registry. |
| Municipalities of populated centres (centros poblados) | Local mayor and councillors elected locally under rules set by the provincial municipality | Delegated services in villages far from the district centre. |
Three questions about local power in Peru
Are local leaders elected?
Regional governors, councils, mayors and councillors are directly elected. Peasant community boards and ronda leaders are elected by community assemblies. Native community leaders (apus or chiefs) are chosen by custom.
Which laws set up local government?
Regions, municipalities, peasant and native communities and the rondas are all recognised in the constitution or law. Many smaller self-defence groups and urban neighbourhood bodies are informal.
Who are local leaders accountable to?
Elected officials answer to voters (who can recall them), the Comptroller and the courts. Community authorities answer to the general assembly. Ronda and community justice can be reviewed by ordinary courts if it violates fundamental rights; the Supreme Court has set limits on what rondas may do.
Traditional and customary authority
Article 89 of the constitution says peasant and native communities 'have legal existence and are legal persons', are autonomous in their organisation, communal work and use of land, and that their land cannot be taken away except if abandoned. The General Law of Peasant Communities (Law 24656, 1987) makes the general assembly of community members the highest authority and provides for an elected board (directiva comunal). Article 149 lets community authorities, 'with the support of the rondas campesinas', exercise judicial functions within their territory under customary law, as long as they respect fundamental rights. Religious leaders have no formal role.
Community and neighbourhood power
Rondas campesinas (peasant patrols) started in Cajamarca in the 1970s to stop cattle theft, and spread across the northern Andes. The Law of Rondas Campesinas (Law 27908, 2003) recognises them as autonomous community organisations that can help resolve conflicts and keep order, with elected leaders. In cities, neighbourhood councils (juntas vecinales) can be recognised by the municipality, and community soup kitchens (comedores populares) and 'Glass of Milk' committees, often led by women, manage food programmes with state support.
Points to know
- Peru is unusual in having two separate municipal levels, provincial and district, both directly elected.
- The 2005 referendum to merge departments into larger regions was rejected, so the regions still follow old department boundaries.
- Rondas campesinas were first a self-help response to theft and weak police presence; later some fought against the Shining Path insurgency.
- Mining and oil projects on community land often lead to disputes; Peru's prior consultation law (2011) requires the state to consult Indigenous peoples before such projects.
Local terms
- Comunidad campesina
- A legally recognised Andean peasant community that owns land collectively.
- Ronda campesina
- A peasant patrol that keeps order and settles disputes, recognised by law.
- Regidor
- An elected municipal councillor.
- Comunidad nativa
- A legally recognised Amazonian Indigenous community.
Sources
- Peru's Constitution of 1993 with Amendments through 2021, Constitute Project, checked 14 October 2026
- Country profile: Peru, OECD–UCLG World Observatory on Subnational Government Finance and Investment, checked 14 October 2026
- Ley Nº 24656, Ley General de Comunidades Campesinas, Congreso de la República del Perú, checked 14 October 2026
- Ley Nº 27908, Ley de Rondas Campesinas, Congreso de la República del Perú, checked 14 October 2026
- Jurado Nacional de Elecciones, JNE, Peru, checked 14 October 2026
See also: Peru's official statistics and leaders · the 10 levels of power.